The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new antibody drug, Cosentyx (secukinumab) that targets interleukin-17A, for the treatment of psoriasis, an autoimmune disorder affecting people as young as 15 years of age. Novartis is the developer.
Research supported by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute has described how mutations in a group of genes of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum work in concert to enable the parasite to resist artemisinin, the standard treatment for the disease. The findings were reported in Nature Genetics on 19 January 2015.
AM-Pharma BV of the Netherlands has received regulatory approval to conduct a Phase 2 trial of its product for acute kidney injury using an adaptive trial design that is intended to establish the m
NovaBiotics Ltd of Aberdeen, UK has raised £5 million through a private share placement with the Oxford-based Woodford Investment Management LLP in order to support the development of antifungal and antibacterial treatments for respectively nail infections and cystic fibrosis.
Eight projects aimed at tackling the health crisis in west Africa caused by the spread of the Ebola virus have been jointly announced by the Innovative Medicines Initiative and the European industry federation, Efpia, in Brussels.
Roche has reached agreement to acquire Trophos SA, a small French company with a clinical-stage product for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare, genetic neuromuscular disease that is usually diagnosed in children.The same drug is being tested in multiple sclerosis.
Roche has acquired rights to an early-stage beta-lactamase inhibitor for use in combination with new or existing antibiotics to treat infections resistant to current drugs. In 2013, Roche in-licensed another asset that targets multi-drug resistant pathogens.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved an electrical implant for the treatment of obesity that is intended to help adults lose weight by regulating a nerve pathway between the stomach and the brain that controls appetite.
AstraZeneca Plc said that an outcomes study of its cardiovascular drug Brilinta (ticagrelor) has shown the treatment to be effective in preventing a recurrence of disease in patients with a history of heart attack. The trial examined the drug at two different doses with aspirin in 21,000 patients.
Shire Plc is to strengthen its rare-disease franchise with an agreement to acquire NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc of Bedminster, New Jersey for $5.2 billion. The transaction, announced on 11 January, has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies.