Biotech Analysis

Oxford BioMedica Loses TroVax Partner but Gets New Sanofi Deal

Oxford BioMedica plc has to start shopping around for a new partner for its TroVax therapeutic cancer vaccine after Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis dropped the late-stage program as part of a sweeping pipeline makeover. But the good news is that the Oxford, UK-based firm signed a new deal with Sanofi to develop gene-based therapies for ocular diseases in exchange for $50 million in up-front and committed funding. And finding a new partner for TroVax might not prove as difficult as it might have been, thanks to the recent success of another cancer vaccine, Dendreon’s Provenge. Shares of Oxford BioMedica closed up 16 percent Wednesday, on the London exchange.

H1N1 Swine Flu Spreads to 10 States, 91 Americans Infected

Federal health officials, led by newly confirmed HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in her first press conference as health chief, said this morning that the laboratory-confirmed cases of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus has risen to 91 in the U.S., infecting Americans in 10 states. CDC Acting Director Richard Besser, who confirmed the first U.S. death from the virus in a 23-month-old child in Texas, said work is under way to develop a vaccine. Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was on Capitol Hill describing measures the administration is taking to keep the virus contained.

Alnylam to Pay up to $31M to License Isis’ Single-Stranded RNAi Technology

Two leaders in RNAi drug development - Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. - have formed an alliance to develop single-stranded RNAi technology in a deal worth up to $31 million. Alnylam, which will fund the research activities at a minimum of $3 million a year for three years, has focused on traditional RNAi technology using double-stranded small interfering RNA (siRNA). But Isis’s chemically modified, single-stranded RNA technology could result in drugs that have better properties and are better tolerated, and are easier and cheaper to make, Stanley Crooke, chairman and CEO of Isis, told BioWorld Today.

New Delivery Technology Plus New Target Equals New Drug Class

Researchers have combined a new delivery technology with a new target to debut what could help further the development of a new class of oral anti-inflammatory drugs down the road. First they used a yeast-derived oligosaccharide to make a delivery shell, which is filled with short interfering RNA that targets a kinase that appears to control production of the inflammatory cytokines via a previously unrecognized pathway. Using their combination they were able to knock down the production of TNF-alpha and interleukin-1b by macrophages in response to inflammatory stimuli.

Genaera Calling it Quits

Genaera Corp., which has twice restructured in the past year to conserve cash, has decided to fold its tent and liquidate. The firm will focus on finding buyers for its pipeline products.

Also in the News:

Active Biotech, AEterna Zentaris, Antigenics, Applied Biosystems, Applied Protein Sciences, Basilea, Bayer Healthcare, Bial-Portela, Biogen, Biomodels, Boehringer, Ceragenix, Clinical Genomics, CombiMatrix, Cougar Biotechnology, DeCode, Eisai, GeneNews, Genta, Geospiza, Kinaxo, MAST BioSurgery, Novavax, Pharmalink, Qiagen, Stallergenes, Teva, United Therapeutics, Vitrology