Weekend update: The spinning of Baby Einstein, multiple-med confusion, and more
(UPDATED: See below.)
Revisiting a few life-science stories you might have missed over the weekend:
“Baby Einstein” creator’s defense: We were just kidding! — You have to feel at least a little sorry for Julie Aigner-Clark, the entrepreneur who created the best-selling line of “Baby Einstein” videos for infants and toddlers and then sold her company to Walt Disney five years ago. After University of Washington researchers suggested that the videos may retard language development in babies aged… Continue Reading
Cancer-drug maker Aveo raises $53M
Aveo Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, Mass. cancer-drug company, raised $53 million in a fourth round of funding from a coalition of mostly blue-chip life-science investors.
New investors included Biogen Idec, Bessemer Venture Partners, Merlin BioMed Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Vatera Holdings, an investment vehicle owned by Kos Pharmaceuticals founder Michael Jaharis. Schering-Plough also provided a $10 million equity investment as part of a collaboration agreement.
The round also included new funding from existing investors Highland… Continue Reading
Roundup: No-nukes cancer treatment, E. coli vaccines, ovarian-tissue banking, more
No nukes in lymphoma treatment – Two innovative biotech drugs that target tumor cells for destruction by tiny radioactive particles are struggling in the marketplace, in part because cancer doctors are simply too specialized to make proper use of them. The drugs — Zevalin (pictured at left), from Biogen Idec, and Bexxar, now produced by GlaxoSmithKline — consist of bioengineered antibodies that carry fragments of radioactive material directly to lymphoma tumors in the bloodstream, where the… Continue Reading
AstraZeneca ups the biotech ante
Now that AstraZeneca has made the bold — or impulsive — decision to snap up MedImmune for $15.6 billion in cash, one big question is whether the U.K. pharmaceutical giant has kicked Big Pharma’s appetite for biotech acquisitions into high gear.
The green-eyeshade types are generally still scratching their heads over the rich price, which amounted to a 21 percent premium over MedImmune’s close on Friday. The biotech was known primarily for Synagis, an antibody-based drug… Continue Reading