Scientists have described a mechanism that appears to explain why patients with pancreatic cancer can be resistant to the chemotherapy drug, gemcitabine. Their findings appear in the May 2009 issue of Science.
Epigenomics AG has announced plans to work with the Munich Technical University and clinicians in Bavaria to test the viability of a blood-based biomarker for detecting precancerous lesions. The German government is helping to fund the project.
A consortium led by Exiqon A/S of Denmark has been awarded a DKK 24 million ($4.5 million) grant from the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation to develop a new diagnostic to detect colon cancer from a blood sample.
Sanofi Pasteur has received an order from the US government valued at $190 million to produce a vaccine against the A/H1N1 virus, which has been declared to have pandemic flu potential.
GW Pharmaceuticals Plc has applied to regulatory authorities in the UK and Spain to have its cannabinoid pharmaceutical product approved for the treatment of spasticity due to multiple sclerosis. This follows positive results from a recent Phase 3 trial.
TiGenix NV of Belgium said its application to the European Medicines Agency to launch a new cell-based product in Europe for cartilage repair is proceeding according to schedule. If approved, it would be launched at specialist centres in Europe.
Algeta ASA of Oslo, Norway, outlined a strategy for the development and commercialisation of its new radiopharmaceutical, Alpharadin, in its financial report for the first 2009 quarter.
Cancer Research UK has agreed to conduct a first-in-man study of a novel anti-cancer drug owned by GlaxoSmithKline, but not currently a priority of the UK multinational.
Antisoma Plc has roughly doubled the cash available for developing its advanced products as the result of the sale of US rights to oral fludarabine, a cancer drug it acquired as part of an earlier takeover. The rights were sold to sanofi-aventis for $65 million.
Opsona Therapeutics, a 2004 spinout from Trinity College Dublin with expertise in toll-like receptors, has closed its Series B financing with the addition of the Roche Venture Fund and Enterprise Ireland to the syndicate.