Elan Plc said that it has developed an assay that appears to identify those multiple sclerosis patients on Tysabri (natalizumab) who are at risk of developing the rare brain disease, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).
Genmab A/S has announced further plans to reduce its headcount and generate savings for the ongoing development of its therapeutic antibody programmes. This follows the launch of a new strategy in September under new management.
H. Lundbeck A/S has signalled its confidence in the experimental stroke treatment, desmoteplase, by increasing the size of two ongoing Phase 3 trials of the drug and committing money to the development of possible second-generation compounds.
The UK government has launched two new life science clusters that will bring experts from industry, the academic community and the National Health Service together to do early-stage drug development.
AstraZeneca Plc’s new nasal spray vaccine designed to prevent seasonal flu has been given a positive opinion by the European Medicine Agency’s main scientific committee, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Herceptin (trastuzumab) in combination with chemotherapy for HER2-positive metastatic stomach and gastroesophageal junction cancers, the drug’s manufacturer, Roche, announced.
The US Food and Drug Administration has asked manufacturers of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists, which are used to treat men with prostate cancer, to carry warnings on their labels about the potential risk of heart disease and diabetes.
Cerenis Therapeutics SA has raised an additional €10 million in the second closing of a Series C round to support its portfolio of therapies to treat cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. This brings total funds raised in the C round to €50 million.
New safety information has been added to the label for the HIV therapy, Invirase (saquinavir), describing potentially life-threatening side effects on the heart when used with Novir (ritonavir), the US Food and Drug Administration announced.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc reported a sales decline of 2% in the third quarter of 2010 to £6.8 billion. However, excluding events such as the suspension of Avandia (rosiglitazone) in Europe and restrictions in the US, sales rose by an underlying 6%.