With losses rising, Vertex rolls out its telaprevir app

Faced with a rising tide of red ink, Vertex (NASDAQ: VRTX) says it has begun rolling out its NDA for the potential blockbuster telaprevir and expects to wrap the app later this year. Banking on a treasure trove of positive Phase III results already in hand, Vertex is clearly hopeful about its chances with the closely watched hepatitis C drug. And it's laying the groundwork for another FDA campaign next year for its cystic fibrosis program. Vertex will need to start ginning revenue quickly,...

Catalysis Foundation for Health Receives $5 Million Grant for Tuberculosis Diagnostic Biomarker Research

EMERYVILLE, Calif., Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The Catalysis Foundation for Health (Catalysis), a 501 (c) (3) non-profit entity dedicated to developing sustainable diagnostics for the developing world, announced today that it has received a $5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates...

Graves’ eye disease: Immune cell linked to inflammation and scarring identified

A cell type that causes significant scarring in lung disease appears to have a similar effect in Graves' disease, researchers have found. The cells, called fibrocytes, are present at a higher than normal frequency in patients with Graves' disease, according to a new study, the first to associate fibrocytes with this autoimmune...

Galapagos, Roche enter $588.7M COPD alliance

Galapagos and Roche have entered a global alliance to develop new COPD therapies in a deal worth almost $590 million (€406 million). Galapagos will use its discovery platform to identify potential COPD targets and develop small molecule candidates against the targets. Roche will select the candidates it wants to develop after either clinical candidate selection or completion of Phase I trials. The company will then be fully responsible for further development of the drugs it licenses....

Changing Behavior Helps Patients Take Medication As Prescribed

Researchers found that applying behavior changing strategies, such as using pill boxes or reducing the number of daily doses, can improve patients' abilities to take their medications as...

Report on the community-acquired pneumonia drug market

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that the patent expiries of three blockbuster antibiotics -- levofloxacin, moxifloxacin and piperacillin/tazobactam -- will be the primary factors contributing to a decline of more than 15 percent in the community-acquired pneumonia drug market though...