Major Israeli Institution Selected to Lead Human Clinical Trials for Revolutionary Alpha Radiation Cancer Therapy

NEW YORK, Oct. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Althera Medical Ltd. announced today that it intends to perform a First-in-Human study for its revolutionary treatment of cancer tumors with alpha radiation at Israel's eminent Rabin Medical Institute.  Professors Benjamin Corn, M.D.,...

Nephron Pharma hands S. Carolina big victory with $313M facility plans

South Carolina politicians have new fodder on the economic-development front to use in their next campaigns for office. Orlando, FL-based Nephron Pharmaceuticals, a maker of generic respiratory drugs, has unveiled plans for a $313 million plant close to Cayce, SC. "This is a big win for our state," South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said, as quoted by the Associated Press....

Roche strikes cancer research deal with China’s BioBay

In case you missed the news last week, cancer drug giant Roche wants to spread its research bets in China. The Swiss drugmaker has made a deal involving China's state-owned BioBay and Harvard University to advance new drugs against cancer and other diseases, Bloomberg reported. Roche and BioBay, which is a biotech research center operator in Suzhou, China, plans to share equally funding of a project focused on Harvard-discovered science, Roche partnering chief Dan Zabrowski told Bloomberg. The...

VC-backed biotech Alios lands flu drug deal with Univ. of Hong Kong

Alios BioPharma has taken its attack on infectious bugs to China, where the South San Francisco-based biotech has struck a deal with the University of Hong Kong's tech transfer outfit Versitech, targeting new drugs against influenza. The deal boosts Alios's position, albeit with very nascent science, in one of the biggest areas of the infectious diseases game. With flu scares still driving deal activity in the drug business, Alios has inked a licensing agreement for tech from the Chinese...

PharmAthene Progresses Second Generation rPA Anthrax Vaccine

ANNAPOLIS, Md., Oct. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- PharmAthene, Inc. (NYSE Amex: PIP) announced today further development progress of its second generation rPA anthrax vaccine, SparVax™.  The new vaccine is being developed to provide rapid manufacturing scale-up to respond to...

Merck blockbuster heart pill Vytorin plugged in FDA review

FDA staffers gave a thumbs up to Merck's blockbuster cholesterol drug Vytorin in patients with kidney disease, providing a boost to one of the drug giant's ($MRK) key pipeline programs ahead of an expert panel meeting on the drug this week. Merck wants an additional approval of the drug, which already generates billions, for patients with kidney disease, and the Whitehouse Station, NJ-based company has data from a 9,000-patient clinical trial to support that effort. Reviewing data from Merck,...

The 2011 Biotech Graveyard

It's that time of year again; time to visit the biotech graveyard to reflect on the developers whose businesses have in one way or another failed. There's a common theme among many of this year's graveyard companies: most of their problems started in 2009, which was one of the toughest years on record for biotech. (It was also the first year of the biotech graveyard; we said farewell to a record 16 developers that year). Many of these companies are reminders of how difficult the...

Medical Devices Reports Bundle

NEW YORK, Oct. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue: Medical Devices...

Circadian Receives FDA IND Approval to Begin Clinical Trials With VGX-100 for the Treatment of Cancer Patients With Solid Tumors

MELBOURNE, Australia, Oct. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Circadian Technologies Limited (ASX: CIR, OTCQX: CKDXY) announces that its 100% owned subsidiary, Vegenics Pty Ltd, has received approval for its investigational new drug (IND) application from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration...

VC drought for biotech hits hard in Europe with 44% drop in 3Q investment

European biotechs appear to be feeling the same pain--or worse--from scarce venture dollars as their U.S. counterparts. Biopharma outfits in Europe raised 44% less venture capital in the third quarter than they did during the same period a year ago, making biopharma the hardest hit group in the healthcare sector, according to figures from Dow Jones VentureSource. The report shows that €163 million was funneled into 29 biopharma deals in Europe. On top of the sharp decline in total euros,...