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Janssen, BeiGene enter in-licensing agreement for two clinical-stage oncology compounds

BeiGene, Ltd., today announced that it has entered into exclusive in-licensing and co-development agreements with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV and its affiliates for two clinical-stage oncology compounds.

15 Oct 2011

Researchers identify gut bacteria bile acids linked to effectiveness of statin drugs in lowering cholesterol

Statins can be effective at lowering cholesterol, but they have a perplexing tendency to work for some people and not others. Gut bacteria may be the reason.

14 Oct 2011

Scientists characterize and isolate potential stem cells to treat MS, myelin disorders

Scientists have improved upon their own previous world-best efforts to pluck out just the right stem cells to address the brain problem at the core of multiple sclerosis and a large number of rare, fatal children's diseases.

14 Oct 2011

New dual drug combinations in development for various cancers

A rarely used—and as yet largely unproven—approach to drug development has emerged as a significant tool in the effort to create high-impact new cancer drugs.

14 Oct 2011

Micromet receives FDA feedback on blinatumomab registration for R/R ALL

Micromet, Inc. today outlined a clinical development plan intended to support U.S. registration of its lead product candidate blinatumomab in patients with B-precursor relapsed/refractory (r/r) acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

14 Oct 2011

NIH awards Scripps Research scientist for research into Type I diabetes

A scientist at The Scripps Research Institute has been awarded $4.2 million from the National Institutes of Health in a program to advance what the agency calls "bold and creative research" into Type I diabetes.

14 Oct 2011

Positive data from Anadys' setrobuvir Phase IIb combination study on genotype 1 HCV

Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today released interim antiviral response and safety data from an ongoing Phase IIb study of setrobuvir in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin (P/R) in genotype 1 hepatitis C patients.

14 Oct 2011

Baxter commences BAX 111 Phase III trial in von Willebrand disease

Baxter International Inc. today announced initiation of a Phase III clinical trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of BAX 111, Baxter's investigational recombinant von Willebrand factor (rVWF), for the treatment and prevention of bleeding episodes in patients with von Willebrand disease.

From Baxter International Inc. 14 Oct 2011

WuXi PharmaTech announces acquisition of Abgent

WuXi PharmaTech Inc., a leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device research and development services company with operations in China and the United States, today announced the acquisition of Abgent, Inc., a provider of biological research reagent products and services based in Suzhou, China, and San Diego, California.

14 Oct 2011

Bruker acquires Center for Tribology

Bruker Corporation today announced the closing of its acquisition of Center for Tribology, Inc. (CETR) for $13 million in cash as an initial purchase price, with potential additional earn-out payments of up to $4 million in cash, depending on growth and profitability of the CETR-business within Bruker in 2012 and 2013.

From Bruker Nano Surfaces and Metrology 13 Oct 2011

Simmons Center to evaluate CGEN-25009 for treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Compugen Ltd. and the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation announced today that the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation will provide a grant to scientists at the University of Pittsburgh Dorothy P. and Richard P.

13 Oct 2011

Affymetrix launches Axiom Pan-African Array

Affymetrix, Inc. today announced at the ICHG/ASHG annual conference in Montreal, the worldwide launch of the Axiom Genome-Wide Pan-African Array, the first commercial product to maximize genomic coverage of both common and rare alleles in populations of African ancestry, including West African, East African, and African American.

13 Oct 2011

FDA grants Advaxis pre-IND meeting for ADXS-HER2 cancer immunotherapy

Advaxis, Inc., a leader in developing the next generation of immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases, has been granted a pre-Investigational New Drug meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on November 22nd, 2011 to discuss the initial clinical development plan for ADXS-HER2, a construct for the treatment of HER2 expressing cancers.

12 Oct 2011

NCCN Oncology Research Program wins two GSK grants

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network Oncology Research Program (ORP) has been awarded $4 million in the form of two research grants from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to develop studies to scientifically evaluate and define GSK2118436, a BRAF inhibitor, and GSK1120212, a MEK1 and MEK2 inhibitor. Previous research has indicated that BRAF mutations are strong targets for therapies in the treatment of advanced melanoma.

12 Oct 2011

Life Technologies launches Ion AmpliSeq Cancer Panel

Life Technologies Corporation today announced the launch of the Ion AmpliSeq Cancer Panel, enabling scientists to sequence dozens of genes in cancer research samples using a simple workflow.

12 Oct 2011

NIH, Genesis Biopharma enter Patent License Agreement for adoptive cell therapy

Genesis Biopharma, Inc., a biotechnology company developing targeted cancer immunotherapies, today announced it has entered into a Patent License Agreement with the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the United States Public Health Service within the Department of Health and Human Services

12 Oct 2011

Two-gene DNA urine test for prostate cancer

In the current debate sparked by the recent USPSTF recommendation on PSA screening, it is clear that better biomarkers than PSA are urgently needed. One new biotechnology that may go a long way in detecting only prostate cancer and reducing unnecessary prostate cancer biopsies and possible subsequent overtreatment, is the development of a new urine test for prostate cancer.

12 Oct 2011

Furiex announces publications and presentations about antibacterial drug JNJ-Q2

Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced recent and upcoming publications and presentations about the novel investigational antibacterial drug JNJ-Q2.

12 Oct 2011

COPAXONE reduces loss of brain volume in patients with RRMS

Results from a five-year study of treatment-naïve patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) demonstrated that patients treated with COPAXONE (glatiramer acetate injection) showed significant reduced loss of brain volume compared to patients treated with other disease modifying therapies.

12 Oct 2011

Accelrys introduces new Cheminformatics Suite

Accelrys, Inc., a leading scientific enterprise R&D software and services company, today announced the new Accelrys Cheminformatics Suite, providing R&D organizations with the most robust, end-to-end solution available to register, search, mine and analyze information on chemical structures and reactions, chemically modified sequences and associated data such as inventory, assay and analytical results.

11 Oct 2011