Pharma Marketletter articles from April 2004

Pharma Marketletter archives from April 2004

Positive EU opinion for Lilly/BI's duloxetine.(European Union)(Eli Lilly and Co./Boehringer Ingelheim S.A.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Europe's Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products has issued a positive opinion for Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim's duloxetine, a balanced dual uptake inhibitor of the neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine for the treatment of...

Pfizer's Lyrica gets CPMP nod in EU.(Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products)(European Union)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... The European Union's Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products has adopted a positive opinion, recommending marketing authorization for Pfizer's Lyrica (pregabalin) in the treatment of neuropathic pain and add-on therapy for partial...

CPMP backs Merck KGaA's Erbitux.(Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products)
April 5, 2004... Germany's Merck KGaA says that its metastatic colorectal cancer drug Erbitux (cefuximab) has been recommended for approval by the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products, the scientific advisory body of the European Medicines Evaluation...

GSK/Vertex' Telzir nears EU approval.(GlaxoSmithKline/Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.)(European Union)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... GlaxoSmithKline and Vertex have received a positive opinion for their Telzir (fosamprenavir) in the treatment of HIV infections in adults in combination with other antiretroviral drugs from Europe's Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products....

Merck KGaA forecasts tough year in France.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... The president of Merck KGaA's French subsidiary, Elmar Schenne, says the firm's current streamlining and restructuring project is vital as 2004 will be a difficult year. Merck France set aside 66 million euros ($81.4 million) to fund the...

Dragon to merge into Oriental Wave.(Dragon Pharmaceutical)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Canada's Dragon Pharmaceutical says it has entered into a letter of intent to merge with Oriental Wave, a privately-held, British Virgin Islands company that is the sole shareholder of a China-based pharmaceutical concern. Under the terms of...

France's Urigo expects Spanish sales to double.(Laboratoires Urgo)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Laboratoires Urgo expects its fledgling Spanish franchise to post sales of 3 million euros ($3.7 million) this year and 6 million euros in 2006, as the French medical adhesives and wound-treatment firm benefits from a slew of product launches....

More bidders view Poland's Jelfa.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Since the Polish government announced that it is privatizing some of its industrial holdings, including the pharmaceutical company Jelfa, several firms have expressed interest in buying the 30% state-held interest in the concern (Marketletters...

Benitec uses law to protect RNAi tech.(gene-silencing technologies)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Australia's Benitec says that it has initiated patent infringement law suits in the US District Court for the District of Delaware against Nucleonics, Ambion and Genscript Corp to protect its gene-silencing technologies. The law suit alleges...

FDA calls for more data on ImmuneRegen's Homspera.(ImmuneRegen BioSciences Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... During a recent meeting with the US Food and Drug Administration's Division of Counter-Terrorism, ImmuneRegen was requested to conduct an additional mouse study utilizing its proprietary drug, Homspera (derived from homestatic substance P), in...

Wyeth to close site and shed 400 staff.(Wyeth Pharmaceuticals)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... US drug major Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has said that all operations at its Marietta, Pennsylvania, facility will be discontinued effective December this year. The site was one of the primary manufacturing facilities for the company, focusing on...

Lynx and Solexa acquire DNA technology assets.(Lynx Therapeutics )(Deoxyribonucleic acid)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Lynx Therapeutics of the USA and UK-based Solexa have announced the joint acquisition from Switzerland-based Manteia SA of the rights to proprietary technology assets for DNA colony generation. The acquired technology assets feature a...

Evotec's sales up 21% at CER; net loss plunges.(Evotec OAI AG)(constant exchange rates)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Germany and UK-based company Evotec OAI AG has announced a positive set of results for 2003, seeing a robust revenue growth rate coupled with a dramatic reduction in operating loss. Despite difficult market conditions, total turnover of...

Sinclair's sales tumble 61% in first-half 2003.(Sinclair Pharmaceuticals Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Sinclair Pharma, a recently AIM-listed UK pharmaceutical firm, reported sales of L900,000 ($1.7 million) for first-half fiscal 2003 ending December 31, 2003, a 61% drop from the L2.3 million posted for the comparable period of the prior year....

Cellegy's revenues climb 16% in 2003.(Cellegy Pharmaceuticals Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... USA-based Cellegy Pharmaceutical reported revenues of $1.6 million for 2003, representing a 16% rise on those recorded for the prior year. Sales were mainly comprised of $385,000 in Rectogesic ointment turnover in Australia, $67,000 in...

Amarin Corp sees revenues plunge.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... London, UK-headquartered Amarin Corp has reported a massive 89% crash in revenues for the year ended December 31, 2003, to $7.4 million versus $65.4 million for 2002. The company states that this substantial drop reflects the impact of Permax...

Access sees 2003 net loss fall 26%.(Access Pharmaceuticals)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... The USA's Access Pharmaceuticals, a polymer-based drug-delivery company, announced a 26% drop in its net loss for 2003 to $6.9 million. For the fourth quarter, net loss decreased 12% to $2.6 million. The company posted revenues of $1.3...

Cytos raises 30M gross proceeds.(Cytos Biotechnology)(30 million Swiss francs)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Zurich, Switzerland-headquartered Cytos Biotechnology has reported that it has raised 30 million Swiss francs ($2.4 million) through the placement of 750,000 newly-issued shares, despite current difficult marketing conditions. The shares,...

Keryx posts 23% drop in net loss for 2003.(Keryx Biopharmaceuticals )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... New York, USA-based Keryx Biopharmaceuticals has reported a 23% drop in net loss for 2003 to $9.1 million, or $0.43 per share. The decline in net loss was primarily attributable to decreases of $2.6 million and $232,000 in R&D and general and...

FDA recommends appro for Aventis' Sculptra, but with conditions.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Franco-German drugmaker Aventis' US unit, Dermik Laboratories, says that a US Food and Drug Administration advisory committee has unanimously recommended marketing approval for the firm's dermal contouring agent Sculptra (injectable...

Barr and Galen announce Loestrin and Ovcon 35 deals.(Barr Laboratories)(Galen Holdings)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... US firm Barr Laboratories and Northern Ireland-based Galen Holdings have reported the completion of an agreement under which the former's subsidiary, Duramed Pharmaceuticals, has acquired the exclusive rights for Loestrin and Loestrin FE...

Court rules in Alza's favor in Mylan fentanyl patent case.(Mylan Laboratories )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Pittsburgh, USA-based Mylan Laboratories has announced that the US District Court for the District of Vermont has ruled in Alza Corp's favor in the patent infringement suit relating to Mylan's fentanyl transdermal system (Marketletter December...

Myogen's CHF drug misses trial goals.(chronic heart failure )
April 5, 2004... US biopharmaceutical company Myogen has released disappointing preliminary results from a Phase III trial investigating the use of enoximone capsules in patients with the most advanced stages of chronic heart failure who are dependent on...

TKT regains European rights to Dynepo.(Transkaryotic Therapies )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Transkaryotic Therapies of the USA has regained the rights to Dynepo (epoetin delta) for all indications in Europe and all other territories outside the USA, from Franco-German drug major Aventis. Dynepo is a fully-human erythropoietin product...

Long-term benefit with GSK's Avodart in BPH.(GlaxoSmithKline)(benign prostatic hyperplasia )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... GlaxoSmithKline's Avodart (dutasteride) reduces the risk of progression of benign prostatic hyperplasia and its complications over four years, according to new data presented at the European Association of Urology's annual congress in Vienna,...

FDA accepts Orathecin NDA for filing.(New Drug Application )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... The US Food and Drug Administration has accepted for filing SuperGen's New Drug Application for Orathecin (rubitecan). The product is indicated for the treatment of pancreatic cancer patients who have failed standard therapy.

German pharma on the defensive.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... The German pharmaceutical industry sees itself increasingly as being pushed into a defensive posture because of globalization and the tendency to increased industrial concentration and, in addition, the German government's health care reform,...

CRO sees booming market in Spain.
April 5, 2004... Prices of innovative new drugs in Spain, traditionally one of Europe's lower-priced countries for pharmaceuticals, are now rapidly converging with those of its neighboring countries. In 2002, 185 new pharmaceutical products were launched in...

Romanian drug market down in 2003.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... The Romanian drugs market was worth 600 million euros ($727.1 million) in 2003, down 1.9% on 2002, says Cedegim Romania data reported by Bucharest Business Week. Pharmacy sales rose 3.3% to 425 million euros last year but hospital...

Czech Rx imports boom.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Pharmaceutical imports into the Czech Republic were 46% higher in February 2004 than in the same month last year, reports the Czech Statistical Office.

Global generics firms eye India's vast market.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... India's pharmaceutical sector may see a new trend following strong competition between international drugmakers to take a share of the vast Indian market, as global generics manufacturers plan to establish low-cost production facilities as...

Vietnam Rx prices: govt urges more inspections.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister, Pham Gia Khiem, has called on the Health Ministry to increase the number of inspections of pharmaceutical manufacturers in order to clamp down on steadily-rising prices, according to the Vietnamese News Agency....

Japanese pharma and devices agencies merge.
April 5, 2004... April 1 sees the merger of Japan's three drug and medical device approval agencies into the new Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency, which will oversee consultation, product review and monitoring of side effects. The aim is to speed the...

GSK commits L338M to community investments.(GlaxoSmithKline)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Leading European drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline says it has reinforced its commitment to responsible management of ethical, social and environmental concerns and, in particular, to play a leading role in supporting health care in the developing...

Canadian pharmacies to sell marijuana.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Canada is to become only the second country in the world to allow the direct sale of government-certified marijuana from local pharmacies, Reports OTC Newsflash. Officials are organizing a pilot project in British Columbia modelled on a...

InSite Vision gets first $2M of $16.5M placing.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... USA-based InSite Vision, an ophthalmic therapeutics, diagnostics and drug-delivery company, has obtained binding subscription agreements for $16.5 million, before transaction fees and expenses. The company has accepted approximately $2 million...

Dr Reddy's files ANDA for moxifloxacin tabs.(Abbreviated New Drug Application )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... India's Dr Reddy's Laboratories has filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application with the US Food and Drug Administration for Moxifloxacin tablets 400 mg, the generic equivalent of Bayer Healthcare's respiratory tract infection antibiotic Avelox,...

Further delay for Kimia privatization?(Kimia Farma )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... The sale of the Indonesian government's shareholding in state-owned pharmaceutical company Kimia Farma should be delayed for another one or two years, according to company finance director Syamsul Arifin, who added that the postponement was...

Generex enters JV in Cent and S America.(joint venture)(PharmaBrand SA)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Canada's Generex Biotechnology Corp, a leader in the area of buccal drug delivery, has announced that a letter of intent has been signed for the establishment of a joint venture with PharmaBrand SA, a distributor of pharmaceutical products in...

Herron acquisition boosts Sigma results.(Herron Pharmaceuticals Proprietary Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Australian drug manufacturer and wholesaler Sigma's acquisition of paracetamol maker Herron Pharmaceuticals early in the financial year boosted sales by A$60 million ($45.2 million), allowing Sigma to report a 43% increase in its full-year 2003...

Australia's Virax raises A$3.7 mill.(Virax Holdings)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Virax Holdings, an Australian biotechnology concern which specializes in immunotherapies, last month raised A$3.7 million ($2.9 million) through the placement of approximately 7.7 million shares, representing 15% of the company's issued...

Euro life science industry under pressure; EU enlargement hopes.(European Union)
April 5, 2004... Although Europe may lead the world in pharmaceutical manufacturing, it trails behind when it comes to innovation in life sciences. European success is hindered by a fragmented market, intense pressure to lower manufacturing and R&D costs and a...

Amgen unveils a promising R&D pipeline but investors remain uncertain.
April 5, 2004... The USA's Amgen presented its full R&D pipeline of potential drugs last week, but its shares slumped as the company failed to raise its 2005 outlook or disclose any new drugs due to reach the market soon. The world's largest biotechnology...

Lynx and Solexa acquire DNA technology assets.
April 5, 2004... Lynx Therapeutics of the USA and UK-based Solexa have announced the joint acquisition from Switzerland-based Manteia SA of the rights to proprietary technology assets for DNA colony generation. The acquired technology assets feature a...

Amgen buys remaining 79% of Tularik for $1.3B to boost R&D pipeline.
April 5, 2004... Amgen, the world's leading independent biotechnology company, has reached agreement to acquire the remaining 79% of fellow California, USA-based Tularik which it does not already own, in a stock deal valued at approximately $1.3 billion. Under...

In Canada, QLT acquires Kinetek in $2.7 million cash transaction.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Canada's QLT Inc says it is acquiring Kinetek Pharmaceutical, a Vancouver-based, privately-held biopharmaceutical company, with which it has had links since 2001 (Marketletter June 18, 2001). The transaction was expected to close on March 31....

US Administration selects 28 firms for Rx discount plan, providing over 80 cards.
April 5, 2004... The US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson, has approved 28 private sponsors to provide seniors and people with disabilities savings on their prescription drugs from June 1. The Administration has said the program will likely...

US FDA and NIH launch GeMCRIS.(Food and Drug Administration)(National Institutes of Health)(Genetic Modification Clinical Research Information System)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... The US National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration's new Genetic Modification Clinical Research Information System (GeMCRIS) is a web-accessible data base on human gene transfer which will provide information to the public...

South African pharma warns govt over proposed drug price cuts.
April 5, 2004... Prominent figures in South Africa's medical industry have expressed grave concerns at government plans to cut drug prices 50% (Marketletter January 26). They say the move would not lead to promised real price declines of 40%-70%, could cripple...

South Africa's ARV roll-out begins.(antiretroviral )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... South African government funding for the roll-out of antiretroviral medicines in all nine provinces will finally begin in April, the Health Department has announced. However, negotiations with around 40 companies which have submitted...

USA slammed by Congressmen and NGOs over WHO ARV qualification moves.
April 5, 2004... US Congressmen have urged the White House not to push for US standards to be used in approving generic antiretroviral drugs for use in Africa, as these ARVs have already been approved by the World Health Organization. The call came from...

US HDMA: priority drug bar code list.(Healthcare Distribution Management Association)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... A new report from the US Healthcare Distribution Management Association makes recommendations for bar code implementation in the hospital setting. It focuses on drugs most often involved in medication errors and recommends bar codes on...

Chugai Pharma upbeat on financial targets and research projects.
April 5, 2004... At its recent analyst and press meeting, held in Tokyo to give an update on the firm following its alliance with Swiss drug major Roche some 18 months ago (Marketletters passim), Japan's Chugai Pharmaceuticals said that its operating...

Vernalis pays Elan $55M for Frova return.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... UK-based Vernalis has agreed to reacquire the North American marketing rights to its migraine drug frovatriptan from Ireland's Elan Corp, which sells the drug in the USA with Belgian-owned UCB Pharma as Frova. Under the terms of the...

Baxter and InterMune to co-promote Aralast.(Baxter Healthcare )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Baxter Healthcare and InterMune have signed an agreement for ro co-promote Aralast (alpha1-proteinase inhibitor [human]) to pulmonologists in the USA. Under this accord, InterMune's sales force will detail the drug for the treatment of...

FDA appro for Lilly's injectable Zyprexa.(Eli Lilly and Co.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Zyprexa IntraMuscular (olanzapine), an injectable form of Eli Lilly's top-selling oral antipsychotic which achieved fourth-quarter 2003 sales of $1.5 billion. With this approval, Lilly...

$1.3M studies award for eResearchTechnology.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... eResearchTechnology, a US provider of centralized electrocardiographic collection and interpretation services, has been awarded studies worth more than $1.3 million in cardiac safety monitoring and services from an emerging European...

DOV Pharma to raise $10 million.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... US company DOV Pharmaceutical said March 29 that it has entered into a definitive agreement with an unaffiliated institutional investor for a private placement of $10 million in proceeds through the issue of common stock. The offering is...

Currencies hit Boeh Ingelheim results.(Boehringer Ingelheim)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Independent German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim said at its annual press conference in Ingelheim that, for 2003, it saw stronger growth than the overall market. Although sales in 2003 were 2.6% lower at 7.4 billion euros...

Genencor sells vaccine program to Innogenetics for up to $97M.(Genencor International )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Genencor International has agreed to sell its therapeutic vaccine program to Belgian biotechnology company Innogenetics NV, which will develop and commercialize current product candidates in Genencor's vaccine product portfolio, as well as...

Global Life invests in Agendia BV.(Global Life Science Ventures )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Global Life Science Ventures says that it has made an unspecified investment into Agendia BV, a pharmacogenomics company founded in 2003 by leading scientists from the Netherlands Cancer Institute. Gilde Investment Management led this series A...

GSK milestone for Human Genome Sciences.(GlaxoSmithKline)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Human Genome Sciences of the USA says it has received a clinical development milestone payment from its partner, UK-headquartered drug major GlaxoSmithKline, related to the initiation of Phase I clinical trials of 677116 for the treatment of...

AstraZeneca's Crestor leads the way to meeting new European LDL-C goals.(low-density lipoprotein cholesterol)
April 5, 2004... New data published in the European Heart Journal reveals that AstraZeneca's Crestor (rosuvastatin) enables significantly more patients to achieve the new European guideline cholesterol goals than other currently-available statins. The...

Axcan's Photobarr cleared in EU.(European Union)(Axcan Pharma)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Canada-based Axcan Pharma says that its Marketing Authorization Application, for the use of its photodynamic therapy Photobarr (porfimer sodium) in the treatment of high-grade dysplasia associated with Barrett's esophagus, has been approved in...

Serono's Serostim helps lean body mass.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Swiss biotechnology firm Serono's Serostim (somatropin [recombinant DNA origin] for injection) improves lean body mass and physical performance in patients with HIV-associated wasting, according to a study published in the April 1 issue of the...

Celltech's CDP870 positive in RA.(rheumatoid arthritis)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... UK biotechnology company Celltech has announced positive preliminary results from study 014, the first Phase III trial with CDP870 in rheumatoid arthritis. The drug, rights to which were returned to Celltech by Pfizer last year, is seen as...

Novartis licenses Chiesi's formoterol.(Chiesi Farmaceutici )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Italy's Chiesi Farmaceutici has reached agreement with Novartis for the marketing of its hydrofluoroalkane-based (Modulite) formoterol pMDI asthma drug in Italy. Modulite is the Italian firm's propriety technology based on an ozone-friendly HFA...

FDA appro for Lilly's injectable Zyprexa.(Eli Lilly and Co.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Zyprexa IntraMuscular (olanzapine), an injectable form of Eli Lilly's top-selling oral antipsychotic which achieved 2003 sales of $4.3 billion. With this approval, Lilly says that physicians...

Astralis initiates Ph II Psoraxine study.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... US firm Astralis has initiated a Phase II trial in the USA with Psoraxine, a novel, protein-based injectable treatment for moderate psoriasis. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of...

Bionomics EGM supports capital raising.(extraordinary general meeting)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Bionomics has said that the results from its recent extraordinary general meeting strongly supported the recent placement which raised close to A$4 million ($3.0 million). The Australian firm's shareholders passed the necessary resolutions...

Lupin and Allergan collaborate on Zymer promo to US pediatricians.(Lupin Pharmaceuticals )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... India's Lupin says that its wholly-owned subsidiary Lupin Pharmaceuticals has entered into an agreement with Allergan in the USA to promote the latter's Zymar (gatifloxacin ophthalmic solution) 0.3% in the pediatric specialty area. Zymar...

Teva commercializing generic oxycodone 80mg in USA.(Teva Pharmaceutical Industries)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has said that, subsequent to the approval of its Abbreviated New Drug Application dated March 24, the US Food and Drug Administration now regards the company's voluntary risk management program for...

Banyu now wholly-owned Merck & Co subsidiary.(Banyu Pharmaceutical )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Building on a 50-year relationship, US drug major Merck & Co has said that Japan-based Banyu Pharmaceutical has now become a wholly-owned subsidiary (Marketletters passim). With this step, Banyu becomes the largest totally-owned subsidiary...

Boeh Ingelheim reports flat sales for 2003 but organic growth is above market pace.
April 5, 2004... German independent, family-owned pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim has reported relatively flat sales and earnings for 2003 but an organic growth rate over that of the global pharmaceutical market for the year. Speaking at the...

Flat sales for Epimmune in 2003.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... San Diego, USA-based Epimmune has posted flat revenues for 2003 of $7.2 million, climbing just 1.4% over the prior year. Net loss increased to $7.1 million, or $0.58 per share, from $6.5 million, or $0.57 per share. At December 31, 2003, the...

aaiPharma faces Nasdaq delisting and subpoenas.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... The USA's aaiPharma has announced that it will not file its 2003 Form 10-K within the 15-day extension period allocated under its previously-filed Form 12b-25. As reported earlier this year (Marketletter February 23), an independent...

Tokyo pharma stocks - week to March 29.
April 5, 2004... Tokyo witnessed a rally in the week ended March 29. The Nikkei 225 advanced 3.5% to close at the 11,700 mark after temporarily climbing to the 11,800 level for the first time in 22 months, while the Topix index rose 4.2%. Foreign investors...

EMEA reports 39 drug applications in 2003, and 24 positive opinions.(European Medicines Evaluation Agency)
April 5, 2004... The European Medicines Evaluation Agency received 39 applications for new human medicines in 2003, up from 31 in 2002, says the EMEA report for last year. This "modest" rise is not at past levels (54 in 2000 and 58 in 2001), but the Agency has...

USA clashes with NGOs, generics makers over fixed-dose combination ARVs.
April 5, 2004... US officials at a major conference on HIV/AIDS drugs in Botswana March 29-30 (see also page 13) dismissed allegations that they want to use the meeting to question the quality and safety of more affordable generic fixed-dose combinations (FDCs)...

South Africa ARV roll-out, with warning.(antiretrovirals)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... The world's biggest program for dealing with HIV/AIDS was due to begin April 1, in the South African province of Gauteng, as the country's much-delayed roll-out of free antiretroviral drugs finally began (see also page 16). However, as...

Antisoma provides update of its anticancer drug pipeline.
April 5, 2004... Antisoma of the UK, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of novel anticancer drugs, has provided an update of its R&D pipeline for analysts and investors. The firm highlighted the progression of the following...

CV Therapeutics' Ranexa filed in EU.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... CV Therapeutics of the USA has submitted a Marketing Authorization Application to the European Medicines Evaluation Agency for the use of its Ranexa (ranolazine) in the treatment of chronic angina. Furthermore, the company has established a...

Positive Phase III results for NPS' Preos.(NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... USA-based NPS Pharmaceuticals has reported that a pivotal Phase III trial of its Preos, a recombinant human parathyroid hormone, has successfully met the primary endpoint of reducing the incidence of new or worsened vertebral fractures in...

Over 400 deaths linked to Iressa in Japan.(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... About 444 people are believed to have died from the side effects of AstraZeneca's Iressa (gefitinib), according to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, which said that it has received 1,151 reports of adverse side effects from...