Pharmacology/ Therapeutics News for August 2013

Pharmacology/ Therapeutics News Archive

Adimab initiates new therapeutic discovery partnership with Innovent Adimab initiates new therapeutic discovery partnership with Innovent

Adimab, LLC, a leader in the discovery of monoclonal and bispecific antibodies, and Innovent, a leading Chinese antibody therapeutics and manufacturing company, today announced a new partnership for the discovery, development and commercialization of an antibody-based therapeutic program. Under the terms of the Agreement, Adimab will utilize its antibody discovery and optimization platform to identify a fully human therapeutic antibody against a target selected by Innovent. All initial product development, including manufacturing and clinical trials, will be coordinated by Innovent. Both companies will retain rights to develop and commercialize the therapeutic program in their respective geographic territories.

Therapeutic eye injections may be needed less often Therapeutic eye injections may be needed less often

Johns Hopkins biomedical engineers have teamed up with clinicians to create a new drug-delivery strategy for a type of central vision loss caused by blood vessel growth at the back of the eye, where such growth should not occur. In addition to testing a new drug that effectively stops such runaway vessel growth in mice, the team gave the drug a biodegradable coating to keep it in the eye longer. If proven effective in humans, the engineers say, it could mean only two or three needle sticks to the eye per year instead of the monthly injections that are the current standard of care.

Sanford-Burnham collaborates with Pfizer to identify targets for treatment of insulin resistance and diabetes Sanford-Burnham collaborates with Pfizer to identify targets for treatment of insulin resistance and diabetes

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) announced that it has entered into a collaboration with Pfizer Inc. to identify new therapeutic targets for preventing and treating complications of obesity and diabetes. The team will utilize novel screening tools including systems-biology approaches and technologies developed at Sanford-Burnham with the aim of discovering new therapeutic strategies for reducing insulin resistance in obesity and diabetes.

Experimental drugs developed for breast cancer could treat lung cancer too Experimental drugs developed for breast cancer could treat lung cancer too

Cancer Research UK-funded scientists have discovered that experimental drugs first developed for breast and ovarian cancer could be used to treat the most common type of lung cancer, reveals research published in Oncogene today.

Chemists' work will aid drug design to target cancer and inflammatory disease Chemists' work will aid drug design to target cancer and inflammatory disease

Chemists at Indiana University Bloomington have produced detailed descriptions of the structure and molecular properties of human folate receptor proteins, a key development for designing new drugs that can target cancer and inflammatory diseases without serious side effects.

Unexpected synergy between two cancer-linked proteins offers hope for personalised cancer therapy Unexpected synergy between two cancer-linked proteins offers hope for personalised cancer therapy

A team of scientists led by Associate Professor Zeng Qi from A*STAR’s Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) have discovered a new biomarker which will help physicians predict how well cancer patients respond to cancer drugs.

Scripps Florida Scientists devise new way to dramatically raise RNA treatment potency Scripps Florida Scientists devise new way to dramatically raise RNA treatment potency

Scientists from the Jupiter campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have shown a novel way to dramatically raise the potency of drug candidates targeting RNA, resulting in a 2,500-fold improvement in potency and significantly increasing their potential as therapeutic agents.

Wellcome Trust and KU Leuven announce collaboration with Janssen for development of dengue antiviral drugs Wellcome Trust and KU Leuven announce collaboration with Janssen for development of dengue antiviral drugs

Researchers at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) are joining forces with Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Janssen) and the Wellcome Trust to discover and develop candidate antiviral drugs for the prevention and treatment of dengue infection.

Cancer Research Technology, The Institute of Cancer Research and Merck Serono sign licensing deal on molecules that block the WNT signalling pathway Cancer Research Technology, The Institute of Cancer Research and Merck Serono sign licensing deal on molecules that block the WNT signalling pathway

Cancer Research Technology (CRT), the commercial arm of Cancer Research UK, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and , Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, have signed a licensing deal today extending a successful initial alliance to discover and develop anticancer drugs that block the WNT signalling pathway.