Category Archives: Biotech

BIO Convention: Potemkin Pavilions and the Power of NICE

By William Looney | Published: May 11, 2010
Image by Getty Images via Daylife Last week’s annual meeting of BIO in Chicago once again proved illustrative in showcasing the high profile that governments now plays as the biotech sector’s chief advocate. While private venture capitalists confined themselves to the margins of the meeting, the Convention hall was bursting at the seams with host [...]
Posted in Biotech | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Judge Spikes Myriad Genetic’s Control of Genes

By George Koroneos | Published: March 30, 2010
Image via Wikipedia Score one for nature. A US district court judge on Monday declared that pharma companies can’t patent individual genes because they are they are not, in fact, creating them. Last spring, Myriad Genetics was taken to task by the ACLU for monopolizing a patent it had discovered for breast cancer. The civil rights group [...]
Also posted in News | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

US and Europe At Risk from Substandard Medicines

By Julian Upton | Published: February 25, 2010
Guest blog by Helen Disney, Chief Executive and Founder of the Stockholm Network, a pan-European think tank. When most of us look at taking a new medicine we tend to think it will make us better. Some of us may think about possible side effects but few of us expect the medicines we take to actually [...]
Also posted in Emerging Markets, Europe, Global, Guest Blog, Regulatory, Safety | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Roche and Genentech Seal the Deal
for $46.8 Billion

By George Koroneos | Published: March 12, 2009
After months and months of back and forth over the true value of Genentech, Roche finally got the good news it’s been looking for: Genentech’s board of directors, this morning, approved Roche’s latest offer of $46.8 billion ($95 per share) to acquire all shares of the biotech giant. Roche plans to keep the Genentech site in [...]
Posted in Biotech | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Acorda Seeking NDA for MS Drug

By Cassandra Blohowiak | Published: February 27, 2009
Hawthorne, NY-based Acorda Therapeutics yesterday released Phase III clinical trial data of fampridine-SR, a novel treatment that improves walking ability in Multiple Sclerosis patients. Acorda filed a New Drug Application for fampridine on January 30, and FDA approval is expected in about 10 months. If green-lighted, fampridine will be the first drug approved with the indication [...]
Posted in Biotech | Tagged , , | Leave a comment