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Other News To Note
(BioWorld Today Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) , of Princeton, N.J., signed a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by Coral Gables, Fla.-based Stiefel Laboratories Inc. through a two-step transaction involving a tender offer followed by a merger of Barrier into a wholly owned subsidiary. Stiefel agreed to pay $4.15 in cash per share, a 73 percent premium to Barrier's average 30-day closing price, which puts the transaction's value at about $148 million. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter. Barrier, which markets three products - Xolegel (ketoconazole) gel for seborrheic dermatitis, Vusion (miconazole nitrate, zinc oxide and white petrolatum) ointment for diaper dermatitis complicated by candidiasis and Solage (mequinol, tretinoin) topical solution for solar lentigines - has a development-stage pipeline targeting a range of dermatological conditions. Shares of Barrier (NASDAQ:BTRX) jumped $2.27, or 129 percent, Monday to close at $4.03.
? Cannasat Therapeutics Inc., of Toronto, said it agreed to sell its 12 percent equity stake in privately held Prairie Plant Systems, of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, for $1.1 million. That price is equal to what Cannasat originally paid for PPS shares in August 2004. The company now plans to focus all its efforts and resources on its drug development pipeline, which includes CAT 310 for neuropathic pain and CAT 320 for anxiety and mood disorders. Both of those are in clinical testing.
? Genelabs Technologies Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., said that Gilead Sciences Inc., of Foster City, Calif., has exercised its right to terminate its partnership for nucleoside-based inhibitors for the NS5b hepatitis C polymerase and will return all rights to the compounds developed in the program to Genelabs. The termination does not affect Genelabs' two-year partnership with Novartis AG, of Basel, Switzerland, for non-nucleoside inhibitors of the NS5b polymerase in HCV. Genelabs said it has completed the research portion of its partnership with Novartis, which is responsible for development and commercialization. To date, Genelabs has received $19.1 million, including a $12.5 million initial up-front payment over a two-year research period, under the 2006 Novartis agreement. Genelabs could bank an additional $175 million if all potential clinical, regulatory and sales milestones are met. The company also is entitled to an undisclosed amount in royalties on sales. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 1, 2004, and June 6, 2006.)
? Genta Inc., of Berkeley Heights, N.J., said the FDA has lifted the clinical hold on the firm's oral semi-synthetic taxane tesetaxel, formerly DJ-927. The company's trials were placed on clinical hold after several patients with advanced cancer died after experiencing severe neutropenia. Despite the clinical hold, Genta in March signed an exclusive worldwide development and commercialization licensing agreement with Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd., of Tokyo. The deal's financial terms were not disclosed. (See BioWorld Today, March 10, 2008.)
? Insmed Inc., of Richmond, Va., said it intended to request a hearing before the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel to appeal an earlier staff determination to delist the firm's common stock from the Nasdaq Capital Market. The company was notified on June 17 that it had failed to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement of $1 per share.
? Jerini AG, of Berlin, said the company will submit a complete response to the FDA's not approvable letter for Icatibant in the treatment of acute attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE). Jerini's complete response, to be submitted in the next three to four months, will provide the agency with information relating to Icatibant's efficacy in the treatment of HAE. The company's response will address specific areas of concern outlined by FDA. In the meantime, Jerini said it is "well prepared" for Icatibant's expected in the third quarter European product launch.
? Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, said the FDA has extended its review of the application for Promacta (eltrombopag) to Sept. 19. The original expected approval action date for the drug, which Ligand partnered with GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London, was June 19. The firms are seeking approval of Promacta for the short-term treatment of chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. The FDA's Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee on May 30 unanimously voted in favor of approval of the drug. However, the FDA said that Promacta was no better than placebo in efficacy for ITP and the drug had some troubling liver safety risks for patients. (See BioWorld Today, May 30, 2008.)
? Lorus Therapeutics Inc., of Toronto, said its lead clinical drug, LOR-2040, has been granted orphan drug status for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia by the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products of the European Medicines Agency. LOR-2040 currently is in an advanced Phase II clinical study in patients with relapsed or refractory AML. To provide an adequate supply of LOR-2040 for ongoing and projected clinical trials, Lorus already has secured an additional supply of LOR-2040 from Avecia Biotechnology Inc., a leading private biotechnology company focused on the development and manufacture of innovative medicines.
? Morphotek Inc., of Exton, Pa., said the company has received $1.7 million in funding approval from the U.S. Department of Defense to support the development of biologic-based monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies against staphylococcal-derived pathogens. The proceeds will be used to help further develop mAbs targeting staphylococcal toxins as well as staph itself for the treatment of infectious diseases.
? Novogen Ltd., of Stamford, Conn., the registered owner of the European Patent "Use of isoflavone phyto-oestrogen extracts of soy or clover (EPO 656786 B1), has reached an agreement with Laboratorios Casen-Fleet, the Spanish affiliate of the U.S. multinational health care company Fleet Laboratories, for a license in Spain to the Novogen Patent. Casen-Fleet recently acquired the red clover isoflavone-based menopause product Fitogyn from Laboratorios Gynea SA. In conjunction with the product acquisition Laboratorios Casen Fleet and Novogen have agreed on confidential terms for a patent license agreement.
? Oculus Innovative Sciences Inc., of Petaluma, Calif., reached an agreement with Bayer (Sichuan) Animal Health Co. Ltd., of Chengdu, China, for the development of the Microcyn Technology for use in the Chinese animal market. As part of the agreement, Bayer (Sichuan) will be responsible for securing Chinese regulatory approval for the use of Microcyn Technology in both the Chinese companion animal and food animal markets. Upon receipt of the Chinese regulatory approvals, Bayer retains right of first negotiation to enter into a distribution agreement for Oculus' Vetericyn animal brand (formulated with the Microcyn Technology) for the People's Republic of China.
? OncoMethylome Sciences, of Liege, Belgium, entered into a supply agreement with Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings, of Burlington, N.C. OncoMethylome agreed to sell reagents to LabCorp for detecting methylation of the Vimentin DNA marker with Methylation-Specific PCR. LabCorp plans to initially use the reagents for laboratory-developed, stool-based testing in North America that would serve as an option for traditionally noncompliant patients recommended for colorectal cancer screening. Under terms of the agreement, OncoMethylome will earn revenue for supplying the reagents and also will qualify for milestones tied to commercial use of the reagents by LabCorp.
? Probiodrug AG, of Munich, Germany, received a grant of ?1.9 million (US$2.95 million) from the public research funding program "KMU innovativ: Biotechnology-BioChance," a funding program of the German Ministry of Education and Research. The grant will be split over a period of three years as a nonrepayable fund and will be used by Probiodrug for the characterization and pharmacological evaluation of glutaminyl cyclase inhibitors as a novel treatment strategy for Alzheimer's disease (AD). That therapeutic approach is based on Probiodrug's discovery that the enzyme glutaminyl cyclase is involved in the seeding of AD-typical amyloid beta in the brain of AD patients.
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