Drugmaker Pulls Hypotension Drug

(MedPage Today) — A day after the FDA said it was ready to withdraw approval of the orthostatic hypotension drug midodrine, the drug’s maker said it would voluntarily withdraw the drug.

Intellect Neurosciences locks database of OXIGON Phase 1b clinical trial for Alzheimer’s disease

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc. a biopharmaceutical company with an internal preclinical and clinical-stage pipeline and licenses with major pharmaceutical companies covering products in late-stage clinical trials, announced that it has locked the database of the Company’s Phase 1b clinical trial for its lead Alzheimer’s candidate, OXIGON™ (OX1).

Biogen Idec, Knopp Neurosciences enter license agreement for KNS-760704 ALS drug candidate

Biogen Idec and Knopp Neurosciences today announced they have entered into an exclusive, worldwide license agreement under which Biogen Idec will develop and commercialize KNS-760704 (dexpramipexole) for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and potentially other indications.

Quark enters licensing option agreement with Novartis for p53 temporary inhibitor siRNA drug QPI-1002

Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a world leader in the discovery and development of RNAi-based therapeutics, today announced that it has granted Novartis an option to obtain an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialize its p53 temporary inhibitor siRNA drug QPI-1002, currently the subject of a Phase II clinical trial.

Repros Therapeutics requests Type B Meeting to review Androxal Phase III protocols

Repros Therapeutics Inc. today announced that the Company has requested a Type B Meeting in order to review the Company’s Phase III protocols for Androxal in the treatment of secondary hypogonadism. Androxal is an oral drug that normalizes both testosterone and sperm levels.

USPTO grants Neogenix Oncology patent for DNAs encoding novel molecular aspects of NPC-1 antibody

Neogenix Oncology, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued Patent No. 7,763,720, with claims related to DNAs encoding the novel molecular aspects of the Company’s NPC-1 antibody.

AMT’s MAA for LPLD gene therapy product Glybera on schedule

Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics, a leader in the field of human gene therapy, today announced that the Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) for Glybera(R) remains on schedule following meetings with the European Medicine Agency (EMA) concerning the Day 120 List of Questions. The company is confident that Glybera(R), a gene therapy product for lipoprotein lipase deficiency (LPLD), [...]

Lilly to halt development of potential Alzheimer’s disease drug semagacestat

Eli Lilly and Company will halt development of semagacestat, a gamma secretase inhibitor being studied as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, because preliminary results from two ongoing long-term Phase III studies showed it did not slow disease progression and was associated with worsening of clinical measures of cognition and the ability to perform activities [...]

Long-term entecavir therapy suppresses HBV DNA, normalizes ALT and improves liver histology

Researchers from this international study found that patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection who received at least 3 years of cumulative entecavir (antiviral) therapy achieved substantial histologic improvement and regression of fibrosis or cirrhosis. Full details of the study appear in the September issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf [...]

BioMarin commences Phase 3b study of Kuvan’s neuropsychiatric effects in phenylketonuria patients

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. announced today that the first subject has initiated treatment in a Phase 3b study (PKU-016) to evaluate the effects of Kuvan (sapropterin dihydrochloride) on neuropsychiatric symptoms in subjects with phenylketonuria (PKU). BioMarin expects to report results in the first half of 2012.