Industry news

07 July 2015

Epic Sciences Expands Partnership with LabCorp to Provide Circulating Tumor Cell Analysis and Support Oncology Clinical Trials in Asia

Epic Sciences (Epic) announced today an agreement with Laboratory Corporation of America® Holdings (LabCorp®) to provide circulating tumor cell (CTC) technology and support oncology clinical trials in Asia through Covance Drug Development (Covance). Covance will process patient samples in Singapore, and then send samples to Epic's clinical laboratory in San Diego, which has recently been licensed under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) of 1988, for downstream detection and molecular characterization of CTCs. This agreement expands on a previous contract announced last year between Epic and LabCorp for European clinical trials.

HIV investigators at Harvard, J&J see promise in early-stage vaccine

John Carroll / FierceBiotech

A team of collaborators drawn from Harvard, Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) and other groups published results from a preclinical animal study Thursday afternoon that underscores the potential for developing the world's first HIV vaccine.

Clinical cancer research gets a boost from Japan's cabinet

EJ Lane / FeircePharmaAsia

Clinical cancer research got a boost in Japan as the cabinet called for faster development of a patient registry from the National Cancer Center and 5 affiliated clinics as part of economic reforms aimed at lifting the country out of decades of deflation, the Japan Times said.

Nobel Prize winner purportedly “amazed” at high level of cancer R&D at Russian biotech firm

Marchmont Innovation News

James D. Watson, an American molecular biologist, geneticist and zoologist who in 1962 was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine as the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, on June 20, 2015 visited the laboratories of a Russian innovation company, Biocad. The Nobel Prize laureate “didn’t expect” to see how advanced Biocad’s anti-cancer solutions are, the Biocad website  announced .

IBM and Russian partners want to create high tech personalized medicine in Russia

Marchmont Innovation News

IBM, Russia’s Skolkovo Foundation and the Moscow-based First Oncology Research and Advisory Center are forming a partnership to focus on the development of a platform for high tech personalized medicine in Russia, the Skolkovo Foundation website  announced . 
 

06 July 2015

Celtaxsys, Inc. Gains FDA Clearance for Landmark Phase 2 Trial of Anti-Inflammatory Treatment for Cystic Fibrosis (CF)

Celtaxsys, Inc., a clinical stage pharmaceutical development company focusing on anti-inflammatory therapeutics, including those with rare and orphan inflammatory disease indications, announced today that it has gained clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin a Phase 2 clinical trial of its flagship drug candidate, acebilustat (CTX-4430), in adult CF patients in the US. The regulatory submissions to the health authorities in Europe will be filed soon after. 

06 July 2015

Research breakthrough to treat girls-only epilepsy

NewsMaker

An international team, led by a University of Adelaide genetics expert, has made a breakthrough discovery which is expected to help thousands of young girls worldwide who are suffering from a rare yet debilitating form of epilepsy.

Late Stage VC Investment Going Strong in U.S. and Europe

PitchBook Blog

As highlighted in our 2Q 2015 U.S. Venture Industry Report, the first quarter of the year proved the continuing strength of the U.S. venture capital market, particularly at the late stage ($8.3 billion of capital invested). European venture capital was no different, with €1.9 billion of its total €2.8 billion invested coming at the late stage, as covered in our 2Q 2015 European PE Breakdown.

Survey: Hypertension, diabetes among key rising chronic diseases in China

EJ Lane / FeircePharmaAsia

Hypertension afflicted 25.2% of China's adult population and diabetes 9.7%, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. That's according to a survey conducted by the National Health and Family Planning Commission over a decade that jibes with other recent public policy healthcare reform efforts by the State Council.

Biotech billionaire Soon-Shiong plots a second IPO--this time for NantHealth

John Carroll / FierceBiotech

Biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong has already laid the foundation for a big IPO to help finance his low-profile oncology R&D player Conkwest. Now he's moving closer to getting his high-profile personalized drug-finding company NantHealth on the market as well.