Industry news

15 June 2015

Briggs Morrison trades lead role in AstraZeneca R&D for the helm of tiny Syndax

John Carroll / FierceBiotech

Last week, Briggs Morrison was the head of late-stage development and chief medical officer at AstraZeneca with responsibility for leading the turnaround at one of the world's biggest pharma pipelines with thousands of staffers, dozens of clinical-stage programs and a budget that's in the billions. This week, he's moving to a new job as CEO of Syndax Pharmaceuticals, a small biotech based in Waltham, MA, that has a staff of 20, counts its research budget in the millions and has a pipeline with one drug, the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor entinostat.

15 June 2015

Syndax Appoints Dr. Briggs W. Morrison as Chief Executive Officer and Michael A. Metzger as President and Chief Operating Officer

Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held oncology company, announced today that Briggs W. Morrison, M.D. is joining the Company as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, and that Michael A. Metzger is joining the Company as President and Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Morrison joins Syndax from AstraZeneca, where he was Executive Vice President, Global Medicines Development and Chief Medical Officer. 

New antibacterial drug site comes on-line in Urals; outside world interested

Marchmont Innovation News

A production site to manufacture a new antibacterial drug has opened in the Sverdlovsk region, in the Urals, the Yekaterinburg-based editorial bureau of the Russian daily Delovoy Kvartal  reported . 

Taking Flight: Pharm Exec's Top 50 Pharma Companies 2015

Michael Swanick, David Hole, Ben Comer / Pharmaceutical Executive

Specialty drug sales, record-breaking M&A paired with tax synergies, and global expansion helped to bring a new face into this year’s Pharma 50 top 10, and substantially boosted the rankings of several others.    

11 June 2015

Atlas Genetics participates in £1.5m Grant Funding Award

Atlas Genetics Ltd (“Atlas” or the “Company”), the ultra-rapid ‘test and treat’ molecular diagnostics company, today announces a collaboration with St George’s, University of London to develop and evaluate DNA-based point of care tests which can simultaneously detect both infection and antibiotic resistance in a patient within the same clinical visit.

Ebola vaccine from Siberia to start clinical trials in August

Marchmont Innovation News

The best versions of Russia’s new vaccine to fight the Ebola virus will start clinical trials in August, the Russian news agency TASS  reported , citing the developers in Novosibirsk, in Siberia.

Moscow scientists develop new early-stage diagnostics for cancer, HIV and more

Marchmont Innovation News

Dmitry Fedyanin and Yuri Stebunov, two young scientists from the Nanophotonics and Plasmonics Lab at MIPT, a leading Russian university in Moscow, have developed what they call a nanomechanical sensor to identify chemical components of various substances, the MIPT website  announced . 

India eyes medical device price controls with stents, implants in focus

EJ Lane / FeircePharmaAsia

India has now turned its attention to medical devices for price controls, following steps to widen its reach on pharmaceutical costs.

Pharma needs some 'marriage counseling' for patient relationships: Report

Beth Snyder Bulik / FiercePharmaMarketing

Patient advocacy groups want information and candor from pharma companies--and they fear they're not getting it, according to a new study from inVentiv Health Public Relations Group. The earlier the better, too.

11 June 2015

Suprachoroidal injection of triamcinolone acetonide for uveitis proves promising

Nancy Groves / Ophthalmology Times

Patients with noninfectious uveitis who were treated with a single suprachoroidal injection of triamcinolone acetonide in a 6-month phase I/II clinical trial exhibited improvements in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), said investigator Debra A. Goldstein, MD.