Industry news

More Than 250 Vaccines in Development Pipeline; Research Focuses on Prevention and Treatment

PhRMA

Vaccines have played a critical role in reducing the threat, and in many cases eliminating any reported cases, of some of the world’s most devastating infectious diseases. In the United States, transmission of poliovirus, measles and rubella have been eliminated, while smallpox has been eliminated worldwide. These tremendous achievements in biomedical research and public health have spanned more than 200 years of research and development (R&D), protecting millions of people from preventable illness.

Axel Bouchon starts signing players for a new league of game-changing biotechs

John Carroll / ENDPOINTS

Axel Bouchon is the point man at Bayer who’s taking a concept outlined on a piece of paper back in December and turning it into a $335 million biotech with more than 100 development staffers in key locations in the U.S. and Europe. That’s a big task, but it’s only one facet in a much more ambitious life science game plan he’s quarterbacking for Bayer, ramping up 3 to 5 startups with financing rounds stretching from $100 million to $300 million or more.

Pfizer buys Medivation for $81.50 a share

Ben Adams / Fierce Biotech

Move over Sanofi, your original $9.3 billion bid and even your second, sweetened offer has been blown out of the water by the $14 billion being put on the table by Pfizer--and Medivation’s CEO David Hung has decided that's his best bet, and has taken the deal. 

23andMe reports jump in requests for data in wake of Pfizer depression study

Nick Paul Taylor / Fierce Biotech

The Pfizer ($PFE) study that identified 15 genome sites linked to depression in 23andMe’s database has sparked a surge in demands to access the personal genetics pioneer’s repository. In the two weeks after publication of the paper, 23andMe fielded nearly 20 requests to access the depression data, almost as many as it received for the whole database in the fall of 2013, Fast Company reports.

Chinese regulators advance overhaul of drug manufacturing

Ned Pagliarulo / BioPharmaDive

Chinese health regulators have released draft guidelines aimed at expanding oversight of pharmaceutical production in the country, part of comprehensive efforts to overhaul drug quality in a rapidly expanding market. 

A Big Step Forward in the Quest for a Better Painkiller

Adam Piore / MIT Technology Review

Scientists have developed a new drug that promises the pain-numbing effects of opioids without the addiction. Scientists have designed a promising new painkiller that appears to separate the powerful pain dulling effects of synthetic opioids from side effects that include physical dependence, constipation, and potentially fatal respiratory depression.

Stars of new-drug sales for Q2? Think BMS, Novo, Pfizer and Lilly

Tracy Staton / Fierce Biotech

At the top of many quarterly earnings releases, pharma companies tout their growth rates for new drug sales. For some, it’s intended to offset news of disappointing top-line results; for all, it’s a way to emphasize the future, rather than the present.

BioRegnum: The fog of M&A. What constitutes a legit buyout ‘scoop’ these days?

John Carroll / ENDPOINTS

The competition between Reuters, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal to break the next big M&A story keeps lowering the bar on what qualifies as a significant new move in the bidding process.

Hacking life: Scientists ‘recode’ DNA in step toward lab-made organisms

Sharon Begley / STAT

Millions of years of evolution gave life on earth a genetic dictionary with 64 words. Harvard University scientists thought they could do better. In an intriguing step toward lab-made organisms, they reported on Thursday that they created a complete bacterial genome with only 57 of those words — and freed up the deleted seven to have completely new meanings that, one day, could include new biological functions.

Compound, target for fighting three tropical diseases

Anette Breindl / BioWorld

A single compound was able to rid mice of three separate parasitic infections, opening the possibility of developing a relatively broad-spectrum approach against the three, which are collectively known as kinetoplastids.