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Breaking News from Contract Pharma - Visit us at http://www.contractpharma.com
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Christian Velmer has been appointed president and managing director of Wyeth Canada, effective November 17, 2008. Mr. Velmer replaces Arnout Ploos Van Amstel, who has taken a position as senior vice president and general manager, Institutional Business Unit for Wyeth.
"Mr. Velmer brings to his new position an extensive knowledge of pharmaceutical company management. I'm pleased to welcome him aboard and I look forward to the continued progress of the Canadian business under his leadership," said Andreas Krebs, president, Europe/Middle East/Africa and Canada, Wyeth.
Most recently, Mr. Velmer was senior vice president Western Europe for...
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The FDA has granted Pfizer's Selzentry (maraviroc) full approval for use in treatment-experienced adults with CCR5-tropic HIV-1 in combination with other antiretrovirals. Selzentry was originally granted accelerated conditional approval in August 2007 based on 24-week data from Phase III studies.
The full approval is based on 48-week data from the MOTIVATE (Maraviroc Plus Optimized Therapy in Viremic Antiretrovial Treatment Experienced Patients) studies. The studies compared the safety and effectiveness of Selzentry plus optimized background therapy to placebo plus optimized background therapy in treatment-experienced CCR5-tropic HIV-1 patients.
Accelerated conditional approval is granted to medicines that provide a therapeutic advantage...
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Compugen Ltd. has signed a collaboration agreement with Merck KGaA, a division of Merck Serono, for CGEN-855, Compugen's novel peptide targeting the FPRL1 G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR). This peptide has demonstrated the potential to treat inflammatory diseases and other indications such as cancer, metabolism and cardiovascular diseases.
Under the agreement, Compugen will conduct additional research and Merck Serono has an option to exclusively license the peptide for worldwide development and commercialization.
“We are very proud to add Merck Serono to the growing list of leading pharma companies with which we have collaborations for the advancement of our product...
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Roche and Memory Pharmaceuticals have signed a definitive merger agreement under which Roche will acquire Memory Pharmaceuticals for $50 million in cash. Memory develops drug candidates for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. The company's nicotinic alpha-7 agonist drug candidates in these disease areas—currently being developed in partnership with Roche—include: R3487/MEM 3454, in Phase II trials for Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia; and R4996/MEM 63908, in Phase I for Alzheimer's disease.
"Acquiring Memory Pharmaceuticals will enable Roche to secure the future development of its promising nicotinic alpha-7 agonists," said William Burns,...
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Abraxis BioScience, Inc. has entered into an agreement with AstraZeneca UK Ltd., under which Abraxis would re-acquire the exclusive rights to market Abraxane (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) in the U.S. The agreement is subject to approval by the board of directors of Abraxis.
“We believe the time has come to further build our commercialization platform for Abraxane in the U.S.,” said Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of Abraxis BioScience. “We have gained much in our collaboration with AstraZeneca and they have done a commendable job in building market share. At the same time...
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DSM Biologics, a business unit of DSM Pharmaceutical Products, and Dutch biotechnology company Crucell N.V., have signed a commercial license agreement with Hungary-based Gedeon Richter Plc. Under the agreement, Gedeon Richter will be allowed to develop and produce certain biopharmaceuticals using the PER.C6 platform.
Crucell's PER.C6 technology platform has been developed for the large-scale manufacture of biopharmaceutical products such as recombinant proteins including monoclonal antibodies. DSM's XD technology has been developed as a system to drive yield improvements in mammalian systems.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
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Laureate Pharma (Booth 553) has been named the "Emerging Life Science Company of the Year" by The Eastern Technology Council, the largest technology and life sciences trade association in the greater Philadelphia, PA region. The company was honored for its innovation in services, achievement of milestones and strength of its management team, at the ETC's annual Enterprise Awards Gala at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center on November 18th.
"We are honored to receive this prestigious Enterprise award from Eastern Technology Council," said Robert Broeze, Ph.D., president and the chief executive officer of Laureate Pharma. "This is a tribute to our leadership, and...
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BioReliance Corp. (Booth 311) and Provecs Medical GmbH have signed an agreement for production of investigational quantities of Immunalon, a novel therapeutic agent based upon an adenovirus vector that stimulates an immunological response against tumor cells.
Dr. Frank Schnieders, the chief executive officer of Provecs and one of its founders, remarked, “With the conclusion of this agreement with BioReliance, we have moved significantly closer to the commencement of clinical trials with Immunalon. In animal studies, it has been shown capable of stimulating a strong immunological response to tumor cells. It holds the possibility of causing the immune system to...
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Foster Jordan has been named corporate senior vice president, Endotoxin & Microbial Detection Products at Charles River Laboratories (Booth 1541). Mr. Jordan joined Charles River in 1994 following the acquisition of Endosafe. He became executive director, In Vitro Detection Systems in 2001 and a corporate vice president in 2006. Mr. Jordan helped develop the company’s FDA-licensed in vitro endotoxin detection test kits.
“With Foster’s direction our in vitro solutions are market leaders and pillars in the Company’s success. His ability to anticipate both industry and customer demands will help drive the continued growth and profitability of our...
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Patheon (Booth 2209) has signed a master service agreement with Omnicare Clinical Research for distribution of clinical trial materials in Europe and Asia Pacific. Omnicare's clinical supplies division will provide Patheon's customers with various clinical supply services that include monitoring, distribution and return accountability. The agreement now enables Patheon to provide a broader clinical materials service to its clients.
Dr. Colin Minchom, Patheon's vice president for Pharmaceutical Development Services, North America, remarked, "We are excited to expand our expertise and development and clinical packaging capabilities with assistance from Omnicare Clinical Research. By leveraging Omnicare Clinical Research's strengths, we're able...
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