Industry news

Gene mutation causes two heart conditions, spotlights new drug target

Amirah Al Idrus / Fierce Medical Device

Scientists studying one family’s genetics to better understand congenital heart disease have discovered more than they bargained for. They found that a mutation that causes babies to be born with a hole in the heart also causes heart failure in adolescence. The findings have uncovered a potential new target for heart disease.

Facebook Live for pharma? Not as difficult as you might expect, strategist says

Beth Snyder Bulik / FiercePharmaMarketing

Marketers are taking to Facebook Live en masse, but can live social video work as a marketing tool for pharma? Yes, experts say—and it might be easier than expected.

Pfizer Wants Your Ideas for Helping Breast Cancer Patients Live Better Lives

Polina Marinova / Fortune

The biopharma giant is offering $250,000 in prizes for the best ones. Metastatic breast cancer is incurable, but Pfizer believes there’s much that can be done in the care and treatment of patients who have it.

What does the 21st Century Cures Act mean to CROs?

Angus Liu / FierceBiotech

The seemingly effortless passage of the 21^st Century Cures Act in both the House and the Senate quickly received overwhelming praises from the biopharma industry. Now that President Obama has already signed it into law, the proposed changes made to the clinical research and drug approval process still await detailed guidance from regulatory authorities.

New drug OKs fell off a cliff in 2016 and the FDA wants you to know why

John Carroll / Endpoints News

There were also fewer ap­pli­ca­tions this year and its num­ber of re­jec­tions, or CRLs, spiked after hit­ting a record low in 2015. Sev­eral of those CRLs cited man­u­fac­tur­ing prob­lems rather than is­sues with the drugs.

Big Pharma’s woeful numbers on drug R&D just got even worse

John Carroll / Endpoints News

The analysts at Deloitte continue to calculate a dwindling return for Big Pharma’s R&D dollars. Their latest number crunching for the world’s top 12 biopharma companies concludes that ROI on their investment cash has shrunk to 3.7%, the lowest level yet after hitting 10.1% in 2010.

14 December 2016

Syndax Pharmaceuticals Announces Collaboration with the National Cancer Institute to Develop Entinostat and SNDX-6352 for the Treatment of Cancer

Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Syndax," or "we") (Nasdaq:SNDX), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing entinostat and SNDX-6352 in multiple cancer indications, today announced that it has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, for intramural preclinical and clinical research.

14 December 2016

Clearside Biomedical, Inc. Added to NASDAQ Biotechnology Index

Сlearside Biomedical, Inc.  (NASDAQ:CLSD), a late-stage biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class drug therapies to treat back-of-the-eye diseases, today announced that it has been selected by NASDAQ for inclusion in the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index® (NBI). The annual re-ranking of the NBI will become effective at market open on  Monday, December 19, 2016 .

I want to be a part of it, says New York, as Mayor launches $500M life sci project

Ben Adams / Fierce Biotech

New York City has always lagged behind the big life sciences cities of Massachusetts and California, predominately because of a lack of space, but it has over the years pushed for greater investment, and today NY Mayor Bill de Blasio has launched a new $500 million project to boosts its R&D offering.

Pfizer joins rush to cancer vaccine R&D, backing startup Ignite

Eric Sagonowsky / FiercePharma

Cancer vaccines are making a comeback, and Pfizer has partnered up with a startup in the field. The drug giant will back Ignite Immunotherapy's efforts to combine its own candidates with checkpoint inhibitors for a one-two punch against the disease.