Research & University News

Sanofi SA has stopped a Phase 3b trial of its antiarrhythmic, Multaq (dronedarone), in patients with permanent atrial fibrillation following a significant increase in cardiovascular events in those receiving the drug.

A study published in Nature Medicine has suggested that inhibiting a receptor called death receptor-6 may represent a novel approach for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The study was undertaken by researchers at Biogen Idec of the US.

Novartis AG said that its Phase 3 trial of Afinitor (everolimus) for women with advanced breast cancer has been stopped early after interim results showed that the primary endpoint of progression-free survival was met.

AstraZeneca Plc is to make an undisclosed up-front cash payment to PTC Therapeutics Inc for access to technology that regulates the rate and timing of protein production in the cell. The goal is to discover new small molecule drugs for cancer.

A project aimed at developing tools to monitor the neurotoxic effects of environmental pollutants on developmental disorders in children has been funded by the European Commission under its 7^th Framework programme for research.

Oxford BioMedica Plc said that its gene therapy for wet age-related macular degeneration was shown to be safe and well-tolerated following the administration of a first dose in a Phase 1 study at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital in the US.

Roche has reported that its investigational treatment for advanced basal cell carcinoma, vismodegib, shrank tumours in a Phase 2 study of patients with locally-advanced disease and those with metastatic disease.

Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH of Tübingen, Germany has started vaccination of the first patients in a Phase 3 trial of its therapeutic vaccine for renal cell cancer. The primary endpoint is overall survival in combination with sunitinib.

The European Union’s public-private partnership for drug development research, the Innovative Medicines Initiative, is to formally collaborate with the US Critical Path Institute, in a move to share more information from pre-competitive research.

CureVac GmbH, which has a messenger RNA vaccine in development for prostate cancer has reported that the vaccine induced an immune response to at least one antigen in 79% of patients in a Phase 1/2a study.