The Food and Drug Administration has approved an electrical implant for the treatment of obesity that is intended to help adults lose weight by regulating a nerve pathway between the stomach and the brain that controls appetite.
AstraZeneca Plc said that an outcomes study of its cardiovascular drug Brilinta (ticagrelor) has shown the treatment to be effective in preventing a recurrence of disease in patients with a history of heart attack. The trial examined the drug at two different doses with aspirin in 21,000 patients.
Shire Plc is to strengthen its rare-disease franchise with an agreement to acquire NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc of Bedminster, New Jersey for $5.2 billion. The transaction, announced on 11 January, has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies.
Researchers at the Technische Universität München have reported a previously unknown regulator of programmed cell death, an important mechanism for ridding the human body of cancer. The finding was reported in Nature Medicine in late 2014.
Researchers in the US have discovered a new antibiotic which appears to be effective against certain bacteria without incurring resistance from the same pathogens. The discovery, by a team from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, was reported on 7 January 2015 in the journal Nature.
A gene has been identified in the tissue of breast cancer patients which, when over-expressed, appears to drive the development of triple-negative breast cancer, one of the more aggressive cancers. The finding was reported on 9 January 2015 in Nature Communications by a team of scientists from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, and nine other academic centres.
Cardio3 BioSciences SA has acquired a portfolio of immuno-oncology assets in the US thereby expanding its therapeutic focus to cancer in addition to cardiovascular medicine. The Belgium-based company specialises in regenerative medicine.
Merus BV has successfully fought off a patent infringement lawsuit brought against it in the US by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc, thus securing freedom to operate in the space for transgenic-mouse based antibody therapeutics. The Dutch company announced the decision on 5 January 2015.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new indication for the cystic fibrosis medicine Kalydeco (ivacaftor) which extends coverage to patients whose disease is caused by the R117H mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene.
The Sweden-based biotechnology company Active Biotech AB has raised SEK 225 million (€24 million) in an oversubscribed rights issue to support development of its clinical-stage portfolio, the lead product of which is in a pivotal trial for multiple sclerosis.