Breaking News on Drug Discovery

AZ hoping its prostate cancer drug will succeed where Abbott's failed

After decades of limited options and false hopes, prostate cancer sufferers will be hoping AstraZeneca's (AZ) new drug can succeed where Abbott's failed.

EU to fund stem cell assay development collaboration

Stem Cell Sciences (SCS) has received a €2.4m boost from the European Union (EU) for its new drug screening development programme using neutral stem cells.

GlaxoSmithKline cancer vaccine 'impressive'

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has taken a step closer to a true targeted cancer therapy, and its vaccine, which 'educates' the immune system to kill tumour cells, has showed 'impressive' results in its latest clinical trials.

Drugs moving into the clinic: 29

The latest in a series of periodic roundups of drugs that have moved from preclinical research into clinical testing via the announcement of a Phase I trial or an application for a trial to industry regulators.

AstraZeneca teams up to fight Japan's drug lag

AstraZeneca has teamed up with a Japanese university to co-conduct clinical trials in an effort to tackle Japan's so-called 'drug lag'.

IOTA breaks into fragment-based screening field

A new player, IOTA Pharmaceuticals, has entered the fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) services arena this week.

New schizophrenia target found in the glutamate system

US researchers have published new results that indicate the metabotropic glutamate 5 receptor (mGluR5) could be a potential target for new schizophrenia therapies.

Merck failure not our fault, says Crucell

Dutch firm Crucell is hastily trying to reassure investors that its popular cell line technology, PER.C6, was not to blame for the failure of Merck's hotly touted HIV vaccine last week.

Plexera and MitoSciences to develop ADME/Tox arrays

Plexera and MitoSciences will collaborate to commercialise an antibody array designed to study mitochondrial function that could become an integral part of ADME/Tox (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicology) screening.

New UK joint venture bets on membrane biology services

A UK university and a British consultancy firm have teamed up to offer outsourced R&D services focused on membrane biology - an increasingly promising area of drug development.

ProImmune launches T cell antigen prediction assay

ProImmune has launched a new cell-free assay for Class II HLA (human leukocyte antigen) that can help understand key helper T cell immune responses and aid the design of highly targeted therapies.

Wyatt lights up protein aggregation

Wyatt Technologies has launched a new instrument that automates protein aggregation measurement for use in all areas of the pharmaceutical industry from drug development to quality control (QC).

BMS buys biologics partner, strengthens oncology

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) will pay up to $490m (€348m) for Adnexus Therapeutics, as it continues its transformation into a biopharmaceutical company and strengthens its oncology pipeline.

Inside India: special series

Innovation 'key' to India's pharma future

The key to the future of India's pharmaceutical industry will depend on its ability to scale back its over-reliance on low-cost manufacturing and to foster innovation, with drug discovery and biosimilars presenting particular opportunities.

Sanofi imaging cancer drug 'sensors'

Sanofi-Aventis is using the latest targeted imaging techniques to assess how its cancer drugs affect organisms at the molecular level.

Merck's HIV vaccine steps out of development

Merck & Co. has stopped the Phase II trial of its V520 HIV vaccine after interim results showed that the vaccine was not effective and did not prevent infection.

Pfizer to spin off Japan drug research lab

Pfizer is considering offers from investors in a bid to spin off its drug research and development laboratory in Japan and make it an independent entity, according to media reports.

R&D news in brief

DrugResearcher.com brings you a round up of the latest news in pharma research, including a busy week for the US Department of Defence, a terminated RNAi deal, a new type of influenza drug, and more.

3D scaffold elevates drug screening results

UK researchers have developed a plastic cell scaffold that enables cells to be grown in realistic 3D structures and promises to enable better cell based drug screening results.

Three-way approach to personalised medicine

UK antibody specialists Oxford Genome Sciences (OGeS) has signed new deals with Medarex and Biosite in order to help it produce personalised anticancer drugs faster.

New US player in contract assay services field

The burgeoning US contract assay services arena has witnessed the arrival of a brand new player with the launch of ReachBio, which is opening its business operations this week.

Drugs moving into the clinic: 28

The latest in a series of periodic roundups of drugs that have moved from preclinical research into clinical testing via the announcement of a Phase I trial or an application for a trial to industry regulators.

Preclinical services news in brief

In this week's review of activity within the preclinical research services arena, new deals have emerged involving Alligator Bioscience, Indivumed, and Xceleron.

Sanofi-Aventis: pipeline update

At this week's research and development (R&D) day in Paris, Sanofi-Aventis gave a comprehensive update of its pipeline. DrugResearcher.com was there to bring you the highlights.

Provectus' dye causes tumours to die

Provectus has announced positive results for the first human trials of its new anticancer drug, which is based on a compound normally used as a dye.

Arcxis accelerates DNA preparation

US-based Arcxis Biotechnologies has launched a new device to enable automated nucleic acid preparation from up to eight biological samples in 15 minutes.

Evotec snaps up preclinical pharma firm, extends into US

Evotec has taken its first real foray into the US through the acquisition of a US speciality pharma company, as it continues to move further away from a services business to a fully fledged pharma company.

Novel assay tests tRNA inhibitors for HIV

US-based contract research organisation (CRO) Southern Research Institute (SRI) and drug maker Trana Discovery have teamed up to develop a high-speed screening method to identify new HIV drugs.

Sanofi plans to shake up 'stagnant' industry

Sanofi-Aventis hopes it can buck a pharma industry trend of declining numbers of new drugs with potentially 31 new drug submissions over the next 3 years.

UK set to overtake US on cancer funding

A new survey has shown that the cancer research funding gap between the US and Europe is narrowing, with the UK is set to become the world leader on a per capita basis.

Microbia, Forest pen IBS collaboration

Microbia and Forest Laboratories have penned a multi-million dollar deal over the former's first-in-class drug to treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Tracing protein receptors on cells

Researchers from the Old Dominion University in Virginia, US, have developed a method of detecting individual protein receptors on the surface of cells.

Weekly Comment

Cheap drugs, no profit, just cures

A group of leading drug developers have set up an international talent network for a 'global assault' on some of the world's deadliest diseases, such as tuberculosis (TB), malaria and AIDS, on a not-for-profit basis.

Caliper increases gene expression analysis throughput

Caliper Life Sciences has launched a new high throughput (HT) microfluidic assay that automates RNA quality and concentration assessment for gene expression analysis.

BioReliance launches new genotoxicity testing service

Bioreliance has signed a deal with Gentronix to provide the UK firm's novel DNA damage testing tool as a service for biopharma companies for the first time.

Pharmacopeia advances dual cardiovascular drug into Phase II

Pharmacopeia plans to expand the Phase I clinical study of its cardiovascular drug while beginning the next stage of trials, following promising results so far.

FDA and Gene Logic to set genomic industry standards

The FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) and Gene Logic are to collaborate in developing a set of industry standards for genomic data sent to the regulator.

Genomic data could alleviate health impact of loneliness

Loneliness has been linked to serious diseases such as cancer, heart disease and infection but a new study could point to new ways of reducing its impact on health.

ZS Genetics puts DNA under the microscope

ZS Genetics has signed up outside academic assistance to speed up development of its 'revolutionary' microscopy-based genetic analysis technology platform.

New funding drive for 'Eurostars'

The European Commission has named research-performing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as 'the entrepreneurial stars of Europe', and hopes to raise €800m of extra funds for them.

Novartis on NME trail

Novartis is aiming to hunt down its rivals through a pipeline of truly innovative drugs, measured by increasing numbers of New Molecular Entities (NMEs) in development.

Celsis jumps on ADME-Tox services bandwagon

US-based pharma services firm Celsis International has announced the addition of ADME-Tox services to its portfolio thanks to a recent acquisition.

Drugs moving into the clinic: 27

The latest in a series of periodic roundups of drugs that have moved from preclinical research into clinical testing via the announcement of a Phase I trial or an application for a trial to industry regulators.

Marksman Cellject device automates zebrafish injection for drug screening

A group of Canadian scientists have developed a technique to automatically inject material such as DNA or experimental drugs into individual cells, to use in drug screening.

Full potential of outsourcing to Asia yet to be grasped

Outsourcing to Asia has become a common practice among the pharma industry but the trend has still some way to run, according to recently released market research.

Cellectricon delivers genome-wide RNAi screening system

Swedish cell-based screening expert Cellectricon has placed the world's first high throughput (HT) genome-wide RNAi screening system at a beta-test site for evaluation.

F-star antibodies reaching for the sky

F-star is free to push forward with its plan to 'take antibody-based therapeutics to the next level' having secured venture capitalist backing.

Imaging protease activity

US researchers have developed a molecular probe that can light up tumour cells within living animals and enable direct imaging of cysteine protease activity.

BioVascular, Revitus join forces to target vascular disease

Two privately held biotech companies developing compounds to prevent blood clots have merged as their second drug candidate enters clinical trials.

Second new class of HIV drug given thumbs up

Merck & Co.'s integrase inhibitor, the first in a new class of HIV drug, looks likely to win approval in the near future, following a recommendation to regulators.

AstraZeneca to help Biovator replace in vivo allergy testing

AstraZeneca (AZ) is to assist Biovator in the development of its in vitro test for identifying potential allergens that could replace many experiments on animals.

Antibody alternatives continue to pull in the cash

Ablynx, one of the two main players in the miniature antibody sector, has signed 'by far' the biggest deal in its history, to help Boehringer Ingelheim develop up to ten so called 'Nanobodies'.

Merck in search of Korean deal

Merck & Co. is planning to reach further into the Korean market and is looking for potential deals with biotech companies in the country, according to local media.

Cisbio to brighten screening technology

Cisbio has entered into a partnership agreement with Lumiphore to gain access to new fluorescence reporter molecules for use in its high throughput (HT) screening assays.

Erectile dysfunction drug deemed a flop

King Pharmaceuticals has ended its alliance with Palatin Technologies, shortly after regulators raised 'serious concerns' over the first-in-class erectile dysfunction drug which was the subject of the collaboration.

Isis and Alnylam launch microRNA spin-out

Two specialists in the field of RNA-based drug discovery have decided to launch a joint spin-out company to focus solely on microRNA (miRNA) research.

Irish cosmetics market holds untapped potential

The market for personal care and cosmetic products looks like it has finally kicked off in Ireland, where market growth has failed to keep up with the fast pace of economic growth in the country.

Humanised antibodies lead the way in cancer approvals

A new report by the Tufts Center has claimed that while the number of anticancer therapies entering clinical development has doubled the approval rate has more than halved.

eMolecules opens the ChemGate for spectral access

eMolecules launched a new web-based database, ChemGate, that contains over 700,000 spectra that Wiley-VCH has collected for over 500,000 molecules.

Evotec co-launches European drug research hub

Evotec has launched a drug discovery hub in Hamburg in collaboration with the German city in a bid to provide services to academic research institutes of the same quality of those offered to the pharma industry.

Weekly Comment

UK gets go-ahead for hybrid embryo research

Eight months after the debate started over whether hybrid embryo research should be allowed in the UK, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has given researchers the thumbs up - but only on a case-by-case basis.

Isis knocks diabetes receptor senseless

Isis Pharmaceuticals has initiated a Phase I safety study for its first-in-class antisense drug that aims to control blood glucose levels in patients with Type II diabetes.

AstraZeneca increases affinity for China

AstraZeneca's affinity for China continues to escalate as the firm announced its first clinical pharmacology investment in the country.

IonGate and LIVC to push screening to the next level

High-throughput (HT) screening expert IonGate will assist start-up LIVC with the development and marketing of its novel light-activated ion channel switching technology.

Zebrafish used to catch heart data

A contract research organisation (CRO) is offering a unique toxicity screening service using zebrafish as a model for assessing drug effects on cardiac function.

Millipore targets arthritis research efficiency

Millipore has released a new kit that allows researchers to quickly generate arthritis mouse models for screening and evaluating anti-inflammatory therapeutics.

Serenex turns drug discovery back to front

Serenex is turning the world of drug discovery inside out by first finding an effective drug candidate and then working out what its target is.

Preclinical outsourcing to Asia 'off the horizon'

A recent survey reveals that Western pharma companies are still shying away from outsourcing preclinical work to Asia. Meanwhile, Covance and Charles River clearly dominate this niche industry sector.

Eli Lilly opens door for next-generation antipsychotics

Positive results from a Phase II trial have shown that Eli Lilly's latest antipsychotic drug acts on a new target and avoids key adverse effects caused by other antipsychotics.

Entelos snaps up Iconix, adds safety to efficacy prediction

Entelos has decided to upgrade its computational models that predict drug responses in 'virtual patients' by snapping up a toxicology specialist.