Industry news

11 April 2017

Dr. Lorianne K. Masuoka Joins Marinus Pharmaceuticals as Chief Medical Officer

Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:MRNS), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of innovative therapeutics to treat epilepsy and neuropsychiatric disorders, today announced that Lorianne K. Masuoka, MD has joined the Company as Chief Medical Officer.  Dr. Masuoka is a board certified neurologist with more than 20 years of experience building and expanding  high value pipelines in the biopharmaceutical industry that have resulted in drug approvals and strategic alliances.

10 April 2017

Ganaxolone IV Clinical Data Presented at Leading International Status Epilepticus Medical Conference

Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:MRNS), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of innovative therapeutics to treat epilepsy and neuropsychiatric disorders, presented Phase 1 clinical data showing the safety and tolerability of ganaxolone IV, the Company's intravenous formulation of its positive allosteric modulator of GABA_A, at the 6^th London-Innsbruck Colloquium on Status Epilepticus and Acute Seizures in Salzburg, Austria, April 6-8, 2017. Status epilepticus (SE) is a life-threatening medical emergency associated with high mortality and limited treatments. The biennial meeting focuses on highlighting cutting edge research and clinical practice in the field of SE with the aim to lead to improvements in the treatment and outcome of this condition.

U.S. Venture Industry Continues to Normalize as Investors Return to a More Disciplined Approach

U.S. National Venture Capital Association

During the first quarter of 2017, investors deployed $16.5 billion to 1,797 venture-backed startups, marking a slight uptick in capital invested over Q4 2016, but the fewest companies to receive investment since Q4 2011, according to the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor. % of dollars in Life Sciences grows to 21,7% of Total US VC. Overall Life Sciences deal % nears seven-year high - 14,8%.

Nanoparticle-delivered combo boosts cancer immunotherapy

Arlene Weintraub / FierceBiotech

Cancer cells often evade immune attacks by displaying proteins that disguise them as normal. Checkpoint inhibitors block these proteins and reveal tumor cells to the immune system, but they don't work for many patients. Now University of North Carolina researchers have found that using nanoparticles can boost the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy treatments.

To date 101 inspections for compliance with Russian GMP conducted this year

GMP News

Vladislav Shestakov, the Director of the Federal Budget-Funded Institution State Institute for Drugs and Good Practices, presented the results of inspectorate activities, its future plans and spoke about the main amendments to the Federal Law No. 61-FZ “On Circulation of Medicines,”

Russian government allocates 16.1 bln rubles for pharmaceutical industry

GMP News

The Decree brings the financing of this state program in line with the Federal Law “On the Federal Budget for 2017 and for the Planning Period of 2018 and 2019.” The budgetary allocations for implementing the program grew by 16.1 billion rubles (from 92.2 billion rubles to 108.3 billion rubles).

Study highlights the FDA’s speed in approving cancer drugs as a new commish looks to rev up approvals

John Carroll / Endpoints News

During his confirmation hearing on Wednesday Scott Gottlieb emphasized that he would start his new job as FDA commissioner by focusing on different parts of the agency that have lagged in accelerating drug reviews. With the president beating the table for a streamlined approval process, you can expect some fresh pressure from the top to speed things up. And now Gottlieb — who was already on record on that score — has some additional data to point to for his efficiency campaign, highlighting where the agency has been effective in speeding approvals and where it might push for faster action.

Google's parent company is vacuuming up top talent in health care and biotech

Christina Farr / CNBC

Alphabet, Google's parent company, is known for its aggressive approach to hiring top computer engineers. Now, it has its sights set on poaching top talent from life sciences and health care.

05 April 2017

Neothetics Announces Issuance by USPTO of Eighth Patent Directed to LIPO-202 Lead Clinical Asset

Neothetics, Inc.  (NASDAQ:NEOT), a clinical-stage specialty pharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for the aesthetic market today announced the issuance of U.S. Patent Number 9,597,531 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).  

ICYMI: Survey highlights key barriers limiting number and scale of new approaches to paying for medicines

Michelle Drozd / PhRMA

In recent years we have seen remarkable scientific breakthroughs in the discovery of new therapies to treat some of the most challenging diseases faced by patients. These groundbreaking medicines have the power to change and save lives, but to help ensure patients have affordable access to these therapies, we need a payment system as innovative as today’s medicines.