pharmaceuticals

FDA picking up the pace on '08 approvals

admin — Thu, 15 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

Last year's awful record of new drug approvals by the FDA has been followed by a burst of new activity. Pharmalot reports new analysis indicating 29 Read more...

Biovitrum AB cuts staff as it restructures R&D ops

admin — Thu, 15 May 2008 06:59:54 -0400

Sweden's Biovitrum AB has restructured its R&D operations, winnowing out about 100 people either through layoffs or by reassigning them to other work. Biovitrum says it will focus on specialist Read more...

Global demographic trends threaten drug industry

admin — Wed, 14 May 2008 06:59:54 -0400

You can file the following under the category of really, really bleak forecasts: The rising cost of healthcare in the developing world matched by an aging population is creating a perfect storm for Read more...

European investors sour on biotech market

admin — Tue, 13 May 2008 06:59:56 -0400

There's a loud drumbeat of warnings coming from Europe over the sour state of biotech investing. Zhining Xu, an analyst at Seymour Pierce, tells the Financial Times that 2007 was a "Read more...

Roche posts new data backing Actemra for RA

admin — Mon, 12 May 2008 06:59:54 -0400

Roche has racked up more late-stage data backing Actemra as a new therapy for rheumatoid arthritis. Researchers say their fifth Phase III trial demonstrated that the therapy inhibited structural Read more...

SPOTLIGHT: Fledgling biotech hunts for cash

admin — Mon, 12 May 2008 06:59:53 -0400

The backers of a fledgling northern Virginia biotech named Cary Pharmaceuticals has been out beating the bushes for $14 million in new investment funds to carry the company into the clinic. So far, Read more...

Enzon spins off biotech ops into $150M enterprise

admin — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:59:57 -0400

Enzon Pharmaceuticals has decided to spin off its biotech operations into a new company, adopting a suggestion floated by none other than Carl Icahn. Icahn has Read more...

SPOTLIGHT: Mystery Mistral merger is off

admin — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:59:53 -0400

Canada's Mistral Pharma says its proposed merger with an unnamed U.S. specialty pharma company will not be completed. As a result, its bridge financing deal has been canceled and management has Read more...

Report: GSK to fund venture firm, back start-ups

admin — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:59:57 -0400

In Vivo is reporting that GlaxoSmithKline plans to set aside up to $500 million for a new venture fund that will support its internal R&D work as well as fund start-ups created from Read more...

Esperion gets second shot as an independent drugmaker

admin — Mon, 05 May 2008 06:59:55 -0400

After getting squashed in Pfizer's restructuring crunch, Esperion Therapeutics is reopening this week. The company, which specializes in cardiovascular and metabolic disease work, is hiring about 10 Read more...