NEW YORK (AP) – Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said the Food and Drug Administration approved its generic version of the heartburn drug Prevacid. Teva will sell 15-milligram and 30-milligram delayed-release capsule versions of the drug. Teva said the branded version of Prevacid had sales of about $2.97 billion in the 12 months ended June 30.…
Sanofi-Aventis And Regeneron Expand Development Partnership
NEW YORK (AP) – Sanofi-Aventis and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. have expanded an existing development partnership to run through 2017. Initially, the partnership signed in 2007 was set to end in 2012. Under the expanded deal, the companies plan on advancing up to five antibodies into clinical development each year, with Sanofi-Aventis funding up to $160…
Qiagen Buying SABiosciences For $90 Million
NEW YORK (AP) – Netherlands-based diagnostic products maker Qiagen NV is buying privately held diagnostic test maker SABiosciences Corp. for about $90 million in cash. Qiagen said the Frederick, Md., company has about 100 employees and focuses on tests used in biomedical research and in the development of future drugs and diagnostics. The deal is…
Bristol-Myers Squibb and Alder Sign RA Treatment Deal
NEW YORK (AP) – Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Alder Biopharmaceuticals Inc. said they signed a collaboration deal potentially worth $1 billion, with a key focus on a rheumatoid arthritis treatment. Bristol-Myers will pay Alder $85 million upfront for ALD518, which is now past midstage development for rheumatoid arthritis, an inflammatory condition that can cause joint…
Pentamidine Could Treat Myotonic Dystrophy
A compound already used to treat pneumonia could become a new therapy for an inherited muscular wasting disease, according to researchers at the University of Oregon and the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in New York. The five-member team reports that pentamidine, when tested in genetically altered mice, counters genetic splicing defects…
Micromet Signs Deals With MedImmune And sanofi-aventis
Micromet, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel, proprietary antibodies for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and autoimmune diseases, announced that it has signed an agreement with MedImmune, LLC to buy out MedImmune’s rights to blinatumomab in North America, and to terminate the collaboration agreement signed in 2003 under which MedImmune had been granted the right…
Halozyme Reports Larger Third-Quarter Loss
SAN DIEGO (AP) – Biotechnology company Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. reported a bigger third-quarter loss, as it started clinical trials of a fast-acting insulin during the period. Halozyme lost $13.9 million, or 16 cents per share, compared with $10.9 million, or 14 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue rose 23 percent to $3 million from…
FDA Extends Review of Pain Drug
NEW YORK (AP) – The Food and Drug Administration needs three more months to review an application to a neuropathic pain drug being developed by XenoPort Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC, the companies said. XenoPort and GlaxoSmithKline said the FDA should complete its review of the drug, called gabapentin enacarbil, by Feb. 9, 2010. The review…
Recombinant ZAG Causes Weight Loss In Mice
Houston-based Halsa Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company developing therapeutics for the treatment of obesity, diabetes, cachexia and other metabolic diseases, announced results from preclinical studies demonstrating that recombinant human Zinc-?2-glycoprotein (ZAG) induced a progressive loss of body weight in mice of 3.5g in five days, together with a rise in temperature of 0.4°C, suggesting an…
Objective Plane Power Sensor
EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering Inc.’s Life Sciences and Industrial Division introduces its newest innovation, the X-Cite XR2100 Power Meter and the XP750 Objective Plane Power Sensor for fluorescence microscopy applications. The new XR2100 and XP750 allow researchers to measure the optical power at the specimen level, enabling consistent and repeatable illumination throughout their experiments. With its sleek…
Common Antibiotics Linked To Birth Defects
CHICAGO (AP) – Researchers studying antibiotics in pregnancy have found a surprising link between common drugs used to treat urinary infections and birth defects. Reassuringly, the most-used antibiotics in early pregnancy – penicillins – appear to be the safest. Bacterial infections themselves can cause problems for the fetus if left unchecked, experts said, so pregnant…
FDA Rejects Merck Drug Application
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – U.S. regulators have refused to accept drugmaker Merck & Co.’s application for a new, combination cholesterol pill that includes rival Pfizer’s Lipitor, the world’s top-selling drug. Merck disclosed the rare move by the Food and Drug Administration in a regulatory filing. The company 2 1/2 years ago said it planned to…
FDA Revises Label for Byetta
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration acted on new safety information about possible kidney function problems, including kidney failure, in patients taking Byetta (exenatide), a drug used to treat Type 2 diabetes. From April 2005 through October 2008, the FDA received 78 reports of problems with kidney function in patients using Byetta. Some cases occurred…
Low Cholesterol Reduces Risk of Prostate Cancer
Men may protect more than their hearts if they keep cholesterol in line: Their chances of getting aggressive prostate cancer may be lower, new research suggests. One study found that men whose cholesterol was in a healthy range – below 200 – had less than half the risk of developing high-grade prostate tumors compared to…
Analytical Biosensor
Sierra Sensors GmbH launched its QCMA-1 Analytical Biosensor system for the real time, label-free identification and characterization of macromolecules and their interactions. The dual-sensor, fully automated QCMA-1 instrument allows for the unattended analysis of up to 32 samples processed over two distinct detection surfaces. The system features cutting edge microfluidic sample delivery technology that can address microliter volumes of…
Statins Increase Survival From Flu
A new treatment for swine flu may already be on pharmacy shelves – cholesterol-lowering statin drugs like Lipitor and Zocor. A large study found that people who were taking these drugs when they caught seasonal flu and had to be hospitalized were twice as likely to survive than those who were not on such medicines.…
High-Throughput Screener
The CellKey 384 System from MDS Analytical Technologies is a high-throughput 384-well instrument that utilizes the award-winning, label-free, cellular-measurement technology of the original 96-well CellKey System. The system’s four-fold increase in throughput enables researchers to accelerate the screening of endogenous targets and reduce the cost-per-well by using less cells and reagents. The CellKey 384 System…
Slide Scanner
Hamamatsu Corporation has released its next-generation slide scanners, the NanoZoomer 2.0 series. Operating at nearly twice the speed of the original series, the NanoZoomer 2.0 converts a 20 mm x 20 mm area on a glass slide into a 1.9-gigapixel color image in as little as 1 minute 40 seconds. The resulting virtual slides can…
Study Warns of Aranesp Stroke Risk
A new study raises fresh safety concerns about widely used anemia medicines, finding that the drug Aranesp nearly doubled the risk of stroke in people with diabetes and chronic kidney problems who are not yet sick enough to need dialysis. The study is the largest ever of these blood-boosting drugs and the only one that…
Boston Scientific Gets European Approval for Stent
NATICK, Mass. (AP) – Medical device maker Boston Scientific has received European marketing approval for its latest drug-coated stent technology, which prevents blocked arteries. The company said it will begin marketing its Promus Element stent in the European Union immediately. The device replaces the older Promus stent, which is Boston Scientific’s version of Abbott Laboratories’ Xience…
Amylin Signs Partnership Deal With Takeda
NEW YORK (AP) – Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. says it could potentially receive more than $1 billion from a partnership with Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. on potential weight-loss treatments. Amylin, based in San Diego, said it will receive $75 million upfront from Takeda and said future payments for development and achieving commercial milestones could top $1…
Schering-Plough Reports on Hep C Drug
NEW YORK (AP) – Schering-Plough Corp. said its experimental hepatitis C drug boceprevir helped eliminate the virus in about half of patients who did not respond to standard treatments. Boceprevir is considered one of the most important products being developed by the Kenilworth, N.J., drugmaker, which is being acquired by Merck & Co. for $41.1…
Freeze Dryer
SP Industries Inc., a leader in laboratory, pilot, and production freeze dryers, has announced that it will exhibit its latest innovative products at the 2009 American Association for Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) meeting in Los Angeles, CA (November 8-12th). Center stage on Booth 1229 at AAPS 2009 – SP Industries will be demonstrating its latest introduction…
Area Imaging Detector
The SDI300 is a unique UV area imaging detector which enables quantitative imaging of surface phenomena of a diverse range of substances including APIs, formulations, gels, liquids, stents and patches. Initial results indicate that the SDI300 also offers intriguing insights for researchers investigating bioavailability and real-time monitoring of dental erosion. Visitors to AAPS Booth 1451…
Combination Microscope
JEOL, a global leader in the development and manufacture of scanning and transmission electron microscopes, introduces ClairScope, a first-of-its kind correlative microscopy tool that combines a high-end Light Microscope (LM) with a high-resolution Atmospheric Scanning Electron Microscope (ASEM). The new JEOL ClairScope enables uncompromised observation of samples in their native state using both LM and…