Deals and Data - 8/25/08
After an exciting early-August, thing have settled down for the last days of summer, as everyone gets their last beach days in, prepares for school to start and for the Chargers to continue down the inevitable path of victory in the Super Bowl.
As usual, there were some deals and data we thought you'd like to know about, starting with Nanogen, led by Howard Birndorf, one of the founders of Hybritech, who among other things, has made it into the Wikipedia. Nanogen announced it will merge with the Elitech Group, a private French diagnostics company, building on the company's abilities in the point of care diagnostics space. The new firm will be headquartered in San Diego with Pierre Debiais as CEO. Howard Birndorf will be chairman of the combined entity. The deal came after Nanogen expanded a collaboration with HX Diagnostics looking at diagnosing both seasonal and pandemic influenza.
Gen-Probe received full FDA approval of a supplementary application to use its Procleix Ultrio assay to screen donated blood for the hepatitis B virus. The test already screens for HIV-1 and hepatitis C.
NovaRx received a raft of attention after saying it was starting a Phase III trial of its Lucanix treatment for lung cancer, including this profile in the Union-Tribune.
International Stem Cells Corp. raised $3 million through an accredited investor … LPath received a $6.7 million equity financing.
Shares of Amylin have been under pressure since the FDA said there were two unexpected and fatal cases of pancreatic appeared. The company and agency are moving forward on continuing to ensure patient safety on the drug.
Inovio Biomedical expanded a partnership with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative to look at using Inovio's DNA delivering technology to combat AIDS.
Ardea Biosciences says it has received the go-ahead for a Phase I study of its RDEA594 in the United Kingdom to look at treating Gout … SGX Pharmaceuticals finished its merger with Eli Lilly and Co.
Metabasis Therapeutics signed a two-year research collaboration with Roche worth up to $193 million to look at using Metabasis' liver-targeting technology to Roche's compounds to help develop a better hepatitis C treatment.
Cytori Therapeutics, subject of a recent story in the Wall Street Journal on using stem cells in breast surgery, said it raised $17 million through a private placement of shares, led by Olympus Corp. and other institutional investors.
Regulus Therapeutics and collaborators published new data on the company's miR-21 to treat brain tumors ... Acadia Pharmaceuticals was able to secure an equity financing of up to $60 million but did have to go through a substantial reduction in headcount.
Invitrogen and researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories said details of its membrane protein purification technology was published in the Journal of Proteome Research which can be found online here. Invitrogen also launched a new line of water sampling kits which target a disease called Legionella.
Boston-based Vertex, which has a major office here in Torrey Pines, said it is moving forward on Phase III trials of its Telaprevir to treat hepatitis C patients.
Up in Orange County, Valeant Pharmaceuticals said it formed a joint venture with Meda AB, a Swedish firm, to help bring new products to areas like Australia, Canada and Mexico, where Valeant already has a presence. Meda, a specialty pharma firm, is buying Valeant assets in parts of Europe and Russia.
Maven Biotechnologies signed an agreement with German firms Stratec Biomedical Systems AG and Greiner Bio-One GmbH for a label-free detection technology. Maven makes a label-free, high throughput, high density analysis system for microarrays and microplates that can quantitate molecular binding in real-time, the company says.
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals turned a $20 million profit in the second quarter ... and finally, Cortex Pharmaceuticals said is showed positive phase II data of its treatment to limit opiod-induced respiratory depression.