Sanofi-aventis to Acquire Genzyme for $74.00 in Cash per Share Plus Contingent Value Right Sanofi-aventis and Genzyme Corporation announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which sanofi-aventis is to acquire Genzyme for $74.00 per share in cash, or approximately $20.1 billion. [Sanofi-aventis Press Release] Exclusive License with Transgene for Novel Skin Cancer Immunotherapeutic Treatment Australian bio-pharmaceutical company Virax Holdings Limited announced that it has signed a worldwide exclusive License Agreement with leading French biopharmaceutical company Transgene for Virax to develop Transgene’s TG1042 a clinical-stage skin cancer immunotherapy product. [Virax Holdings Limited Press Release] Tengion Addresses Recent Trading Activity in its Common Stock Tengion, Inc. announced that it has been engaged in negotiations with a publicly traded company relating to the acquisition of Tengion through a stock-for-stock merger. As a result of the recent increases in the trading price and volume of Tengion’s common stock, Tengion’s potential acquirer has terminated merger negotiations. [Tengion, Inc. Press Release] Tissue Engineering Methods Earn Funding to Heal Little Hearts Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston announced that a researcher in its Pediatric Cardiac Bioengineering Laboratory has earned a National Science Foundation Early Career Development (CAREER) Award for his work in studying the causes of congenital heart disease, heart defects, and the development of tissue engineering therapies using stem cells derived from human amniotic fluid. [EurekAlert!] Stemedica Receives Approval from UCSD to Initiate Ischemic Stroke Study with Adult Allogeneic Stem Cells Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc., a leader in adult allogeneic stem cell manufacturing, research and development announced that it has received IRB approval from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) to initiate a Stemedica clinical study entitled, “A Phase I/II, Multi-Center, Open-Label Study to Assess the Safety, Tolerability and Preliminary Efficacy of a Single Intravenous Dose of Allogeneic Mesenchymal Bone Marrow Cells to Subjects with Ischemic Stroke”. [Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc. Press Release] UMASS Medical School’s Human Stem Cell Bank Makes Available First Seven Stem Cell Lines The first seven stem cell lines grown and banked at the University of Massachusetts (UMASS) Medical School’s Human Stem Cell Bank are ready for worldwide distribution to researchers working on discovering new therapeutic treatments for diseases such as cancer, juvenile diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, among others. [EurekAlert!] Halozyme Announces Roche Doses First Patient in Phase III Clinical Trial with Subcutaneous MabThera® (rituximab) Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. and Roche announced the first patient received subcutaneous MabThera (rituximab), an anticancer biologic, in a Phase III registration trial using Enhanze™ technology (rHuPH20, recombinant human hyaluronidase). [Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. Press Release] Patent Update: Strengthening and Expansion of Benitec’s Dominant Patent Position in RNAi Benitec Limited announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has indicated that it is issuing the Re-examination Certificate, the formal final step in the USPTO’s confirmation of patentability of claims in the key ‘099 Graham Patent [US Patent No. 6,573,099] “Genetic Constructs for Delaying or Repressing the Expression of a Target Gene”, the wide-ranging platform technology patent covering the use of expressed RNA Interference (RNAi) in human therapeutic applications. [Benitec Limited Press Release] BrainStorm Receives FDA Orphan Drug Designation for NurOwn™ in the Treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to the Company’s NurOwn™ autologous adult stem cell product candidate for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. [BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. Press Release] Whitehead Member Rudolf Jaenisch Honored for Groundbreaking Stem Cell Research Israel’s Wolf Foundation, whose stated mission is “to promote science and art for the benefit of mankind,” has named Whitehead Institute Founding Member Rudolf Jaenisch a recipient of the prestigious 2011 Wolf Prize in Medicine. [Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research Press Release] Oxford BioMedica Appoints James Christie as New Head of Manufacturing Oxford BioMedica plc, a leading gene therapy company, announced the appointment of James Christie, BSc, MBA to the newly created role of Head of Manufacturing with immediate effect. [Oxford BioMedica plc Press Release] Researching Regenerative Medicine A new facility at the University of Manitoba will allow researchers to pursue cutting-edge work in the field of regenerative medicine, which could lead to important new treatments for patients. The university’s Regenerative Medicine Program is the first of its kind in Western Canada. [University of Manitoba Press Release] Promise of Genomics Research Needs a Realistic View A new commentary by four internationally prominent genetic medicine and bioethics experts cautions against the dangers of inflated expectations of genomics research — an unsustainable genomic bubble — and it offers ways to avoid it while still realizing “the true — and considerable — promise of the genomic revolution.” [University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine Press Release] Success Rates for Experimental Drugs Falls: Study The success rate in bringing new medicines to market in recent years is only about half of what it had been previously, but biotech drugs are twice as likely to gain U.S. approval than more traditional chemical drugs, according to a new study. [Reuters] Drug Firms Attack U.S. Patent Plans A U.S. government proposal to bring cheaper generic drugs to the market more quickly and help curb health-care costs has triggered criticism from the European pharmaceutical sector. [Wall Street Journal] |