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First Edition: November 8, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include more post-mortem reports about the health law's impact on the election.

8 Nov 2010

22nd Century awarded $244,000 QTDP program grant

22nd Century Limited, LLC, a company focused on smoking cessation and tobacco harm reduction products, announced that it has been awarded $244,000 in grant funding as part of the U.S. Government's Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) program.

8 Nov 2010

Apricus receives $733,437 grants under QTDP program

Apricus Biosciences, Inc., today announced the award of three grants totaling $733,437 under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project program for PrevOnco, RayVa and Femprox which are the Company's development programs in cancer, autoimmune/cardiovascular and female sexual dysfunction, respectively.

8 Nov 2010

Teva hosts Respiratory Opportunity Meeting for financial community

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. today hosted its Respiratory Opportunity Meeting for the financial community in New York, featuring in-depth presentations on Teva's current and future respiratory growth strategy.

8 Nov 2010

Risk pools, drug prices and other issues in health law implementation

A health law program that directs $5 billion for coverage of otherwise uninsurable people through state-run high-risk insurance pools has attracted only 8,011 people according to health department enrollment figures, The New York Times reports. That's a paucity compared to the hundreds of thousands of people government actuaries predicted would flock to the program causing it to run out of money too early.

8 Nov 2010

Amgen wins Scrip Best New Drug award for Prolia

Amgen is pleased to announce that it has won the Best New Drug award for Prolia™ (denosumab), a novel treatment approved in the United States (U.S.) for women with postmenopausal osteoporosis at high risk for fracture, at the 2010 Scrip Awards ceremony Nov. 4 in London. Named one of TIME's Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs of 2009, Prolia is the first treatment specifically designed to target osteoclasts, the cells that break down bone.

8 Nov 2010

GeoVax receives $244,500 grant under QTDP program for HIV/AIDS vaccine development

GeoVax Labs, Inc., an Atlanta-based, biopharmaceutical firm dedicated to developing vaccines that prevent and fight Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections, today announced that it has been awarded a grant of $244,500 related to its HIV/AIDS vaccine development activities under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project program.

8 Nov 2010

Clinical Data receives $500,000 grants under QTDP program

Clinical Data, Inc. today announced that the Company has received two grants totaling nearly $500,000 under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project.

8 Nov 2010

Inviragen to present data on CHIKV vaccine at ASTMH meeting

Inviragen, a biotechnology company developing vaccines to protect against infectious diseases worldwide, together with investigators at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) and the Division of Vector Borne Diseases (DVBD) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will make an oral presentation today at the annual American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) meeting on preclinical results of the Company's experimental chikungunya virus (CHIKV) vaccine.

8 Nov 2010

Oragenics awarded $733,437 Federal Grant under PPACA Act

Florida-based biopharmaceutical company Oragenics, Inc. announced that it will receive a $733,437 Federal Grant as part of Congress's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

8 Nov 2010

ACTEMRA reduces signs, symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Genentech, Inc., a member of the Roche Group today announced updated data from a Phase III study (ROSE) that showed rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients receiving ACTEMRA (tocilizumab) experienced a rapid, measured response as early as one week after beginning ACTEMRA, and improvement in disease activity within four weeks.

8 Nov 2010

Genentech announces Phase II RG7204 clinical study results for metastatic melanoma tumors

Genentech, Inc., a member of the Roche Group today announced results from a Phase II clinical study of RG7204 (PLX4032), an investigational first-in-class molecule designed to selectively inhibit a cancer-causing, mutated form of the BRAF protein found in approximately half of metastatic melanoma tumors.

8 Nov 2010

InNexus receives $116,760 cash grant under QTDP program to develop DXL anti-cancer antibodies

InNexus Biotechnology Inc. a leading drug development company commercializing the next generation of antibodies based on its groundbreaking Dynamic Cross Linking (DXL) technology, today announced it has been awarded a cash grant by the U.S. government totaling $116,760 for projects related to the Company's development of DXL anti-cancer antibodies.

8 Nov 2010

Illinois life sciences receives $14.5 million in grants under QTDP program

At least 59 Illinois life sciences companies were awarded over $14.5 million in grants or tax credits under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) program.

8 Nov 2010

Ambit files registration statement with SEC for public offering of common stock

Ambit Biosciences Corporation, a recognized global leader in kinase drug discovery and development, announced today that it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the proposed initial public offering of shares of its common stock.

8 Nov 2010

Athersys secures three Therapeutic Discovery Project grants

Athersys, Inc. announced today that it has secured three Therapeutic Discovery Project grants as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. These grants were awarded related to Athersys' development of MultiStem® for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), also known as heart attack, and other forms of cardiovascular disease, as well as for the treatment of multiple diseases causing acute tissue damage and chronic inflammation.

4 Nov 2010

NWBT receives $490,000 in two grants under QTDP program

Northwest Biotherapeutics today announced that the company has received approximately $490,000 in two grants under the Qualified Therapeutic Discovery Project Grants Program. The maximum award was received for both grants.

4 Nov 2010

Antigenics awarded $424,720 grant under QTDP program

Antigenics Inc. today announced that it has been awarded $424,720 in grants under the IRS' Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) program. The grants were awarded in recognition of our two qualifying programs: AG-707, a phase 1 therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of genital herpes and QS-21 Stimulon® adjuvant.

4 Nov 2010

NormOxys' OXY111A candidate selected as ‘Top 10 to Watch’ at Windhover's meeting

NormOxys Inc., a biotechnology company developing a novel class of small molecule drugs which enhance the body's ability to deliver oxygen to diseased tissues and organs, today announced that OXY111A, its clinical stage candidate for the treatment of chronic heart failure and cancer, has been selected as one of Windover's "Top 10 Cardiovascular/Metabolic Projects to Watch."

4 Nov 2010

New England Journal of Medicine publishes brentuximab vedotin Phase I clinical trial data

Seattle Genetics, Inc. and Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, today announced that data from a phase I single-agent clinical trial of brentuximab vedotin (SGN-35) will be published in the November 4, 2010 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

4 Nov 2010