Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - February 2008 - (Page 6)

6 News & Analysis February 2008 Pharmaceutical Executive Europe News & Analysis For more on these news stories and all the latest breaking pharma news, look at our website www.pharmexeceurope.com, which now features daily updates, interactive surveys and dedicated sections for your particular area of interest. NEWS Philogen SpA (Italy) has postponed its initial public offering, originally planned for January 28, 2008. The biotech will reconsider its position when “market conditions improve.” Forest Laboratories, Inc, Forest Laboratories Holdings, Merz Pharma GmbH & Co KgaA, and Merz Pharmaceuticals GmbH have filed lawsuits in the US District Court for the District of Delaware for infringement of US Patent No. 5,061,703 (the '703 patent), which relates to Forest’s Namenda product and expires in April 2010. The defendants named in the lawsuit include Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Genpharm, Interpharm, Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, Sun India Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, and related companies and subsidiaries thereof. Atlantic Grupa (Croatia) has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Health institution (HI) Coner Pharmacy, a privately owned pharmacy chain in Croatia that has seven pharmacies in the Bjelovarskobilogorska and Koprivniãko-kriÏevaãka region. Under the terms of the agreement, Atlantic Grupa has acquired a 51% ownership in the Coner Pharmacy and a 100% stake in the HI Farmako Pharmacy. HIs Coner Pharmacy and Farmako Pharmacy have nine pharmacies, 66 employees and annual revenue of over HRK 85 million (€11.7 million). Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CoGenesys, Inc, a privately-held biopharmaceutical company with a broad based biotechnology platform and focused on the development of peptide- and protein-based medicines across broad therapeutic categories. Teva will pay a purchase price of $400 million cash, funded from its internal resources. The European Commission has granted marketing approval for Abraxis BioScience’s Abraxane powder for suspension for infusion (an albumin-bound nanoparticle formulation of paclitaxel) for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer in patients who have failed first-line treatment for metastatic disease and for whom standard, anthracycline-containing therapy is not indicated. JOINING FORCES MorphoSys AG (Germany) has signed a research collaboration with Genesis Research and Development Corporation Ltd (New Zealand), under which Genesis will continue to use HuCAL-based antibodies originally generated by the MorphoSys business unit AbD Serotec against the human fibroblast growth factor receptor FGFR5 for target validation and preclinical studies as part of its proprietary Zyrogen programme. In this programme, Genesis is investigating the development of therapeutic antibodies specific for the target molecule FGFR5, which is implicated in various autoimmune and bone-related diseases. Based on the scientific data generated by Genesis during the collaboration, the parties will discuss further development of the therapeutic programme. Financial details of the agreement have not been disclosed. UCB Pharma SA (Belgium) has signed an agreement with Entelos Inc (US) to conduct in silico research in the field of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using the Entelos Rheumatoid Arthritis PhysioLab platform, a predictive computer model that simulates arthritic patients and drug effects. Financial terms have not been disclosed. The Entelos Rheumatoid Arthritis PhysioLab platform has already been used successfully with other pharmaceutical partners to select targets and compounds, find the best doses for patients, and support clinical trial design. Faust Pharmaceuticals SA (France) has entered into a research agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Japan) for Faust to apply its Neuroclid platform to identify novel drug candidates that target undisclosed G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) of interest to Takeda. Financial terms of the research agreement were not disclosed. Molecular Partners AG (Switzerland) has announced a collaborative research and license agreement with Centocor Research & Development, Inc (US), focusing on the development of DARPins (Designed Ankyrin Repeat Proteins), a novel class of therapeutic proteins to treat inflammatory diseases. Under the collaboration, Molecular Partners will apply its proprietary DARPin technology for the identification of DARPins to two undisclosed targets. Centocor will perform the preclinical and clinical development as well as commercialisation of resulting products. info@clinphone.com www.clinphone.com sponsored by http://www.pharmexeceurope.com http://www.clinphone.com http://www.clinphone.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - February 2008

Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - February 2008
Contents
From the Editor
News and Analysis
Brussels Report
Calendar
R&D: Innovation - Learning to Share
Drug Launch - The Preparation Game
Q&A - Getting a Head Start
Regulatory Compliance - Credible Compliance
Clinical Trials - Establishing Trials in China
The Mix - Relevant ROI
Comment - Taming the Trader
Last Word - Under the Microscope

Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - February 2008