infectious disease

Development chief outlines strategy at Genentech

John Carroll — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:55:43 -0400

Genentech's Susan Desmond-Hellmann, president of product development, outlined the biotech giant's development strategy to a group at the Goldman Sachs healthcare conference. In addition to testing new uses of its cancer blockbusters, Desmond-Hellman says the company will push hard to advance new therapies in the neuroscience and infectious disease areas. Genentech also has 14 new molecules in development for cancer indications.

The research chief also told the group that the blockbuster drugs of the past may never be duplicated. Future drugs will cater to a smaller, better defined group of patients. "The days of big cholesterol-lowering drugs for millions of people may be behind us."

- read the report in the Wall Street Journal

ALSO: Genentech announced that it had settled a patent dispute with MedImmune over basic production methods. Report

Symphogen inks $330M collaboration pact with Genentech

John Carroll — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:15:13 -0400

Denmark's Symphogen has inked a $330 million collaboration deal with Genentech to discover new antibodies for three infectious disease targets. Symphogen gets an undisclosed equity investment as well as an undisclosed upfront payment, which will be used to fund a lead program in a mid-stage trial. Genentech gets a worldwide license on the developed candidates and will fund related R&D costs. The pact is a coup for Symphogen, which has smaller deals in place with Sweden's Biovitrum AB and Japan's Meiji Seika Kaisha.

According to a report in BioWorld, Symphogen has developed a rapid process for cloning antibodies as well as a more efficient manufacturing process.

"This deal underscores our belief that Symphogen's technologies offer a valuable approach to create next-generation therapeutics that address critical unmet medical needs in the treatment of serious infections," said Kirsten Drejer, Ph.D., CEO of Symphogen.

- check out the press release
- read the story from BioWorld

Emergent BioSolutions buys flu vaccine maker

Tue, 27 May 2008 06:59:56 -0400

Emergent BioSolutions has inked a deal to acquire the Protein Sciences Corporation assets for up to $75 million. The move is part of Emergent's strategy to expand its product portfolio with a drug candidate focused on infectious disease. Currently, most of Emergent's business comes from government contracts for biodefense. Emergent will acquire PSC's ongoing operations, including FluBlok, a Phase III recombinant influenza vaccine candidate, and certain other assets. "The acquisition of FluBlok is consistent with Emergent's strategy of expanding its product portfolio with a vaccine candidate focused on a major infectious disease," said Fuad El-Hibri, Emergent's CEO. The company recently bought rival VaxGen's anthrax vaccine business.

- check out Emergent's release
- read the Washington Post article

SPOTLIGHT: Meridian buys recombinant proteins

Wed, 14 May 2008 06:59:53 -0400

Meridian Bioscience has agreed to buy a line of infectious disease recombinant proteins from Vybion for an undisclosed sum of money. The pact covers future royalties on product sales. Release | Report

Argos garners $35.2M in third round

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:59:55 -0400

TVM Capital led a hefty $35.2 million third round of venture capital for Colorado's Argos Therapeutics. The funding will be used to support Argos' Phase II trial of Arcelis immunotherapy drug candidates in renal cell carcinoma and HIV. In addition, it will finance the company's CD83 protein immunology program through an initial human clinical trial in transplantation.

"We believe that the Company's many near-term data events, combined with its ability to move into additional cancer and infectious disease indications with its Arcelis platform technology, as well autoimmune disorders with its CD83 soluble protein, position Argos as a leader in the immunotherapy field," said Hubert Birner, Ph.D., General Partner of TVM Capital and Argos' Chairman. Argos was featured in FierceBiotech's weekly column on emerging drug developers.

- see this Argos release

Shareholders stymie VaxGen, Raven merger

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 07:59:57 -0400

VaxGen and Raven Biotechnologies are backing out of their proposed merger after "stronger than anticipated opposition" from shareholders. The companies say that while they initially thought shareholders would go for the deal, it became apparent that they'd reject the plan. VaxGen develops drugs for the treatment and prevention of infectious disease, and Raven develops monoclonal antibody (MAb) therapeutics for cancer. Company officials hoped that the merger would put them at the forefront of the market for MAb cancer treatments.

"We are obviously very disappointed that the proposed merger with Raven was not approved by our stockholders," said James P. Panek, VaxGen President and CEO. "...[I]t has become quite clear that there is sufficient opposition, such that this merger will not be approved." The merger rejection is more bad news for VaxGen, which has been through three rounds of layoffs since the federal government canceled its $877 million anthrax vaccine contract.

- check out this release

Related Articles:
Momentum builds for VaxGen, Raven merger. Report
VaxGen slashes staff--again. Report

Morphotek licenses anti-cancer antibody

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:59:57 -0500

Morphotek has inked a deal with Human Monoclonals International to get rights to a human monoclonal IgM antibody that is specific to a cancer cell surface antigen. The company hopes to develop a lead therapeutic MAb and high-titer cell lines suitable for scalable manufacturing. Morphotek, which was acquired by Eisai last year, has a pipeline of antibodies in development for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and infectious disease. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"This agreement provides yet another important addition to our therapeutic antibody portfolio," said Nicholas Nicolaides, Ph.D., Morphotek's president and CEO. "Safety data and positive clinical observations from an exploratory Phase I clinical trial in patients with metastatic melanoma have been reported. Our antibody optimization and development expertise will enable the further development of this promising antibody and clinical proof-of-concept studies in more types of cancer."

- check out the release

Related Articles:
Eisai acquires Morphotek in $325M deal. Report
Morphotek gains $40M in fourth venture round. Report

FDA cancels meeting as hopes rise for Basilea

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 06:59:58 -0500

The FDA has canceled a scheduled advisory board meeting on Basilea's ceftobiprole antibiotic, a move that analysts say makes a quick approval likely. That's what investors wanted to believe, sending shares of Basilea up in hopes that the agency will move swiftly. The FDA, though, gave no reason for the cancellation and the company declined to speculate on what it could mean. The agency granted a standard review of the antibiotic in July.

"Normally, the process takes about ten months," said a spokesperson. "The treatment application was accepted in mid-July." Drug developers have been scrambling to come up with new treatments for MRSA and other infections that have been spreading quickly. But several big companies also exited the antibiotic field several years ago, making it harder to find deep-pocket partners to advance new therapies.

- see this release
- here's the report from AFX

Related Articles:
U.S. pipeline bone dry for new antibiotics. Report
Dry antibiotic pipeline concerns infectious disease experts. Report
Basilea reports positive Phase III antibiotic data. Report
Basilea shares jump on antibiotic data. Report

Zosano rounds up $45M in VC

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 06:59:57 -0500

Fremont, CA-based Zosano Pharma has received $45 million in its second round, bringing its total funding thus far to $90 million. Enterprise Associates, Nomura Phase4 Ventures, HBM BioVentures and ProQuest Investments participated in the round. Zosano is developing a transdermal microprojection delivery system, a small patch and applicator that is designed as an alternative to vaccines administered with needles.

"This second closing supports our continued progress with Zosano's lead program, a PTH patch for treating osteoporosis, which is currently in Phase 2 development," said Cory Zwerling, Zosano's CEO. "Our PTH development program is on track and we are also moving other Zosano activities forward."

- see this release for more

PLUS: Woburn-MA-based BioVex has garnered $35 million in a second round of Series E financing. The company is developing biologics for the treatment and prevention of cancer and infectious disease. The money will fund BioVex's Phase III study of OncoVexGM-CSF for the treatment of melanoma as well as to complete studies in head and neck cancer and pancreatic cancer. Triathlon Medical Ventures led the round. Release

Related Articles:
BioVex raises $22M for ongoing cancer trial. Report
BioVex moving HQ to Mass. Report

Merck's HIV vaccine linked to higher infections rate

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 06:59:54 -0500

Merck researchers have gone deep into the data for its recently shelved HIV vaccine and found evidence that the therapy may have actually made patients more likely to get an infection. Looking at the results of a study of 3,000 volunteers, researchers found that 49 of 914 people receiving the vaccine were infected with HIV compared to the 33 infections recorded among the 922 people in the placebo arm. The trial was shuttered after researchers concluded that the Merck vaccine had failed to reduce HIV levels or prevent infections.

"We don't really know the reasons for this," Keith Gottesdiener, vice president of vaccine and infectious-disease clinical research at Merck, told the WSJ. "We're still studying very hard to try to understand why that might have occurred."

- read the report from The Wall Street Journal

Related Articles:
Merck halts study of "ineffective" HIV vaccine. Report
New advances made in gene therapy for HIV. Report

Dry antibiotic pipeline concerns infectious disease experts

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 06:59:55 -0500

The Infectious Diseases Society of America has been beating the drum over a paucity of new antibiotic approvals. With drug developers lured by bigger margins in other disease categories, drug companies began bowing out of this field years ago, says the society. Between '88 and '92 there was an average of three new antibiotic approvals each year. But since 2003 that number has slipped to an average of one new approval a year as Aventis, Abbott Laboratories, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Proctor & Gamble, Roche and Wyeth have dropped out of the field or cut research efforts. As a result, physicians say, there are an increasing number of aggressive infections they can't treat.

- read the report

Related Articles:
WHO: Infectious disease a growing threat. Report
The challenges of infectious disease. Report
Study finds alarming spread of MRSA. Report
Targets found for antibiotic development. Report

New malaria vaccine offers better protection

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:59:55 -0400

Sanaria is grabbing headlines with its approach to fighting malaria. Researchers for the company have developed a process to create weakened parasites that create an immune response sufficient to protect 90 percent of patients for a 10-month period. The company's founder, Steven Hoffman, says that the vaccine could be a huge life saver in Africa. Malaria kills about two million people each year, and most of the victims are children.

- read the report from AHN

Related Articles:
Herbal drug used to model new malaria drug. Report
Genome map completed on malaria parasite. Report
WHO: Infectious disease a growing threat. Report

WHO: Infectious disease a growing threat

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 06:59:54 -0400

A new report from the World Health Organization is sounding the alarm on the serious threat the world faces from rapidly spreading infectious disease. New disease are emerging--such as AIDS, Ebola and SARS--and the prevalence of air travel means that localized diseases can be easily transported around the globe within hours. In addition, infectious diseases are becoming more difficult to treat and drug resistance in particular poses a serious threat to world health. "Since 1967, at least 39 new pathogens have been identified, including HIV, Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Marburg fever and SARS. Other centuries-old threats, such as pandemic influenza, malaria and tuberculosis, continue to pose a threat to health through a combination of mutation, rising resistance to antimicrobial medicines and weak health systems," warns the WHO.

- see the WHO report

Related Articles:
The challenges of infectious disease. Report
Study finds alarming spread of MRSA. Report

Deadly TB strain may be spreading fast in Africa

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 19:01:36 -0500

An outbreak of a particularly virulent form of tuberculosis in South Africa is raising concerns among a group of health experts that the disease has already spread in the region, raising fears of an epidemic that could threaten the lives of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. South African officials insist that they have the situation in control, but TB experts say that the government has been slow to respond after 52 of 53 TB infection patients in one clinic died from the strain a year ago. Of particular concern is the affect of the TB strain in an area of the world already afflicted with high rates of HIV as well as tuberculosis. Physicians say they don't know how to stop that form of TB.

- read The New York Times report

Related Article:
The challenges of infectious disease. Report

Press Release: AstraZeneca Makes $100M Research Investment In Boston

Maureen Martino — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 12:12:36 -0500

AstraZeneca Makes $100M Research Investment In Boston

Expansion Of R&D Boston To Create Up To 100 New Scientific Jobs

WILMINGTON, Del., Jan. 22 -- AstraZeneca today announced a $100 million research investment to strategically boost work in the infectious disease area and continue its incremental growth in cancer research at its R&D center near Boston, Massachusetts.

The expansion of AstraZeneca's research facility will accommodate up to 100 additional researchers. They would join the more than 400 existing employees who are focused on discovering treatments for infectious diseases and cancer.

"This investment will significantly boost our research capabilities in two critical areas of medical need, and two areas where we have tremendous heritage," said David Brennan, Chief Executive Officer of AstraZeneca. "It will provide additional resources for our scientists who are tackling more complex diseases than ever before, as they work towards our ultimate goal of giving people hope for a healthier future."

Adds Jan Lundberg, Executive Vice President, AstraZeneca Global Discovery Research, "Infectious disease is becoming more prevalent and problematic to patients and healthcare providers, placing a heavy burden on our healthcare systems. With our expanded presence in Boston, our scientists will be better equipped to discover and develop novel medicines to address important areas of unmet need."

The World Health Organization figures show that 41 percent of the global disease burden is due to infection. Outside the European Union and US, the infectious disease burden is greater than the total of all other therapy areas combined. Meanwhile, there has been a worldwide decline in the delivery of new antibiotics -- only 10 new antibacterials have been introduced since 1998, of which two were truly novel. Resistance to currently available antibacterials continues to increase and represents a clear danger to patients and public health globally. AstraZeneca is committed to providing much needed new antibacterial agents for worldwide use.

Construction of the 132,000 square foot facility will begin at the Waltham, Mass. site during the first quarter of 2007 with scheduled completion by mid 2009. Upon completion, the total size of the AstraZeneca research facility will be 382,000 square feet. AstraZeneca first established a research presence in Boston in 1995, ahead of many competitors. In 2000, the company opened their state-of-the-art research facility in Waltham where it has continued to invest and expand, growing from 170,000 square feet to the current 250,000 square foot facility.

Since the opening of AstraZeneca R&D Boston, scientists there have discovered three potential drugs that are under development to treat different cancers including breast, ovarian, thyroid and prostate cancer, and two novel- class candidate drugs to potentially treat serious skin infections, serious cases of chronic bronchitis and serious pneumonias.

AstraZeneca believes Boston gives the company access to the leading scientific talent, potential partners and collaborators, and emerging science in a worldwide biotechnology hub.

AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals and the supply of healthcare services. It is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies with healthcare sales of $23.95 billion and leading positions in sales of gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory, oncology and infection products. AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Global) as well as the FTSE4Good Index.

Bird flu outbreaks spread across Asia

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 19:01:36 -0500

Indonesia is preparing more hospitals to take victims of a new bird flu outbreak, as one facility reports that its small isolation ward has been filled. At least one family cluster has been affected as officials report the deaths of at least four people in that country in just the past week. Japan, meanwhile, is reporting that it has confirmed the presence of the lethal H5N1 version of bird flu in poultry, its first outbreak in three years. And reports of bird flu in poultry in Vietnam and Thailand have also surfaced. In many ways, the current spate of new cases fits into a well-established winter pattern in the Northern Hemisphere. As cold weather spreads, more victims surface, renewing fears that the virus could mutate into a new form that could trigger a human pandemic. Health officials, though, say that this year, government agencies appear to be responding much more quickly, in order to contain any outbreaks that occur. The fear of a pandemic has also prompted major efforts to develop new vaccines to protect populations. But that effort is still in a very early stage.

- here's the report on avian flu from ENS

Related Articles:
Vietnam steps up efforts to control bird flu. Report
New bird flu death adds to toll. Report
WHO calls for $10B in bird flu vaccine research. Report
The challenges of infectious disease. Report

Morgellons: New disease or mental illness?

Maureen Martino — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 12:28:41 -0400

If you haven't heard of Morgellons disease, you may soon. Fueled by a popular website outlining its symptoms, thousands of patients are reporting that they have the as-yet undocumented illness. Patients claiming to have Morgellons flooded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has launched an investigation of the phenomenon. The CDC plans to conduct its investigation in California, which along with Texas and Florida has served as a focal point for alleged disease. The symptom list proposed for Morgellons includes slow-healing sores, a sense of things crawling under the skin, fatigue and joint pain. To date, physicians have not been able to detect a unique cause for the symptoms, though many patients do test positive for Lyme disease. Some are suggesting that mental illness, not an infectious disease, is causing these symptoms, which also fit the pattern for a mental illness known as delusional parasitosis. They suggest that the outbreak is generated by Internet-fueled hysteria and picked up by emotionally susceptible patients. Get more information on Morgellons: - read this New York Times Article

WHO calls for $10B in bird flu vaccine research

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 20:01:35 -0400

The World Health Organization is warning governments around the globe that they need to invest another $10 billion if they expect to be able to stockpile enough vaccines to ward off a global bird flu pandemic. The WHO's global plan also calls for a big increase in seasonal flu vaccine production in order to expand vaccine production capacity and long-term R&D efforts to build better pandemic vaccines.

WHO would like to see annual production of seasonal vaccines boosted from 350 million to 560 million doses. And several billion dollars in new investments in R&D would offer the world a reasonable chance of gaining new vaccine protection from bird flu in three to five years.

- here's the report from the Financial Times for more information

Related Articles:
Indonesia agrees to release bird flu data. Report
WHO study points to threats of avian flu. Report
The challenges of infectious disease. Report

Switzerland to stockpile GSK's bird flu vaccine

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 20:01:37 -0400

GlaxoSmithKline's experimental bird flu vaccine hasn't been submitted for European approval yet, but Switzerland has already signed a deal to buy enough for its entire population. Switzerland will receive 8 million doses of the vaccine for stockpiling and another 7.5 million doses after any potential pandemic strain is identified. GSK and others in this field believe that creating vaccines based on the H5N1 virus will still afford protection to people after the virus mutates. In its current strain, the virus is not easily transmitted to people. GSK plans to submit the vaccine for approval later this year.

- read the AFX report on the stockpiling deal

Related Articles:
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The challenges of infectious disease. Report

2006 Mid-Atlantic Bio: The challenges of infectious disease

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 11:19:17 -0400

On the second day of the 2006 Mid-Atlantic Bio conference, Dr. Tony Fauci, director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), delivered a fascinating speech on emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. He kicked off his talk with a quote from physician and anthropologist T. Aidan Cockburn. “We can look forward with confidence to a considerable degree of freedom from infectious diseases at a time not too far in the future. Indeed…it seems reasonable to anticipate that within some measurable time…all the major infections will have disappeared.”

Cockburn predicted the eventual eradication of infectious disease in 1963, just as Dr. Fauci was embarking on a career in the field. But fortunately for Fauci, Cockburn’s prediction couldn’t have been farther from the truth. What Cockburn didn’t take into account was that infectious disease never really abated in other countries and that disease would evolve in the U.S. In recent years we’ve seen the emergence and re-emergence of some of the most serious infectious diseases the world has ever know, including HIV/AIDS, bird flu, SARS, West Nile virus, malaria, and, most recently, extreme drug-resistant tuberculosis. These diseases have challenged scientists and health workers alike, but they’ve also opened up new opportunities for the healthcare industry to develop new methods of dealing with infectious disease.

HIV/AIDS, Fauci observed, is perfect example of an emerging disease. While we may not realize it, we’re currently living through one of the greatest health disasters in history: tens of millions have died of the disease and many more have been infected. But despite the high human cost, Fauci says the global effort to halt the disease stands as a testament to what can be achieved if health officials around the world support drugmakers in their quest for a cure. The sum total of antiviral drugs developed for HIV/AIDS is greater than the number of antiviral drugs created for all other viruses combined. This is no accident. Lawmakers and health officials gave the industry an incentive to develop these drugs which accounts for the wide variety of treatments available today. A robust financial commitment, more researchers and better infrastructure has led to understanding of the etiology and pathogenesis of HIV/AIDS. This, in turn, promotes faster drug development. Imagine if we were to put this much effort into other diseases.

Influenza, in all its forms, is the re-emerging disease we’re probably all most familiar with. Each year between 250,000 and 500,000 people die of the flu and if all flu deaths in history are added up, influenza emerges as the second worst pandemic in human history (behind the Bubonic Plague). Every year the virus mutates just enough to warrant a new vaccine. While those in poor health need the flu shot, most people have enough immunity to the flu that they can survive without it. But every once in a while the flu mutates so much that no one’s body has immunity to it. This happened three times in the 20th century and could happen again with the bird flu. In order to prevent a worldwide pandemic, Fauci says health officials should go about developing a H5N1 vaccine the same way they poured money and resources into HIV/AIDS research. He also noted updating our vaccine production technology is necessary for meeting the demand for new treatments

The deliberate disseminated infectious diseases like anthrax have posed threats to public health and caused concern among the general population. And in recent weeks, food-borne pathogens such as E. coli and botulism have caused several products to be pulled from supermarkets shelves. As Fauci notes, there will always be new threats that pose challenges that the industry must meet. The extraordinary capability of microbial pathogens to persist, emerge and re-emerge has been in a delicate balance with public health measures, biomedical research and technological advances. Neither man nor microbes will ever triumph over each other. But through new innovation in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, health officials will improve their ability to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious disease. - Maureen