国际新闻精选周五（2017年2月17日）

Takeda Completes Acquisition of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502) (“Takeda”) today announced the completion of its acquisition of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARIA) (“ARIAD”) for $24.00 per share in cash.

“We are very pleased to have completed the acquisition of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals. The addition of ARIAD’s innovative targeted therapies and research and development capabilities strengthens and diversifies our oncology business, positioning Takeda for sustainable long-term growth in this priority therapeutic area,” said Christophe Weber, president and chief executive officer of Takeda. 【阅读全文】

Zymeworks Receives Second Orphan Drug Designation for ZW25 in Gastric Cancer

Zymeworks Inc. (“Zymeworks”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of next-generation multifunctional biotherapeutics, initially focused on the treatment of cancer, today announced that its lead product candidate, ZW25, has been granted orphan drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) in the treatment of gastric cancer, including cancer of the gastroesophageal junction (“GEJ”).【阅读全文】

Stanford scientists manipulate gene expression to make insulin-producing cells

Stanford University scientists converted pancreatic alpha cells to insulin-producing beta cells in mice by blocking the production of a pair of proteins. If translatable to humans, this method could be used to replenish faulty beta cells and ease diabetes symptoms.

"It is important to carefully evaluate any and all potential sources of new beta cells for people with diabetes," said Dr. Seung Kim, a professor of developmental biology and of medicine at Stanford, in a statement. "Now we've discovered what keeps an alpha cell as an alpha cell, and found a way to efficiently convert them in living animals into cells that are nearly indistinguishable from beta cells."【阅读全文】

Pfizer's solo Xeljanz can't match AbbVie's Humira in big RA head-to-head miss

Pfizer has struggled to get rheumatoid arthritis pill Xeljanz to bring in the kind of sales it wants—and a new head-to-head study against AbbVie behemoth Humira isn't going to help as much as the New York drugmaker had hoped.

Thursday, the company announced that Xeljanz, one in a new class of JAK inhibitors, had matched Humira when both drugs were paired with methotrexate. On its own, though, Xeljanz didn't measure up to the world’s best seller, missing the study’s primary endpoint of non-inferiority.【阅读全文】

Reasons for Ibrutinib Discontinuation Linked With Length of CLL Survival

Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who discontinue treatment with the Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib due to disease progression or transformation had significantly worse survival compared with patients who discontinued therapy because of intolerance, according to the long-term results of a study published recently in Cancer.【阅读全文】

TRACON Pharmaceuticals Announces First Patient Dosed in Phase 3 TAPPAS Trial of TRC105 in Angiosarcoma

TRACON Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TCON), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel targeted therapeutics for cancer, wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and fibrotic diseases, announced today that it has initiated patient dosing in its Phase 3 TAPPAS (TRC105 And Pazopanib versus Pazopanib alone in patients with advanced AngioSarcoma) trial of TRC105.【阅读全文】

U.S. FDA Accepts Biologics License Application (BLA) for Mylan and Biocon's Proposed Biosimilar Pegfilgrastim for Review

Mylan N.V. (NASDAQ, TASE: MYL) and Biocon Ltd. (BSE code: 532523, NSE: BIOCON) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted Mylan's Biologics License Application (BLA) for MYL-1401H, a proposed biosimilar to Neulasta® (pegfilgrastim), for filing through the 351(k) pathway.

The proposed biosimilar to Neulasta is used to reduce the duration of neutropenia (low count of neutrophils, a type of white blood cells) and the incidence of fever associated with neutropenia in adult patients treated with chemotherapy in certain types of cancer.【阅读全文】

What's wrong with Sanofi's dealmaking approach? To hear Actelion tell it, plenty

It’s no secret that Sanofi has struggled of late at the dealmaking table. But why? The deal prospectus from former target Actelion and its agreed-to buyer, Johnson & Johnson, offers some clues.

Late last year, when J&J walked on Actelion after nearly a year of talks, many industry watchers thought Sanofi had a $30 billion deal for the Swiss biotech in the bag. The French drugmaker had reportedly offered up a price higher than what J&J was wiling to pay, forcing the New Jersey pharma giant out of the picture.【阅读全文】

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