Enanta Nominates EDP-239 as Lead Development Candidate for NS5A HCV Inhibitor Program

WATERTOWN, Mass., March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today the nomination of lead development candidate, EDP-239, from its NS5A hepatitis C virus (HCV) inhibitor program. EDP-239 has demonstrated picomolar potency against multiple genotypes of the virus and a preclinical pharmacokinetic profile amenable to once-a-day...

Abbott and Enanta Announce Advancement of Hepatitis C Collaboration

WATERTOWN, Mass., March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today the nomination of lead development candidate, EDP-239, from its NS5A hepatitis C virus (HCV) inhibitor program. EDP-239 has demonstrated picomolar potency against multiple genotypes of the virus and a preclinical pharmacokinetic profile amenable to once-a-day...

Abbott and Pierre Fabre SA Announce Collaboration to Research and Develop Novel Treatments for Cancer

Monoclonal Antibody Adds Early-Stage Biologic to Abbott's Oncology Pipeline ABBOTT PARK, Ill. and CASTRES, France, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Abbott (NYSE: ABT) announced today an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Pierre Fabre SA to develop and commercialize h224G11, a pre-clinical monoclonal antibody identified at the Centre d'Immunologie Pierre Fabre (CIPF) in France and targeting the cMet receptor for the treatment of cancer. cMet protein plays a role in the progression of...

Blocking CRF may prevent excessive alcohol consumption

A team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute has found that a specific stresshormone, the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), is key to the development and maintenance of alcohol dependence in animal models. Chemically blocking the stress factor also blocked the signs and symptoms of addiction, suggesting a potentially promising area for future drug...

Research points to potential treatment for kidney disease

Research performed at UC Santa Barbara points to the drug rapamycin as a potential treatment for kidney disease. The study builds on past research and shows that studies performed on mice are more likely to translate to humans than previously thought. The results are published in the current online issue of the Journal of the American Society of...

TD2 and Critical Outcome Technologies develop novel anti-cancer drug

TGen Drug Development (TD2) and Critical Outcome Technologies Inc. (COTI) announced today that they will work together to obtain approval of clinical trials for a promising new anti-cancer drug called...

New stroke therapy successful in rats

People with impaired mobility after a stroke soon may have a therapy that restores limb function long after the injury, if a supplemental protein works as well in humans as it does in paralyzed...

Charles River suspending Shrewsbury operations

Charles River Laboratories International Inc., which conducts research for drug developers, will suspend operations at its Shrewsbury facility and lay off 300 workers by mid-2010 because of weak demand for the company's preclinical services, Charles River reported...

Pfizer and Merck signal deep cuts in R&D groups

Pfizer and Merck have begun to spell out exactly where the axe will fall as they each absorb a big new acquisition into their organizations. According to Pharmalot, Pfizer has told New Jersey officials that 400 people at Wyeth's old Monmouth Junction research center are getting the pink slip at the end of this month. And Merck will eliminate 500 jobs--mostly sales and administrative positions--from Schering-Plough's old headquarters in Kenilworth. These layoffs are just the beginning, of...