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VIVUS terminates Luramist development, commercialization agreement with FemPharm

VIVUS, Inc. today announced that it has terminated the Development and Commercialization Agreement with FemPharm Pty Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Acrux Limited) for Luramist™, a metered dose transdermal application of testosterone for women.

1 Apr 2010

Obama's gamble on a health care overhaul

Bloomberg BusinessWeek examines President Obama's long push for health care reform. "That Obama chose to stake his presidency on the U.S. health overhaul will define his legacy even as he risked the careers of many fellow Democrats in doing so. ... Obama's pursuit of health care reflected his desire to succeed where no other president had, as much as a determination to seize the chance to fix a broken system, according to [former Sen. Tom] Daschle.

1 Apr 2010

Insurers comply with new coverage rules for sick children

Early Tuesday, insurers agreed to new rules for covering sick children, including a ban that will take effect in September on "pre-existing condition exclusions" for children younger than 19.

1 Apr 2010

Orexigen Therapeutics announces submission of Contrave NDA for treatment of obesity

Orexigen® Therapeutics, Inc. announced that the Company has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Contrave® (naltrexone SR/bupropion SR), its investigational drug for the treatment of obesity. The NDA is based on a substantial body of evidence gathered through the Contrave Obesity Research (COR) clinical program, which included over 4,500 patients.

1 Apr 2010

Tanda Professional Restore light therapy now made available for at-home use

During a press conference yesterday, doctors and experts unveiled a groundbreaking medical device using the healing properties of light therapy for pain management and improving mobility. For the first time ever, a licensed medical device that delivers clinical levels of light therapy only previously available in a doctor's office, has now been made available for at-home use.

1 Apr 2010

Personalized online resource to help Canadians achieve healthy weight loss

A Heart and Stroke Foundation survey of almost 2,000 Canadians found that 62% reported intentionally losing five or more pounds over the past five years but failed to keep the weight off. And 70% of those who were overweight or obese regained all or even more pounds after their weight-loss efforts.

1 Apr 2010

GeneLink's net sales for fourth-quarter of 2009 increased by 9.7%

GeneLink, Inc., a leading consumer genomics biotech company, today reported financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009.

1 Apr 2010

Court rules against gene patents

The New York Times: A judicial ruling that "threw out parts of two gene patents and called into question thousands more" has biotechnology executives hastening "to reassure their investors that the ruling would not necessarily undermine their businesses, at least in the short run. But the executives themselves were struggling on Tuesday to figure out what the long-term impact would be."

1 Apr 2010

Substances from vegetable lamb plant show promise for treatment of osteoporosis

The "vegetable lamb" plant - once believed to bear fruit that ripened into a living baby sheep - produces substances that show promise in laboratory experiments as new treatments for osteoporosis, the bone-thinning disease. That's the conclusion of a new study in ACS' monthly Journal of Natural Products.

1 Apr 2010

EMBL scientists identify genes involved in human cell division

Name a human gene, and you'll find a movie online showing you what happens to cells when it is switched off. This is the resource that researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, and their collaborators in the Mitocheck consortium are making freely available, as the result of a study in which they have identified the genes involved in mitosis - the most common form of cell division - in humans.

1 Apr 2010

Cord Blood America signs License and Cooperation Agreement with AXM Pharma in China

Cord Blood America, Inc., the umbilical cord blood stem cell preservation company focused on bringing the life saving potential of stem cells, a biological insurance policy, to families nationwide and internationally, announced today that it has signed a License and Cooperation Agreement for the processing and storage of umbilical cord blood in China with AXM Pharma, Inc.

1 Apr 2010

A roundup of health overhaul fack-checking

Will all Americans get health coverage as good as lawmakers' insurance under the overhaul, as Democrats pledged? Apparently so. Even though most federal workers will maintain their federally employee's benefits, lawmakers will have to sign up for insurance plans through the new, state-run exchanges offered through the health legislation (Barry, 3/31).

1 Apr 2010

Positive results from Ardea Biosciences' Phase 2b study of RDEA594 for hyperuricemia and gout

Ardea Biosciences, Inc. announced positive, preliminary, top-line results from its Phase 2b monotherapy study of RDEA594, its lead product candidate for the treatment of hyperuricemia and gout. In this 28-day, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation study, 123 gout patients with hyperuricemia (serum urate levels greater than or equal to 8 mg/dL) received 200 mg once-daily (qd) RDEA594, 400 mg qd RDEA594, 600 mg qd RDEA594 or matching placebo.

1 Apr 2010

BioCision, Biohit announce co-promotion program

BioCision LLC today announced that it has agreed to a co-promotion program with Biohit Inc.. Biohit's ErgoTube microcentrifuge tubes will now be branded and sold by both Biohit Inc. and BioCision. In addition, Biohit Inc. will cross-promote BioCision's highly thermo-conductive CoolRack microfuge tube racks for use in combination with ErgoTubes.

31 Mar 2010

Collegium Pharmaceutical receives USPTO notice of allowance for novel formulation of milnacipran

Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, announced that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for its patent application "Modified Release Compositions of Milnacipran", US Patent Application Number 12/211,780. The Notice of Allowance is the USPTO's official communication that the Company's application has successfully completed examination and that a patent will be issued.

31 Mar 2010

ChromaDex records revenue of $5.78M for 2009

ChromaDex Corporation, a leader in phytochemical reference standards and contract research, today announced financial results for the Fiscal Year ending January 2, 2010. On a reported basis calculated in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP), ChromaDex announced a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $0.03 per share for the one year period ended January 2, 2010. As of January 2, 2010, cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities totaled $471,378.

31 Mar 2010

FDA clears AdvanDx' 90 minutes protocol for C. albicans PNA FISH and C. albicans/C. glabrata PNA FISH tests

AdvanDx today announced that it has received FDA 510(k) clearance for a fast, 90 minutes protocol for its C. albicans PNA FISH® and C. albicans/C. glabrata PNA FISH® tests. The faster protocol reduces the PNA FISH turn-around time from the original 2.5 hours to 90 minutes by reducing PNA probe hybridization from 90 minutes to 30 minutes.

31 Mar 2010

RXi Pharmaceuticals reports net loss of 28% for 2009

RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company pursuing the development and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics based on RNA interference (RNAi), today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009.

31 Mar 2010

Genta commences Phase 2b trial of tesetaxel in patients with advanced gastric cancer

Genta Incorporated today announced that the Company has initiated a confirmatory Phase 2b trial of tesetaxel in patients with advanced gastric cancer. Tesetaxel is the Company's newest clinical-stage small molecule. As a late Phase 2 oncology product, tesetaxel is the leading oral taxane currently in clinical development.

31 Mar 2010

ViroPharma initiates Phase 2 clinical study to evaluate Cinryze

ViroPharma Incorporated today announced that it has initiated an open-label, single-dose Phase 2 study to evaluate doses of Cinryze™ (C1 esterase inhibitor [human)] for treatment of acute angioedema attacks in children less than 12 years of age with hereditary angioedema.

31 Mar 2010