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Keryx Biopharmaceuticals' perifosine receives FDA Fast Track Designation

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation for KRX-0401 (perifosine), the Company's novel, potentially first-in-class, oral anti-cancer agent that inhibits Akt activation in the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway, for the treatment of refractory advanced colorectal cancer.

5 Apr 2010

Altheos to fund development of ATS907 Rho-kinase inhibitor with completed $20M Series A financing

Altheos, Inc., a privately held early-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today that it has completed a $20 million Series A financing led by Bay City Capital. New investors Novo A/S, Canaan Partners, Life Science Angels and Atheneos Capital also joined the round. The financing will be used primarily for the development of ATS907, a selective Rho-kinase inhibitor Altheos licensed from Japanese pharmaceutical company Asahi Kasei Pharma. The license also includes a series of highly active compounds (AK138 series) specifically for topical treatment for glaucoma.

5 Apr 2010

FDA grants Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Fast Track designation for perifosine

Æterna Zentaris Inc., a late-stage drug development company specialized in oncology and endocrine therapy, today announced that its partner, Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, was granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for perifosine (KRX-0401), the Company's novel, potentially first-in-class, oral anti-cancer agent that inhibits the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway, for the treatment of refractory advanced colorectal cancer.

5 Apr 2010

"Mouse model" study finds LRRK2 gene mutation may cause inherited Parkinson's disease

2 Apr 2010

Study promises new combination cancer therapy for drug resistance

Results reported in the April 2nd issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, reveal a new source for the drug resistance that crops up all too often and quickly in the tumors of cancer patients undergoing therapy.

2 Apr 2010

Insight into how mutations in LRRK2 gene may cause familial Parkinson's disease

Using new one-of-a-kind "mouse models" that promise to have a significant impact on future Parkinson's disease research, Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers are among the first to discover how mutations in a gene called LRRK2 may cause inherited (or "familial") Parkinson's disease, the most common form of the disease. The study, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, is the first in vivo evidence that LRRK2 regulates dopamine transmission and controls motor performance, and that the mutation of LRRK2 eliminates the normal function of LRRK2, leading to Parkinson's disease.

1 Apr 2010

ARQ 197 demonstrates 66% improvement in median PFS in patients with advanced NSCLC

ArQule, Inc. today announced that ARQ 197, when used in combination with erlotinib, demonstrated a 66% improvement in median Progression-Free Survival in patients with advanced, refractory non-small cell lung cancer.

31 Mar 2010

YM BioSciences receives approval to expand enrolment in Phase I/II clinical trial of CYT387

YM BioSciences Inc., announced that it has received ethics board approval to expand enrolment in its Phase I/II clinical trial of CYT387 at Mayo Clinic in patients with myelofibrosis, a chronic debilitating condition, where patient's bone marrow is replaced by scar tissue.

31 Mar 2010

Neuroscientists prevent memory loss in fruit flies by blocking activity of PI3 kinase signaling protein

By blocking the cellular signaling activity of a protein, a team of neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has prevented memory loss in fruit flies caused by brain plaques similar to those thought to cause Alzheimer's disease in humans. The study also resolves a long-standing controversy about the role of this protein, PI3 kinase, which was previously thought to have a protective function against the disease.

30 Mar 2010

Tomato genes could be used as future treatment in gene therapy: Study

Tomato genes could be used as a future treatment in gene therapy, according to new research results from Lund University.

30 Mar 2010

Intellikine, Tragara Pharmaceuticals awarded $1M each for developing new multiple myeloma therapies

The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) today announced that two San Diego area biotech firms, Intellikine and Tragara Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will receive funding via its MMRF Biotech Investment Award program. The MMRF Biotech Investment Awards represent a multi-year research grant commitment to fund the early-stage drug development of novel compounds and approaches that show potential in treating multiple myeloma. Based on the companies' achievement of clearly defined milestones, the MMRF will commit a total of $1,000,000 to each company by the end of 2011.

30 Mar 2010

ER stress response is major driver of insulin resistance, say researchers

Biologists have long known that an enzyme called the PI 3-kinase is a crucial actor in the main molecular pathway for insulin signaling in cells. Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center now have uncovered startling evidence that one of the proteins in this enzyme also drives a pathway with an opposite result-triggering a stress response that leads to insulin resistance.

29 Mar 2010

New approach may circumvent lost response in insulin due to obesity

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have identified a new strategy for treating type 2 diabetes, identifying a cellular pathway that fails when people become obese. By activating this pathway artificially, they were able to normalize blood glucose levels in severely obese and diabetic mice. Their findings will be published online by Nature Medicine on March 28.

29 Mar 2010

Two separate articles describing preclinical data of ACE-041 published

Acceleron Pharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics that modulate the growth of cells and tissues including red blood cells, bone, muscle, fat, and the vasculature, announced the publication of two separate peer-reviewed articles describing preclinical data demonstrating that treatment with ACE-041, an inhibitor of signaling through the activin receptor-like kinase 1 receptor, slows tumor growth and progression by inhibiting angiogenesis.

26 Mar 2010

Working of master regulator protein phosphatase 1

Protein phosphorylation is a process by which proteins are flipped from one activation state to another. It is a crucial function for most living beings, since phosphorylation controls nearly every cellular process, including metabolism, gene transcription, cell-cycle progression, cytoskeletal rearrangement and cell movement.

26 Mar 2010

NYU researchers identify novel therapy for rheumatoid arthritis

By enhancing the activity of immune cells that protect against runaway inflammation, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center may have found a novel therapy for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.

26 Mar 2010

Tips offered in April 2010 issue of American Journal Of Pathology

A group led by Dr. Massimo Loda at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA has generated a preclinical model of human prostate cancer that mimics the genetic and growth behavior of primary tumors. Their report can be found in the April 2010 issue of the American Journal of Pathology.

25 Mar 2010

Portola Pharmaceuticals commences Phase 1 trial of PRT062607 for chronic inflammatory diseases

Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has initiated its first in human Phase 1 trial in healthy volunteers of PRT062607, a novel, oral Syk-specific kinase inhibitor in development to treat chronic inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and certain cancers, including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. In preclinical in vivo models of RA, PRT062607 was shown to reduce inflammation in a dose-dependent manner.

23 Mar 2010

FDA's ODAC voted to review T315I mutation prior to approval of OMAPRO

ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals Limited announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 7-1 that a validated test to identify the T315I mutation should be reviewed by the FDA prior to approval of OMAPRO™ (omacetaxine mepesuccinate).

23 Mar 2010

CRT, Cephalon to collaborate on development of small molecule inhibitors against cancer

Cancer Research Technology has announced an exclusive agreement with Cephalon, Inc., an international biotechnology company, to collaborate on the development of small molecule inhibitors. These molecules will target specific members of the 'protein kinase C' superfamily of cell signalling proteins - which have been shown to be associated with the development of cancer.

22 Mar 2010

Kinase News and Research

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals' perifosine receives FDA Fast Track Designation

Altheos to fund development of ATS907 Rho-kinase inhibitor with completed $20M Series A financing

FDA grants Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Fast Track designation for perifosine

"Mouse model" study finds LRRK2 gene mutation may cause inherited Parkinson's disease

Study promises new combination cancer therapy for drug resistance

Insight into how mutations in LRRK2 gene may cause familial Parkinson's disease

ARQ 197 demonstrates 66% improvement in median PFS in patients with advanced NSCLC

YM BioSciences receives approval to expand enrolment in Phase I/II clinical trial of CYT387

Neuroscientists prevent memory loss in fruit flies by blocking activity of PI3 kinase signaling protein

Tomato genes could be used as future treatment in gene therapy: Study

Intellikine, Tragara Pharmaceuticals awarded $1M each for developing new multiple myeloma therapies

ER stress response is major driver of insulin resistance, say researchers

New approach may circumvent lost response in insulin due to obesity

Two separate articles describing preclinical data of ACE-041 published

Working of master regulator protein phosphatase 1

NYU researchers identify novel therapy for rheumatoid arthritis

Tips offered in April 2010 issue of American Journal Of Pathology

Portola Pharmaceuticals commences Phase 1 trial of PRT062607 for chronic inflammatory diseases

FDA's ODAC voted to review T315I mutation prior to approval of OMAPRO

CRT, Cephalon to collaborate on development of small molecule inhibitors against cancer

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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