development pact

Merck turns to Ranbaxy for $100M R&D effort

Mon, 12 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

India's Ranbaxy has flexed its research muscles once again, this time signing a five-year pact with Merck to develop new anti-infectives. Ranbaxy, which received an undisclosed upfront payment, says it stands to earn more than $100 million from each new therapy developed in the five-year collaboration, which follows a similar deal it signed with GlaxoSmithKline. Ranbaxy researchers will advance therapies into Phase II, at which point Merck will take over the development program. Ranbaxy shares jumped more than five percent on the news.

This new deal signals an ongoing effort by big pharma companies to reduce their expenses by shifting development programs into China and India. Eli Lilly has also aggressively pursued an Asian strategy for its R&D work as well.

"We are going to start work on a minimum of two (drug candidates), and we can then add to it later," Ranbaxy CEO Malvinder Mohan Singh told Dow Jones.

- see this release on the deal
- read the report from Dow Jones

NicOx shares plunge on Pfizer trial failure

Tue, 06 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

Shares of France's NicOx tumbled 38 percent after Pfizer announced that it would not advance their experimental therapy for glaucoma into Phase III. Researchers for Pfizer said that Phase II data was "interesting" but failed to meet its primary endpoint. That was all investors had to hear. They drove NicOx shares down to a five-year low.

There was some good news for NicOx. Pfizer says it remains committed to the program and may pursue new research on the compound once a Phase II trial in Asia is wrapped. That data is expected in the third quarter of this year.

NicOx's drug platform involves enhancing therapeutics with nitric oxide. PF-03187207 is a new version of Pfizer's Xalatan, the best-selling glaucoma medicine. The failed mid-stage trial did produce data indicating the new therapy demonstrated "clinically significant reduction in diurnal intraocular pressure" compared to Xalatan.

"We believe this Phase II study for PF-03187207 has provided interesting data," said David Eveleth, Pfizer's vice president, ophthalmology development. "While the study did not meet its primary clinical endpoint and our criteria for launching a global Phase III program for this compound, we remain committed to our joint research program with NicOx, where the follow-up compounds to PF-03187207 have produced encouraging results."

- check out the release

Funds from non-profit groups flow to biotech R&D

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 06:59:57 -0400

Epix Pharmaceuticals said this morning that its development pact with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has mushroomed into a $50 million deal, adding $37.7 million to the $12 million already provided by the Foundation for new drug research. Epix will have to hit a series of goals for the money. And as a story in the Boston Globe makes clear, Boston-area biotech companies have been able to garner ever larger sums of cash to advance new therapies. Other examples include $25 million in research cash provided by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, $8.5 million from the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation and $6 million from the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.

"It's becoming a significant method of funding," Robert Coughlin, president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, tells the Globe.

"By utilizing our proprietary in silico technology to model the CFTR ion channel, we were able to quickly discover novel CFTR modulators that are fueling our structure-based optimization approach," says Epix CEO Michael G. Kauffman.

- check out the press release
- read the article in the Boston Globe

Related Articles:
Epix shares dive after mid-stage depression failure. Report
Epix shares soar on Alzheimer's trial data. Report
Epix touts data on pulmonary hypertension drug. Report
Epix shares soar on $1.2B pact with GSK. Report
Epix anxiety drug fails in late-stage trial. Report

Wyeth kills off Solvay pact

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:59:56 -0500

Following bifeprunox's FDA rejection in August, Wyeth has opted out of its development deal with Solvay. In order to gain approval, the FDA told Wyeth and Solvay that they must run another trial and present more data before the agency would reconsider approval. Apparently Wyeth wanted no part in that. The company is returning rights to bifeprunox, as well as several other drug candidates. Wyeth and Solvay first announced their partnership in 2004 and then expanded it in 2007 to include research in neuroscience.

According to Wyeth's statement, the company "terminated the collaboration with Solvay after assessing the opportunity for bifeprunox and determining it would not have sufficient commercial value for the two companies to share."

- see this release

Related Articles:
Wyeth, Solvay handed FDA rejection. Report
New malaria vaccine offers better protection. Report
Solvay expands development pact with Wyeth. Report

Icagen gains $10M in equity sale to Pfizer

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 06:59:54 -0500

Icagen has triggered an option to sell $10 million worth of stock to Pfizer. That's on top of the $5 million investment Pfizer made in Icagen last summer. Pfizer gets 5.85 million shares in the Research Triangle Park-based biotech in the current option for $1.71 each. Much of the money will go to back Icagen's R&D work. Last August the two companies signed a development pact covering compounds which modulate three specific sodium ion channels as new potential treatments for pain and related disorders. The $15 million equity investment is part of $38 million in committed investments over the first two years of the agreement.

- see this release
- here's the report from the Triangle Business Journal

Related Articles:
Pfizer, Icagen ink deal. Report
Icagen shares soar on big Pfizer pact. Report
Troubled Icagen gains $22M in financing. Report

Analysis: OncoMed deal puts a premium on preclinical

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 06:59:55 -0500

OncoMed's $1.4 billion antibody development pact with GlaxoSmithKline is dissected by the San Francisco Business Times, which highlights just how unusual it is for preclinical programs to earn that kind of potential reward. Researchers at OncoMed have been focused on developing antibodies that can target cancer stem cells, greatly increasing the chance that a patient's cancer can be knocked out without a recurrence.

"There was speculation that Big Pharma would not do large deals like this for preclinical candidates," says attorney Alan Mendelson, who represented OncoMed during the negotiations. "I think the OncoMed deal is evidence that, for the right technology, with the prospect of multiple product opportunities, the farsighted pharmaceutical companies are doing some preclinical transactions."

- read the report from the San Francisco Business Times

Related Articles:
GSK offers $1.4B to license OncoMed therapies. Report
MAbs are hottest segment of biotech industry. Report
OncoMed snares $13.9M in first round. Report

SPOTLIGHT: Crucell forges pact with Sanofi

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 06:59:53 -0500

Crucell stands to gain $112 million in a new development pact with Sanofi Pasteur, which wants to use its antibodies for a rabies vaccine. Report

GSK, Santaris ink $700M development deal

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 06:59:57 -0500

In a deal that starts small but has a big upside, Santaris Pharma has forged a development pact with GlaxoSmithKline to develop new antiviral meds. Denmark's Santaris gets $3 million up front and a $5 million equity investment for the first program and up to $700 million in upfront fees and development and regulatory milestones. The upside depends on the early-stage research in RNA antagonist compounds. It's all good news for Santaris this week, which yesterday revealed that it had raised $30 million in its latest round of venture financing. For Glaxo, the deal is just the latest in a string of biotech pacts for 2007.

"We are confident that the high potency and exquisite precision of RNA targeting achievable by LNA oligonucleotides has the potential to achieve clinical breakthroughs in viral infections," said Santaris CSO Dr Henrik Ørum.

- check out the release for more info

ALSO: Take a look at GSK's pipeline. Report

Related Articles:
GSK shakes up R&D. Report
Behind the scenes of GSK's overhaul. Report
Santaris grabs $30M in third round venture cash. Report
Santaris inks $200M collaboration with Enzon. Report

Merck halts leukemia trials after adverse event

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 06:59:58 -0500

Vertex says that Merck suspended two clinical trials of the leukemia drug MK-0457 after one of the patients in the study developed a heart condition--QTc prolongation--caused by a disruption in the organ's electrical system. Researchers called for a full review of the data available on the drug, which is in Phase II as the lead Aurora kinase inhibitor included in a development pact between the two companies. The drug is also in an early-stage combination trial with dasatinib. Another Aurora kinase inhibitor included in the collaboration, MK-6592, has been dumped after it failed to deliver on its pharmacokinetic goals in Phase I.

- see this release
- check out the AFX report for more

Related Articles:
Vertex shares jump on hep C trial data. Report
Analysts cheer signs of turnaround at Merck. Report

NicOx pushes new naproxen version for arthritis pain

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 06:59:55 -0500

The Wall Street Journal reports on the progress that NicOx is making advancing a new version of naproxen for relieving arthritis pain. The French biotech is looking for a marketing partner for the drug, which adds nitric oxide to naproxen, relaxing blood vessel walls in a way that will allow patients to take the drug without the risk of higher blood pressure.

"We'll be the only one that will be able to show we're like placebo on blood pressure in long-term trials," said Michele Garufi, CEO of NicOxthe. NicOx may file for approval in early 2009.

- read the report from the Wall Street Journal's blog

Related Articles:
NicOx osteoarthritis drug fails comparison study. Report
NicOx escapes a requirement for major trial. Report
NicOx stock soars on $385M development pact. Report