Eli Lilly and Company has announced the withdrawal of its treatment for septic shock, Xigris, from all markets following a new clinical study that failed to show efficacy. The study did not throw up any new safety findings.
Prosensa BV is set to receive a credit of up to €5 million from the Dutch government, payable on the achievement of milestones, to support the development of preclinical compounds for Myotonic Dystrophy type 1 using RNA modulation technology.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Onfi (clobazam) from H. Lundbeck A/S as an adjunctive therapy for seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. The approval is for adults and children aged two years and older.
Silence Therapeutics Plc has entered into an agreement with Mirna Therapeutics Inc of Austin, Texas to apply its delivery technologies to the US company’s candidate microRNA-based therapeutics for cancer. Financial details weren’t disclosed.
Sanofi SA said that the first of two randomised Phase 3 clinical trials of its antibody, alemtuzumab, showed a statistically significant improvement in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis compared with interferon beta-1a.
US researchers have reported that inhibitors of certain small RNA molecules known as microRNAs can promote an increase in high density lipoprotein cholesterol, thereby reducing the risk of heart disease. The research has been published in Nature.
The European Medicines Agency has reaffirmed its decision not to recommend the gene therapy, Glybera, for marketing following an appeal from the developer, Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics BV. This is the second gene therapy to be turned down by the EMA.
The European Medicines Agency has announced the start of a new review of the cardiovascular risks associated with the use of non-selective NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) which are used to treat pain and inflammation.
Syntaxin Ltd, which is a 2005 spin-out of the UK Health Protection Agency, has entered into an agreement with Ipsen SA of France to discover and develop therapies in the field of botulinum toxins in a deal potentially valued at more than $100 million.
EMD Serono Inc, an affiliate of Merck KGaA of Germany, and Fast Forward LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the US Multiple Sclerosis Society, are committing up to $3 million in 2012 to support early-stage projects in multiple sclerosis.