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
Roundup: Genetic links to breast cancer, Avandia under attack, death and the drug official, and more
More genetic links for breast cancer – Whole-genome association studies that tease out links between minute genetic variations and the likelihood of disease are definitely building momentum. Over the last several days, researchers reported six new variations that increase the risk of breast cancer for women who have inherited them. (For background, see this Boston Globe piece or my recent take on the subject.) It’s now conceivable that scientists may soon have an excellent handle on… Continue Reading
Health and science roundup: Amgen, generic biologics, the origins of white people and more
(Note: This item has been copied over to the Life Sciences page from its original location on the VentureBeat main page. To view it in its original context, with comments, click here.)
Amgen’s anemia rollercoaster — Biotechnology titan Amgen may have dodged a bullet when a study released Thursday showed that its anemia drug Aranesp didn’t shorten the lives of patients, after several other studies had suggested the opposite. But its anemia franchise isn’t out of the… Continue Reading