Pharma Marketletter articles from October 2004

Pharma Marketletter archives from October 2004

Porsolt to expand in preclinical studies.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... The pharmacology company Porsolt, based at Genest-Saint-Isle in the Mayenne region of France, has opened new laboratories and intends to expand them still further. The company was set up in 1984 by Roger Porsolt, a New Zealand...

Galapagos separates business units.(Galapagos Genomics)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Galapagos Genomics, a Netherlands-based target discovery company, has created a new business unit for its viral discovery and validation services. This will operate under the name Galadeno from the group's Leiden facility. The drug discovery...

Protherics reviews early stage portfolio.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... UK-based biopharmaceutical company Protherics says it has transferred the former Enact Pharma R&D function at Porton Down and out-licensed and assigned certain non-core intellectual property, including know-how and patents, to two new UK...

Arkopharma posts higher 1st-half profit.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... French plant-based medicines and slimming products group Arkopharma has posted a rise in sales of 16.4% for the first half of 2004 to 143.2 million euros ($174.2 million). International sales improved 31.3% for the six months, with the...

Tecan lowers aims.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Swiss life sciences firm Tecan has initiated a set of measures to further increase operational efficiency and help ensure regulatory process compliance. The efforts needed to achieve this will lead to a temporary sales slowdown, the company...

Automatic Rx card and savings for US poorest.
October 4, 2004... Nearly two million low-income Americans on Medicare will soon become automatically eligible for prescription discounts through the Medicare Drug Discount card and qualify for an additional $1,200 in savings over the next 14 months. In...

Rx "litmus test" challenge to Schwarzenegger.(Arnold Schwarzenegger )
October 4, 2004... A Democratic candidate for the US state of California's Assembly has urged State Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign legislation allowing state residents to buy cheaper prescription drugs from Canadian pharmacies. The candidate, Ira...

US FDA home county plans Canadian Rx-buying.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... The County Council of Montgomery, Maryland, home to the US Food and Drug Administration, has passed a resolution instructing its benefits managers to seek bids from companies which provide prescription drugs to US consumers from Canadian...

Kerry slams Bush over Medicare Rx plan.(George W Bush)(John Kerry )(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... US President George W Bush has "insisted on creating a Medicare prescription drug benefit that's not really for seniors - it's for the big drug companies," Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has said, speaking in West Palm Beach,...

NZ pharmacies warned over Rx price-fixing.
October 4, 2004... New Zealand's Commerce Commission has warned the Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand that its Premiums Guide, as published until October 2002, placed the Guild and its members at risk of contravening the Commerce Act, and that it should carefully...

Global analgesic mkt "to nearly double by 2010".
October 4, 2004... The worldwide analgesic market was worth $38 billion in 2003 and is expected to nearly double to a value of $75 billion by 2010, with over 200 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies currently involved in developing or marketing pain...

NZ: low statins take-up.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Last year, the New Zealand health authority called for wider use of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, but general practitioners' prescribing rates are still too low, say local reports. The government has decided not to make statins available...

Ukraine to get ARVs under Clinton deal.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Ukraine has now joined the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative Procurement Consortium, paving the way for the country to purchase high-quality HIV/AIDS medicines and diagnostics at the world's lowest-available prices and, as a result, rapidly scale up...

Bulgaria: high pharma spending, no strategy.(National Assembly health committee report)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Atanas Shterev, chairman of Bulgaria's National Assembly health committee, has said that the country's expenditure on medicines is huge because it lacks a pharmaceutical policy strategy, the Bulgarian Telegraphic Agency has reported. The...

Italian regional health spending set to increase.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Italian Health Minister Girolami Sirchia has said that health care funding for the regions in 2005 will rise to 89 billion euros ($109.21 million) from 81 billion euros currently, to conform with certain agreements already reached with the...

UK National Health Service productivity not being measured, says OHE.(Office of Health Economics)
October 4, 2004... UK health spending is heading towards average European levels, providing more capacity in the National Health Service and more medicines for the British public, particularly for the government's key target diseases such as coronary heart...

French govt fixes new health spending target.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... France's health service faces a new spending limit imposed by Health Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, who has set a 2005 health expenditure growth target of 3.2%. He has also told the social security accounts commission that he expects the...

New Slovak Republic health care laws.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... The Slovak parliament has passed four new laws as part of the reform of the national health care system. One law requires patients to pay part of their treatment costs for less serious conditions, while treatment for diseases such as cancer and...

"Highest numbers yet" say US Rx prices too high.(prescription drug prices)
October 4, 2004... In the four years since Harris Interactive began its annual survey of US consumers' attitudes to and perceptions of prescription drug prices, the biggest change by far this year has been a very large increase in the numbers of people who think...

Biotech Holdings opens Mexico City sales office.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Canada's Biotech Holdings is opening an office in Mexico to coordinate sales and marketing for the Latin American region, the firm's president, Robert Rieveley, has announced. "Our vice president of Latin American operations, Luis Manuel,...

Pfizer files for preliminary gabapentin injunction.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Alpharma has said that Pfizer has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in the US District Court for the District for New Jersey seeking to enjoin the sale of the company's gabapentin product, Neurontin. The Court set a hearing date...

Pfizer to buy rest of drug-delivery tech firm for $125M.(technology company)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Global pharmaceutical leader Pfizer says it will purchase the remaining 90% ownership of Meridica, a drug-delivery technology company, for $125 million and a contingent payment. The transaction is subject to normal conditions and is expected to...

New spin out company for pSivida.(AION Diagnostics)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Nanotechnology company pSivida has created a wholly-owned spin-off diagnostics company, AION Diagnostics,which will be based in Australia. pSivida has seed-funded AION through an investment of A$1.2 million ($840,480) and has licensed...

Good news for Sanofi-Aventis' Menactra.(Menactra meningococcal polysaccharide diphtheria toxoid conjugate vaccine)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... The US Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee has voted unanimously to recommend approval of Sanofi-Aventis' Menactra meningococcal polysaccharide diphtheria toxoid conjugate vaccine for...

Serono's Raptiva Oked for psoriasis in EU.(European Union)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Switzerland's Serono says the European Commission has granted marketing authorization for its Raptiva (efalizumab) for the treatment of moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis in adults who have failed to respond to, have a contraindication...

EC clears Medicines Co's Angiox.(European Commission)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... The European Commission has cleared The Medicines Company's direct thrombin inhibitor Angiox (bivalirudin) as an anticoagulant in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions. The product will be marketed in Europe by the Nycomed...

Emisphere signs accord with Novartis.(Emisphere Technologies )(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Emisphere Technologies of the USA has entered into a licensing deal with Swiss drug major Novartis to develop an oral formulation of recombinant growth hormone. The decision follows the successful completion of preclinical feasibility...

Aphton and Xoma in GI cancer alliance.(gastrointestinal)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Aphton Corp and Xoma have signed a worldwide collaborative agreement for the treatment of gastrointestinal and other gastrin-sensitive cancers using anti-gastrin monoclonal antibodies. Under the terms of the accord, the two firms will share...

Future looks bright for Idenix, with promising drugs and Novartis' support.(Company Profile)
October 4, 2004... Far from being just another biotechnology firm, it seems that Idenix Pharmaceuticals is well on the way to succeeding in its goal of becoming a leader in the antiviral market, as the company gains in fame thanks to a host of significant...

GSK asks South Africa to drop ARV price probe; grants fourth voluntary license.(GlaxoSmithKline)
October 4, 2004... GlaxoSmithKline has asked South Africa's Competition Tribunal to drop an investigation into the prices of its HIV/ AIDS drugs, claiming that the basis of the request, made by the USA-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, is unfounded and without...

Philippines: biotech park for generics.(Subic Bay Freeport Zone )(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Generic drugs are to be researched and manufactured at a new biotechnology park at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone of the Philippines, the Generics Association of the Philippines and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority have announced. Macro...

China: Rx prices in August.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... In China, the consumer price of imported medicines fell 5.4% in August compared to August 2003, while the price of Chinese medicines dropped 2.9%, the State Statistics Bureau reports. In comparison, China's consumer price index rose 5.3% over...

US study queries dose consolidation savings.
October 4, 2004... US studies have suggested that programs encouraging doctors to prescribe once-daily-strength tablets instead of two lower-strength tablets when the per tablet cost is the same, thus doubling the cost, would save money. However, new research...

Arthritis Rx ads "reach up to 75% of US patients".(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Advertising of arthritis pain therapies reaches 55%-75% of US patients, with advertisements for two COX-2 inhibitors, Pfizer's Celebrex (celecoxib) and Merck & Co's Vioxx (rofecoxib), being the most frequently-remembered, according to a new...

E-pharmacy slams US FDA over import clause.(Food and Drug Administration)(Canadian e-pharmacy DoctorSolve)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Many Americans are unaware that a compassionate discretion clause exists, under which the US Food and Drug Administration can choose to release an imported drug to patients provided it does not pose an unreasonable risk, says Paul Zickler of...

US Senate panel OKs Rx comparison funding.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... The US Senate Appropriations Committee has increased funding for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to undertake an effectiveness study comparing a variety of medicines, as mandated under the Medicare Modernization Act. The $15...

Pharco gets compulsory license to make ARVs in Zambia.(antiretroviral drugs)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Italian drugmaker Pharco has now received a compulsory license from the Zambian government to start manufacturing antiretroviral drugs in the wake of the country's escalating number of HIV/AIDS cases (Marketletter September 27). Zambia's...

One in 10 children in UK at risk of undetected ADRs.(Adverse drug reactions)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... More than one in 10 (12%) children are at risk of undetected/unreported adverse drug reactions, according to new research presented at the British Pharmaceutical Conference, held in Manchester, UK. A pilot study carried out in community...

European BioTechnica Forum awards for German/Swiss firms.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... The European BioTechnica Forum has awarded its first prize for "excellence in biotech business" to Swiss firm Prionics AG. Second prize went to Berlin, Germany-based Jerini AG and third to another Swiss firm, Cytos Biotechnology. The...

GSK in deal with IPM on potential of anti-HIV agents as microbicides.(GlaxoSmithKline PLC, International Partnership for Microbicides)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... The USA-based International Partnership for Microbicides has entered into a material transfer agreement with UK drug major GlaxoSmithKline under which the company will select and provide proprietary anti-HIV compounds to be tested for possible...

UK pharma code of conduct: 2003 report.(UK Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority)
October 4, 2004... 131 complaints were made to the UK Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority last year, a slight rise on the 127 received in 2002, while the number of cases considered by the Code of Practice Panel was the same for both years, at 122,...

Austrian doctors slam health reform plans.
October 4, 2004... Austrian Health Minister Maria Rauch-Kallat has met with the country's leading doctors' association, the AK, and has come under fierce attack for the Ministry's health service reform proposals. AK president Reiner Brennthaler reportedly...

Irish Rx production and turnover soar in July.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Production in Ireland of pharmaceuticals and drug raw materials was 44.7% higher in July than in the same month of 2002, while the combined turnover of pharmaceutical companies for the month rose 41.6%, year-on-year, the Central Statistical...

Czech Rx spending low.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Annual per capita drug spending in the Czech Republic now averages some $97, compared with $346 in the European Union, according to an official from the domestic drugmaker Zentiva, quoted by the CTK news agency's Business News.

Takeda files ramelteon NDA with FDA.(New Drug Application)(Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd.)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Japan's Takeda has submitted a New Drug Application to the US Food and Drug Administration to seek marketing authorization for ramelteon (TAK-375) as a treatment for insomnia. The filing contains data from more than 4,200 patients enrolled...

Glenmark and Forest in PDE4 inhibitor deal.(Glenmark Pharmaceuticals)(Forest Laboratories)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Glenmark Pharmaceuticals SA (Switzerland), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals India, and USA-based Forest Laboratories have entered into a collaborative agreement for the former's phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor, GRC 3886. ...

Acambis and Baxter's MVA on FDA fast-track.(Baxter Healthcare Corp)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... UK-based Acambis says its joint project with Baxter Healthcare of the USA to develop a modified vaccinia Ankara vaccine has been designated as a fast-track development program by the US Food and Drug Administration. The two firms are developing...

Nastech and Merck & Co sign PYY3-36 accord.(Nastech Pharmaceutical Company Inc.)(Merck and Company Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Nastech Pharmaceutical and fellow US firm Merck & Co have entered into a global alliance to develop and commercialize peptide YY3-36 (PYY) nasal spray, the former's potential obesity therapy. Under the terms of the agreement, Nastech will...

Peregrine's Tarvacin on track to enter clinic.(Peregrine Pharmaceuticals)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Peregrine Pharmaceuticals of the USA says it has submitted an Investigational New Drug application to the US Food and Drug Administration to initiate the first clinical trial of its novel anticancer agent Tarvacin. The Phase I study will...

Yamanouchi licenses FibroGen's FG-2216.(Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Japan's Yamanouchi has licensed USA-based FibroGen's FG-2216, an erythropoietic small molecule that is undergoing clinical evaluation as a potential treatment for anemia. Under the terms of the accord, Yamanouchi has gained exclusive...

Altana AG set for 2004 pretax profit of 600 million euros.(Altana Industrie-Aktien und Anlagen AG)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Nikolaus Schweickart, chief executive of German drugmaker Altana AG, has said that he is more confident than before about the firm being able to achieve a net profit of 600 million euros ($730.0 million) for the current year. In an interview...

Psoriasis drug market to reach $3.3 billion in 2013, says DR study.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... The worldwide psoriasis drug market will grow substantially, reaching $3.3 billion in 2013, according to a new Pharmacor study entitled Psoriasis: premium pricing for biological agents will drive the market, published by research company...

Girindus wins F&S award for oligonucleotides production.(Frost & Sullivan)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Germany's Girindus AG, which focuses on process development and manufacturing of drug actives for the worldwide pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, is this year's recipient of the Product Differentiation Award sponsored by consulting...

MDS Diagnostics sells Memphis Path Lab to AEL.(MDS Health Group Ltd)(American Esoteric Laboratories)(Pathology Laboratory)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Canada's MDS Diagnostic Services, and its partners Baptist Memorial System Services and Health Tech Affiliates and Methodist Healthcare, have announced the sale of the Memphis Pathology Laboratory partnership to American Esoteric Laboratories....

Genentech and Wyeth in manufacturing accord.(Wyeth Pharmaceuticals)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... US firms Genentech and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals have entered into a manufacturing agreement for the breast cancer drug Herceptin (trastuzumab). Under this deal, Wyeth will manufacture bulk trastuzumab for Genentech at the former's production...

South African sales of MedMira Rapid HIV tests begin.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Canada-headquartered MedMira Inc says that it has begun shipment of its MiraWell Rapid HIV test to its distributor in South Africa. Impilo Medical Supplies will be distributing the product through Sekunjalo Health Care, a national...

Alizyme slashes first-half 2004 loss; moves closer to being a late-stage drug firm.
October 4, 2004... Cambridge, UK-headquartered Alizyme posted a net loss of L1.0 million ($1.79 million) for the six months ended 30 June, plummeting 86% from the like, year-earlier period. Loss per share dropped to 0.7 pence from 5.9 pence. The substantial...

Nicholas Piramal to co-develop drugs.(Nicholas Piramal India Ltd)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Nicholas Piramal India will have a few agreements in place with overseas companies and institutions to co-develop new drugs that are in the research pipeline, the firm's director, strategic alliance and communications, Swati Piramal, has told...

Pfizer appeals China's Viagra patent decision.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... World drug leader Pfizer will appeal a decision of the Beijing, China, court rejecting the patent for the firm's blockbuster erectile dysfunction drug Viagra (sildenafil), reports the Associated Press (Marketletters passim). It quotes company...

Exelixis to acquire X-Ceptor.(X-Ceptor Therapeutics)
October 4, 2004... Exelixis says it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire fellow US firm X-Ceptor Therapeutics, which is focused on the discovery and development of small molecules that modulate nuclear hormone receptors. Under the terms of the...

Generics battering Sankyo's home sales.(Sankyo Company )
October 4, 2004... Japanese drugmaker Sankyo, which has relied heavily on its cholesterol-lowering agent Mevalotin (pravastatin) since the 1990s, is trying hard to reduce its dependence on the drug, which is already facing generic competition domestically and is...

Novacea initiates Phase I trial of AQ4N.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... US privately-held firm Novacea has enrolled the first patient in a Phase I dose-escalation trial of AQ4N, its first-in-class hypoxic cell-activated antitumor therapy. The open-label study is designed to evaluate the safety and tolerance of...

Guilford's Gliadel gets Orphan Drug status.(Guilford Pharmaceuticals)(Gliadel Wafer)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Baltimore, USA-based Guilford Pharmaceuticals has received notification from the US Food and Drug Administration that its Gliadel Wafer (polifeprosan 20 with carmustine implant), a proprietary brain cancer treatment, has been designated Orphan...

Positive Ph II data for BioXell's BXL-628.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Italy's BioXell has reported successful results from a Phase II clinical trial of its BXL-628 in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia, which demonstrated that the drug was well-tolerated and met the primary endpoint of the study - a...

Connetics starts Phase III study of Desilux.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Connetics Corp says it has initiated Phase III clinical evaluation of Desilux, a low-potency topical steroid formulated with 0.05% desonide in its proprietary emollient foam delivery vehicle. The Phase III program will be centered on the...

Neurome and ImClone enter research alliance.(ImClone Systems )(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... USA-based firms Neurome and ImClone Systems have entered into a research agreement under which the former will utilize its proprietary technologies to assist the latter group's preclinical discovery program of potential targets for central...

LemnaGene opens biomanufacturing site.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... LemnaGene SA of France, a recently-founded biomanufacturing company using the aquatic plant Spirodela from the Lemnaceae family as its production platform, recently opened its new laboratory and biomanufacturing facility in the incubation space...

Pharmacopeia delivers lead in Neurocrine deal.(Neurocrine Biosciences )(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Pharmacopeia Drug Discovery says that a research milestone has been reached in its collaboration with fellow US firm Neurocrine Biosciences. The milestone payment, the amount of which was not disclosed, was triggered by Neurocrine's...

Biolex opens new cGMP biopharma manufacturing facility.(Pittsboro, North Carolina)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Biolex, a privately-held US protein therapeutics company, hosted opening ceremonies and ribbon cutting for its new clinical biomanufacturing facility. This new 4,500-square-foot site is located in previously-undeveloped areas of the same...

Diabetes may no longer be a bitter pill to swallow: new research.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... People with diabetes may soon be able to swap their tablets for creams and ointments according to new research presented at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester, UK. This news will come as a relief for type 2 diabetes patients...

ISTA reacquires US rights for Vitrase.(Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... US firms ISTA Pharmaceuticals and Allergan have entered into a new agreement that replaces their previous Vitrase (hyaluronidase for injection; lyophilized, ovine) collaboration. As part of the new deal, ISTA has reacquired all rights to market...

Hemosol to make Hepalean products for Organon Canada.(Organon Canada)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Canada's Hemosol says that it has signed a multi-year agreement with Organon Canada, the pharmaceutical division of Akzo Nobel. This accord, with an initial term of three years, will see Hemosol become the exclusive Canadian manufacturer and...

Half Internet Viagra could be counterfeit new research shows.
October 4, 2004... Around half the samples of Viagra (sildenafil; Pfizer's erectile dysfunction drug) purchased on the Internet were counterfeit, according to researchers who announced a new technique that detects counterfeit medicines at the British...

Tokyo pharma stocks - week to September 27.
October 4, 2004... Tokyo saw a retreat in the week ended September 27 (four trading days because September 23 was a national holiday in Japan), with consecutive daily declines due to a dearth of fresh trading incentives and concerns about rising oil prices. The...

Higher dose of Novartis' Glivec improves progression-free survival in GIST patients.(gastrointestinal stromal tumor)
October 4, 2004... New findings published in The Lancet show that patients taking an 800mg daily dose of Novartis' Glivec/Gleevec (imatinib) for the treatment of certain types of gastrointestinal stromal tumor have significantly longer progression-free survival...

Positive data for Pharmaxis' Bronchitol.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Australia's Pharmaxis has released promising results from a Phase II trial evaluating its Bronchitol as a treatment for bronchiectasis, a form of chronic obstructive lung disease. The product is a patented, inhalable, dry powder that can be...

Solvay's cilansetron effective for IBS.(irritable bowel syndrome)(Solvay Pharmaceuticals B.V)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... New data presented at the United European Gastroenterology Week congress, held in Prague, the Czech Republic, confirm the safety and efficacy of Solvay Pharmaceuticals' cilansetron for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea...

Boeh Ingelheim/Lilly's Yentreve has a quick onset of action in treating SUI; new study.( stress urinary incontinence)
October 4, 2004... Boehringer Ingelheim/Eli Lilly's Yentreve (duloxetine hydrochloride) works quickly to reduce the frequency of incontinence episodes and improves quality of life in women with severe stress urinary incontinence, according to new data reported in...

Disappointing news for Allergan's Tazorac.(Allergan Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... US firm Allergan says it has a received a non-approvable letter from the US Food and Drug Administration for the use of its oral formulation of Tazorac (tazarotene) in the treatment of psoriasis. The agency cited a number of issues for its...

Celera and Genentech in oncology deal.(Celera Genomics Group)(Genentech Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Celera Genomics, an Applera Corp business, and Genentech have entered into a collaboration to discover and develop targeted therapies for cancer. Genentech may develop various products against therapeutic targets licensed from Celera, including...

Alexion's fiscal-2004 net loss down 12%.(Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... Alexion Pharmaceuticals of the USA saw its revenues jump dramatically for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2004, recording sales of $4.6 million compared to the $877,000 for the prior year. However, the increase is mainly attributable to a $4.0...

BioMarin raises net loss 2004 forecast.(BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... BioMarin Pharmaceutical has revised upward significantly its full-year 2004 (ending December 31), net loss projection, causing its shares to fall 15% to $7.19 on the day of the announcement. Previous expectation was that net loss would fall to...

Myogen enters $60M private financing round.(Myogen Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... US biopharmaceutical firm Myogen says it has entered into definitive purchase agreements for a $60 million private placement of newly-issued shares of common stock to institutional and accredited investors. On closing of the round, Myogen...

Genentech extends stock repurchase.(Genentech Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... US biotechnology giant Genentech says its board of directors has approved the extension of its current stock repurchase program, for the repurchase of up to an additional $1 billion of its common stock, to run through December 31, 2005. In...