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  • This year's Nobel Laureate discovered and elucidated mechanisms underlying autophagy, a fundamental process for degrading and recycling cellular components.

    The word autophagy originates from the Greek words auto-, meaning "self", and phagein, meaning "to eat". Thus,autophagy denotes "self eating". This concept emerged during the 1960's, when researchers first observed that the cell could destroy its own contents by enclosing it in membranes, forming sack-like vesicles that were transported to a recycling compartment, called the lysosome, for degradation. Difficulties in studying the phenomenon meant that little was known until, in a series of brilliant experiments in the early 1990's, Yoshinori Ohsumi used baker's yeast to identify genes essential for autophagy. He then went on to elucidate the underlying mechanisms for autophagy in yeast and showed that similar sophisticated machinery is used in our cells.

  • Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines global business unit of Sanofi, announced Dengvaxia® dengue vaccine has now received its 11th marketing approval, four of which granted from Regulatory Authorities recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO). To date the vaccine is approved in Mexico, The Philippines, Brazil, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Guatemala, Peru, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.

  • Quintiles IMS Holdings, Inc. announced that it has successfully completed its merger of equals transaction between IMS Health Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:IMS) and Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc. The merger of IMS Health, a leading global information and technology services company, and Quintiles, the world’s largest provider of product development and integrated healthcare services, creates a leading information and tech-enabled healthcare service provider with global scale and reach, and a full suite of end-to-end clinical and commercial offerings.

  • Tesaro, Inc., an oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company, and Zai Lab (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd., a biopharmaceutical company based in China, announced a collaboration to support the development and commercialization of niraparib for patients in China and the potential to advance two immuno-oncology programmes outside of China.This partnership reflects the commitment of both companies to develop novel therapeutic approaches for people living with cancer around the world.

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  • Mylan NV announced the US launch of metformin hydrochloride extended-release tablets USP, 500 mg and 1000 mg, a generic version of Watson's Fortamet. Mylan received final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for this product, which is indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

  • Allergan plc announced that it has entered into a licensing agreement with MedImmune, AstraZeneca's global biologics research and development arm, for the global rights to MEDI2070.

    MEDI2070 is an anti-IL-23 monoclonal antibody currently in phase IIb clinical development for the treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe Crohn's disease and is phase II ready for ulcerative colitis and other related conditions.

    Under the terms of the agreement, Allergan will make an upfront payment to AstraZeneca of USD 250 million for the exclusive, worldwide license to develop and commercialize MEDI2070. In addition, Allergan may make potential payments to AstraZeneca of up to USD 1.27 billion, payable over a period of up to 15 years, including launch milestone payments of up to USD 435 million and sales-based milestone payments of USD 725 million, as well as tiered royalties on sales of the product.

    "MEDI2070 represents an exciting addition to our Open Science pipeline, adding an important new program currently being studied in Crohn's disease, with potential across a number of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. The MEDI2070 program also reinforces Allergan's commitment to bringing forward important innovations in the treatment of inflammation and autoimmune disorders where significant unmet need exists across many of our therapeutic areas," said David Nicholson, chief research & development officer, Allergan. "We look forward to bringing our significant clinical development and regulatory expertise to bear and maximizing the potential benefit of this possible new treatment option for patients."


    Bahija Jallal, Executive Vice President, MedImmune, said, "This agreement demonstrates our sharp focus on three main therapy areas while creating value from the increased R&D productivity and innovative science in our pipeline through collaborations. Allergan has significant experience in gastrointestinal and inflammatory diseases and is the right partner to progress the development and commercialisation of MEDI2070."

    "Although much progress has been made in the last 15 years in treating immune-mediated diseases such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, there continues to be a large need to provide safe and effective therapies for those patients who fail to have a durable response to existing agents," said Bruce E. Sands, M.D., chief of the Dr. Henry D. Janowitz Division of Gastroenterology at the Mount Sinai Health System, Dr. Burrill B. Crohn Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and principal investigator of the phase IIa and phase IIb studies of MEDI2070. "Evidence suggests that interleukin-23 is a key cytokine in the immune processes that drive inflammatory bowel diseases. Based upon early clinical trial data, MEDI2070 may be an effective treatment for patients with Crohn's disease."


    The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2016, subject to customary closing conditions, including the expiration or early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.

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  • Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced that it has completed its acquisition of Anda, Inc., a leading distributor of generic pharmaceuticals in the U.S., from Allergan plc

  • Jubilant Pharma Ltd, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved RUBY-FILL®, an innovative technology for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). Comprised of a Rubidium-82 (Rb-82) Generator and precedent setting Elution System, RUBY-FILL® is used to produce a personalized patient dose of Rubidium Rb 82 chloride used to evaluate regional myocardial perfusion in adult patients with suspected or existing coronary artery disease (CAD) which is an important component of diagnosing CAD.

  • Amgen and Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc.  announced two license and collaboration agreements to develop and commercialize RNA interference (RNAi) therapies for cardiovascular disease. These are the first programs to utilize Arrowhead's proprietary subcutaneous RNAi delivery platform. RNAi molecules may be designed to target and shut down specific gene products that contribute to various diseases.

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