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Other News To Note(BioWorld Today Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) , of Cambridge, Mass., said that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has committed to $7.5 million of continued funding related to the 2006 contract for the development of a broad-spectrum RNAi antiviral therapeutic against hemorrhagic fever virus, including Ebola virus. The 2006 award was for up to $23 million over a four-year period. To date, the government has committed to paying Alnylam up to $14.2 million for the first two years of the contract. ? Arbios Systems Inc., of Waltham, Mass., said that it has suspended operations to focus on obtaining financing or consummating a strategic transaction. If a financing or a transaction is not achieved by Aug. 31, the company will need to consider other options, including liquidation, it said. To preserve cash, all employees were released except for Shawn Cain, president and CEO, and the chief financial officer, who will continue as part-time consultants on a month-to-month basis. The company needs financing to completion clinical trials for its SEPET Liver Assist Device. ? Argos Therapeutics Inc., of Durham, N.C., and Universit? de Montr?al in Canada said study results demonstrated that loading monocyte-derived dendritic cells with combinations of HIV antigen RNA stimulates the expansion of HIV-specific T cells, which attack and kill HIV-infected cells. Argos' immunotherapies are generated by its Arcelis technology, which is a platform for creating autologous, RNA-loaded dendritic cell-based therapies perfectly matched to each patient's unique virus. Those data were presented in an oral poster discussion Aug. 5 at the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. ? BioNanomatrix Inc., of Philadelphia, received a two-year, $399,020 grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health. It will be used to develop a nanoscale platform for single-molecule haplotyping imaging and analysis of long strands of DNA at ultra-high resolution in a massively parallel format. ? Chemokine Therapeutics Corp., of Vancouver, British Columbia, said that in preclinical models, CTCE-9908 decreased the spread of breast cancer to the ovary by about half, decreased the size of tumors in the femur, and decreased the number of tumors in the heart and other organs examined. The overall amount of tumor in the studies was reduced by 50 percent. Data were presented at the Joint Metastasis Research Society - American Association for Cancer Research Conference on Metastasis in Vancouver, British Columbia. ? Discovery Laboratories Inc., of Warrington, Pa., said that it has made significant progress in addressing key remaining requirements identified by the FDA to gain marketing approval of Surfaxin (lucinactant) for the prevention of respiratory distress syndrome in premature infants. Those key requirements are a Surfaxin biological activity test and reducing lipid-related impurities in Surfaxin active pharmaceutical ingredients. Discovery said it expects to submit a complete response in September. ? Eurand NV, of Dayton, Ohio, said that Eurand Inc. and UCB Inc., of Smyrna, Ga., have settled long-running litigation concerning a 1999 development, license and supply agreement between the two companies for a sustained-release formulation of methylphenidate hydrochloride co-developed by Eurand and currently marketed by UCB under the brand names Metadate CD and Equasym XL for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The settlement is expected to close by Sept. 5. UCB will pay Eurand a total of $35 million: $25 million at closing and $5 million plus interest at the first anniversary of the closing, and $5 million plus interest at the second anniversary of the closing. ? The FDA said it has approved the seasonal influenza vaccines that include new strains of the virus likely to cause flu in the U.S. during the 2008-2009 season. The six vaccines and their manufacturers are Afluria (CSL Ltd.), Fluarix (GlaxoSmithKline plc.), FluLaval (ID Biomedical Corp.), FluMist (MedImmune Vaccines Inc.), Fluvirin (Novartis AS) and Fluzone (Sanofi Pasteur Inc.). The FDA said it changed all three strains for this year's influenza vaccine - an unusual occurrence, as usually only one or two strains are updated from year to year. The strains are an A/Brisbane/59/2007 (H1N1)-like virus, an A/Brisbane/10/2007 (H3N2)-like virus, and a B/Florida/4/2006-like virus. ? ImQuest BioSciences, of Frederick, Md., said it received $6.4 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health to support the development of a long-lasting, safe and acceptable combination topical microbicide product. ImQuest, along with a consortium of microbicide researchers from four U.S. universities, will aim to develop the product using ImQuest's portfolio, which includes dual-acting pyrimidinediones, the virus attachment and fusion inhibitor ISIS 5320 and the virus-inactivating NCp7-targeted thioesters. The project will focus on creating a microbicide that provides a three-layer barrier to HIV infection. ? InNexus Biotechnology Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, said it has added DXLr120 (CD20) to its pipeline, which is the third product based on the firm's Dynamic Cross Linking technology. The company said that DXLr120 significantly improves antibodies binding to CD20, the target for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis. ? Nutra Pharma Corp., of Boca Raton, Fla., said its wholly owned drug discovery subsidiary, ReceptoPharm Inc., renewed its collaborative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study RPI-78M and RPI-MN as a possible rabies therapy. RPI-78M is ReceptoPharm's lead candidate for autoimmune and neurological disorders, and RPI-MN is its lead antiviral candidate. ? Ortho Biotech Products LP, of Bridgewater, N.J., said it was voluntarily recalling 44,292 vials of Procrit (epoetin alfa) after having identified cracks in the necks of a small number of vials. The lot number on the recalled vials is P114942A, with no other lot affected by the recall. ? Pro-Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Newton, Mass., said it plans to meet with the FDA in October to discuss its investigational new drug clinical development plans for an antihypoxia drug to be used in combination with Davanat and 5-FU to treat advanced solid tumors, including head and neck, breast and colorectal cancers. The firm said that the proposed clinical plan is in direct response to current studies indicating tumors resistance to chemotherapy and radiation are linked to hypoxia, a condition in which there is a decrease in the oxygen supply to a tissue. The company said that the human trials will evaluate the ability of the combination drug to treat patients who failed all standard anticancer therapies and their tumors are refractory to further treatment. ? Virogen Inc., of Minneapolis, said that the distributor of the firm's injectable vaccine to combat Newcastle disease, which kills chickens, has signed contracts with the largest poultry producers in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The firm projected vaccine sales of $2 million in the first year and $4 million to $5 million thereafter based on the new contracts. Virogen said its vaccine, which is injected directly into the chicken embryo and provides immunity for up to 10 weeks, is 2,000 times more potent than spray or nasal inhalant formulations of poultry vaccines. ? ? Copyright ? 2008 Thomson BioWorld, All Rights Reserved. |