Pharma News

ASLAN Pharmaceuticals announced the designation as an Orphan drug of its pan-HER inhibitor varlitinib (ASLAN001) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Orphan Products Development (OOPD) for gastric cancer. Varlitinib previously received Orphan Drug Designation for cholangiocarcinoma in August 2015.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced that the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a positive opinion recommending marketing authorization for CINQAERO® (reslizumab), a humanized interleukin 5 antagonist monoclonal antibody for add-on therapy in adult patients with severe eosinophilic asthma inadequately controlled despite high-dose inhaled corticosteroids plus another medicinal product for maintenance treatment.

Genmab  announced the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has issued a negative opinion for the use of Arzerra® (ofatumumab) as maintenance therapy for patients with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).  The Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) was submitted by Novartis in July 2015 under the ofatumumab collaboration between Novartis and Genmab.

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Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, announced the issuance on June 21, 2016 of a seventh patent (number 9,370,525) by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) covering Oxtellar XR, its novel once-daily extended-release oxcarbazepine product. The patent provides protection for the product with expiration that is no earlier than 2027.

Researchers at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) with the collaboration of the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), led by the professor of the UAB Department of Genetics and Microbiology Esther Julián, announced one year ago that the cells of the Mycobacterium brumae offer an improved alternative to current bladder cancer treatments such as BCG (an immunotherapy based on the Mycobacterium bovis), which can cause infections.

 the 94th General Session & Exhibition of the International Association for Dental Research, researcher W. Peter Holbrook, University of Iceland, will present a study titled "Development of Drugs for Local Treatment of Oral Conditions." The IADR General Session is being held in conjunction with the 3rd Meeting of the IADR Asia Pacific Region and the 35th Annual Meeting of the IADR Korean Division.

Angiochem, a biotechnology company developing proprietary peptide-drug conjugates uniquely capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier, announced the successful completion of an End-of-Phase 2 meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for ANG1005. As a result, the company is in final preparation stages to commence its Phase 3 trial to support a New Drug Application (NDA) for ANG1005 in patients with leptomeningeal carcinomatosis (LC) from breast cancer.

Incyte Corporation announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for ruxolitinib (Jakafi®) for the treatment of patients with acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). There are currently no approved treatments for patients with acute GVHD.

In a small study looking at pain assessments in adults with sickle cell disease, researchers at Johns Hopkins says overall, those treated long-term with opioids often fared worse in measures of pain, fatigue and curtailed daily activities than those not on long-term opioids.