Tercica

Ipsen inks a string of deals in expansion effort

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:59:58 -0400

France's Ipsen is buying out Tercica in a $404 million deal, one of three new pacts designed to make Ipsen a billion-dollar a year player in the U.S. Ipsen will pay $9 a share for every share of Tercica it doesn't already own. That's more than double Tercica's $4.41 a share close yesterday. Like a lot of developers, Tercica's been losing money. But the biotech recently launched Somatuline for acromegaly, a pituitary gland disorder.

In a separate deal, Ipsen is buying out Vernalis' U.S. subsidiary, gaining the North American rights to Apokyn. And it inked a deal to acquire Octagen's OBI-1, which is being developed to treat hemophilia. The Octagen deal includes $10.5 million upfront and up to $26 million in milestones.

Taken together, Ipsen says the new acquisitions will position Ipsen to become a significant commercial player in the U.S.

- read Ipsen's release for more

C&L: Lundbeck CEO resigns early

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 06:59:52 -0500

Denmark's H Lundbeck announced that its president and chief executive Claus Braestrup has resigned earlier than expected.

Critical Therapeutics announced that Frank Thomas will resign as president and chief executive officer. Trevor Phillips, Ph.D., who currently serves as chief operating officer, will become president and CEO as of April 1, 2008 and was appointed to the board of directors.

Indevus Pharmaceuticals CEO Glenn Cooper, M.D. plans to retire on or prior to September 1.

Kosan Biosciences Incorporated announced that Robert Johnson, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., has resigned as president and CEO. Helen S. Kim, who joined Kosan in January 2008 as senior vice president and CBO, has been appointed president of Kosan.

Tercica has named Chief Operating Officer Richard King to the additional role of president.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced that the company's board has elected Jean-Marc Huet senior vice president and chief financial officer.

Aldagen has hired David Carberry as chief financial officer.

Momenta Pharmaceuticals has named James Roach, M.D., chief medical officer and senior vice president of development.

Maxygen says that Grant Yonehiro, its senior vice president in charge of global business development and U.S. operations, has been appointed to the position of chief business officer. In addition, the company announced the pending departure of Michael Rabson, Maxygen's general counsel since 1999.

Vitae Pharmaceuticals has appointed Richard Gregg, M.D. as chief science officer.

ZIOPHARM Oncology has appointed Steven Bloom as vice president, business development and Barry Jones, Ph.D., as senior vice president, preclinical operations.

Targanta Therapeutics has hired Mona Haynes as chief commercial officer and Daniel Char as vice president and general counsel.

Antares Pharma has named Kaushik Dave as vice president of clinical and regulatory affairs.

Catalyst Pharma has appointed Patrick Kenny as director--corporate clinical compliance.

WaferGen Biosystems has promoted Kumar Kastury, Ph.D., to vice president of assay development and John McEntee to associate vice president of engineering.

Modigene has named Phillip Frost, M.D., chairman of its board of directors.

Numira Biosciences announced the appointment of Paul Grint, M.D., to its board of directors.

Progen Pharmaceuticals has appointed John Lee and Robert Williamson to the company's board as independent non-executive directors.

FDA approves Tercica's growth disorder drug

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 06:59:54 -0400

The FDA has approved Tercica's Somatuline Autogel, an injectable treatment for adult patients with acromegaly. Acromegaly is a rare disorder caused by too much growth hormone, resulting in enlarged body tissues of the face, jaw, hands, feet and skull. The approval is good news for Ipsen; last year the company granted Tercica development and commercialization rights to the drug, and Ipsen will gain a $41 million milestone payment from Tercica.

- see this press release for more

ALSO NOTED: Pharmaxis touts late-stage study; ALS gains orphan drug status; H5N1 passed human-to-human; and much more...

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 06:59:50 -0400

> Pharmaxis says that a late-stage study of its experimental drug for a chronic lung condition demonstrated its effectiveness. Release

> Advanced Life Sciences says the FDA has granted orphan drug status to its cancer drug, ALS-357. Report

> Simmering fears of a bird flu pandemic have been heating up in the wake of a new study that confirms human-to-human spread of the deadly disease. Experts at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center confirm that the avian influenza A (H5N1) virus in 2006 spread between a small number of people within a family in Indonesia. A number of biotech companies have joined the race to develop a vaccine against bird flu. Report

> Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy and Tikvah Therapeutics announced a collaboration to accelerate the clinical development of TIK-201 for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy. Release

> Tercica says it expects the FDA to make a decision on Somatuline Autogel later in the week. Report

> The FDA has accepted Merck's NDA for Cordaptive. Report

> Roche has lost turf to Amgen in their patent battle over Mircera, an anti-anemia drug now under FDA review. FiercePharma

> In another step under the patent shelter for AstraZeneca's Seroquel, the company won approval from Dutch regulators for an extended release form of the drug. FiercePharma

And Finally…The battle of the bulge is not going well for the forces of slim. A new study shows that obesity grew worse in 31 states last year, with no state posting an advance. Report