Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007
Featured companies: BioMicro Systems, Diasome Pharmaceuticals, FitLinxx, FitSense, Novartis, Radius Health
[NOTE: This is a catchup briefing, posted on 9/29/07. I’ve adjusted the item’s timestamp to keep the briefings in chronological order. Good news is that this should be the last one. –D.P.H.]
Diasome names new CEO, aims to raise $15M for nanotech diabetes drugs — Diasome Pharmaceuticals, a Conshohocken, Pa., biotech focused on nanotech drug delivery, named David Tierney as its new CEO and is close to… Continue Reading
A biotech flu vaccine and the seduction of hype
(UPDATED: See below.)
Vaccine developer Protein Sciences is all over the blogosphere today (see, for instance, items on Pharmalot and the WSJ health blog), thanks to a breathless Bloomberg piece on the little Meriden, Conn., biotech. According to Bloomberg reporter John Lauerman’s article, Protein Sciences is poised to vanquish establish flu vaccines from Big Pharma giants Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline, in an interesting case study of what happens when a quote-worthy biotech executive catches the ear of a… Continue Reading
Gleevec pioneer slams Novartis on drug pricing, patents
It’s been clear for some time that bad blood has been building between Oregon Health and Science University researcher Brian Druker (pictured at left), who first showed that the cancer drug Gleevec could produce near-miraculous remissions in certain leukemia patients, and the drugmaker Novartis, which owns Gleevec. When asked, Druker has long acknowledged that he had to cajole dubious officials at Novartis — then Ciba-Geigy — into keeping Gleevec alive, in part because those officials… Continue Reading
Brownian motion: Personnel moves within the life sciences
Nile Therapeutics, a Berkeley, Calif., biotech hired Peter Strumph, formerly chief of operations for struggling heart-drug maker CV Therapeutics, as CEO. Nile is currently developing a second-generation natriuretic peptide, CD-NP, for the treatment of heart failure. Here’s hoping it fares better than the first-generation version of this drug, J&J’s Natrecor. The company’s release is here.
Macroflux, a Mountain View, Calif., spinoff from Alza, hired M. Cory Zwerling as CEO. The company is developing “needle-free” delivery of… 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