Astex dumps experimental lung cancer drug

Astex CEO James Manuso.

Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc. has discontinued its work to bring an experimental cancer drug through clinical trials and onto the market, the company said Friday. The Dublin-based company (NASDAQ: ASTX) said it will try to license the drug -- called amuvatinib, or MP-470 -- which was in the second phase of the three-part clinical trial process. The Phase II trial looked at the drug as a treatment for small cell lung cancer.

Astex, U.K. groups form blood cancer research pact

Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc. inked a research collaboration with Cancer Research Technology Ltd. and the Institute of Cancer Research in London to discover and develop drug candidates for blood cancer caused by epigenetics. Dublin-based Astex (NASDAQ: ASTX) did not disclose the value of the deal or say how long the collaboration would last.

Biotech Day: Monday's national biotech news

From the 40 business journals of American City Business Journals …

Covance animal testing lab for sale in Vienna (Washington Business Journal)
Princeton, N.J.-based Covance, one of the nation's largest drug development companies, is beginning to market its 113,000-square-foot animal testing lab in Vienna for sale, The Washington Post reported.

Discovery leads to launch of biotech company Exscien (Birmingham Business Journal)
A scientific discovery made at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine has helped launch biotech company Exscien in Mobile. According to the Press-Register, Exscien was recently awarded a grant by the National Institutes of Health to support the development of a new drug aimed at preventing and reversing acute lung injury.

Astex leukemia drug nets European recommendation (San Francisco Business Times)
An advisory committee to Europe’s drug regulator recommended Friday that the agency approve a drug licensed out of Dublin-based Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc. for patients with acute myeloid leukemia. The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medical Products for Human Use recommended that Dacogen injections be approved for people 65 or older with newly diagnosed or secondary AML who are not eligible for standard chemotherapy.

Astex leukemia drug nets European recommendation

An advisory committee to Europe’s drug regulator recommended Friday that the agency approve a drug licensed out of Dublin-based Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc. for patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medical Products for Human Use recommended that Dacogen injections be approved for people 65 or older with newly diagnosed or secondary AML who are not eligible for standard chemotherapy.

Executive Profile: James Manuso of Astex Pharmaceuticals

(San Francisco Business Times subscription required.)
Manuso, a self-described “Euro mutt,” joined SuperGen Inc. as a director in 2001 and became chairman and CEO of Astex Pharma after SuperGen’s acquisition last summer of Astex Therapeutics Ltd. in the U.K. The 140-employee company has three cancer drugs in mid-stage clinical trials, but the FDA in March rejected expanding its blood cancer drug Dacogen to elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia. Manuso’s eclectic career has taken him from counseling heroin addicts in Bedford-Stuyvesant, part of his domestic service as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, to buying, fixing up and selling Manhattan properties.

Biotech Day: Friday's national biotech news

From the 40 business journals of American City Business Journals …

'Biohackers' go solo in quest to find cures (San Francisco Business Times)

Ryan Bethencourt is hacking his way toward saving lives. Working one day a week on shared lab equipment snatched up for pennies on the dollar, Bethencourt and a growing wave of do-it-yourself biotechnologists, or “biohackers,” are zeroing in on some of life sciences’ thorniest questions from the cozy confines of their kitchen tables, hallway closets or hand-me-down lab benches. (San Francisco Business Times subscription required.)

'Supertemps' reshaping biotech workforce (Boston Business Journal)
Local life sciences companies are increasingly hiring workers — often those with high-level expertise — on a temporary, rather than a permanent, basis. (Boston Business Journal subscription required.)

Vertex and city celebrate topping off at Fan Pier (Boston Business Journal)
Developer Joseph Fallon, Mayor Thomas M. Menino and a crowd of construction workers watched as the final beam for the first of two Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: VRTX) office towers on Fan Pier was hoisted to the top of the 18-story building on Thursday. Work on the 1.1 million square foot global headquarters for Vertex is expected to be completed late next year.

Couple buys drug candidate, raising $25M betting it works (Triangle Business Journal)

The leaders of Sprout Pharmaceuticals are banking $25 million on a drug aimed at treating sexual dysfunction in women, even though federal regulators did not approve the medication when it was held by another company. The husband-wife team of Cindy Whitehead and Bob Whitehead bought the drug, called flibanserin, for an undisclosed sum in 2011. Flibanserin was available when Raleigh-based Slate Pharmaceuticals, which Bob Whitehead helmed at the time, was sold to Lake Forest, Ill.-based Actient Pharmaceuticals. (Triangle Business Journal subscription required.)

Seed firms sprouting around UC Davis (Sacramento Business Journal)

A year-old nonprofit is aiming to transform the Sacramento region into the Silicon Valley of seed science and technology. At least 50 seed and seed-related companies already have set down roots in the region, so now it’s a matter of getting those companies to “behave like they are in a cluster,” said François Korn, one of Seed Central’s founders. “It’s all about energizing the seed cluster.” And developing a significant economic engine for the region. (Sacramento Business Journal subscription required.)

Medtech startups increasing in Sacramento region (Sacramento Business Journal)

Industry insiders say the region’s small medical technology cluster is on its way to becoming an important part of the economy. They point to a growing base of companies and industry partnerships with theUniversity of California Davis as key drivers of the region’s med-tech sector. (Sacramento Business Journal subscription required.)

Human Genome Sciences' sale to GlaxoSmithKline: What it means for the D.C. area (Washington Business Journal)

After an ugly, feuding courtship, Human Genome Sciences Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC are finally tying the knot. The two drugmakers announced July 16 the consummation of a takeover process that officially began in April, when London-based Glaxo first offered to buy its partner of two decades for $3.6 billion, a deal Rockville-based Human Genome Sciences declined as too cheap. (Washington Business Journal subscription required.)

Whopper deal more of a whimper (Washington Business Journal)

A company’s multibillion-dollar sale is normally the apex of its journey, the peak of its existence. But I gotta tell you, this one’s a bit anticlimactic. (Washington Business Journal subscription required.)

Colorado bioscience sector welcomes FDA reforms (Denver Business Journal)

Colorado’s bioscience industry expects good things from reforms of U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations signed into law July 13. Passage of the FDA Safety and Innovation Act capped more than 18 months of work by Denver-area executives and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., to pass the bill. The industry supports the reforms even though they result in large FDA fee increases. (Denver Business Journal subscription required.)

Medical device makers brace for excise tax (Memphis Business Journal)

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Affordable Healthcare Act was constitutional in late June, device and pharmaceutical companies began looking at the calendar. The reason? On Jan. 1, 2013, the 2.3 percent excise tax on device and drug manufacturers such as Pfizer Inc., Medtronic Inc., Wright Medical Group Inc. and Smith & Nephew Inc. is scheduled to take effect. (Memphis Business Journal subscription required.)

Study: Non-core work ordered by pharmas driving up costs (Triangle Business Journal)

Drug companies ask for non-core trials to be conducted by contract research organizations at a cost of as much as $5 billion per year, a factor that drives up the ultimate cost of developing new drugs, concludes a new study. While that’s bad news for patients and further contributes to rising health care costs, it can be taken as good news for the Triangle, where CROs employ more than 10,000 workers. (Triangle Business Journal subscription required)

Shower Shirt's sales volume nearly triples (Orlando Business Journal)

In 2009, Lisa Crites was standing in the shower after a double breast mastectomy with a white plastic trash bag with cut-out arm holes draped over her to keep her surgical site dry, when the idea hit: This could be fixed. Five prototypes and a year later, Crites formed The Shower Shirt Co. LLC and invented the Shower Shirt. The $85 waterproof, turtle neck-style jacket allows a patient to shower after a mastectomy and keep the site dry, replacing the old methods of using a plastic bag or Saran wrap. “It’s comical now,” Crites said, looking back. (Orlando Business Journal subscription required.)

Mobile heart monitor doesn't skip a beat (San Francisco Business Times)
San Francisco-based AliveCor’s new iPhone electrocardiogram isn’t on the market yet, but it may have already saved a life. (San Francisco Business Times subscription required.)

Executive Profile: Astex Pharmaceutical CEO James Manuso (San Francisco Business Times)
Manuso, a self-described “Euro mutt,” joined SuperGen Inc. as a director in 2001 and became chairman and CEO of Astex Pharma after SuperGen’s acquisition last summer of Astex Therapeutics Ltd. in the U.K. The 140-employee company has three cancer drugs in mid-stage clinical trials, but the FDA in March rejected expanding its blood cancer drug Dacogen to elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia. Manuso’s eclectic career has taken him from counseling heroin addicts in Bedford-Stuyvesant, part of his domestic service as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, to buying, fixing up and selling Manhattan properties. (San Francisco Business Times subscription required.)


Wake Forest Nano Center digging deeper to boost startups (The Business Journal)
Seeking to boost the pace of commercialization coming out of his labs at Wake Forest University, the director of the school’s Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials has set up a partnership with an outside firm designed to mine early-stage research looking for potential money-makers. (The Business Journal subscription required.)


Drug maker donating to Franklin Institute brain exhibit (Philadelphia Business Journal)
Pharmaceutical giant Teva will donate $2.5 million toward the Franklin Institute’s fundraising campaign. The money will be put toward the museum’s planned “Your Brain” exhibit, which will explore neuroscience and the human brain.


Up close: Roger Cubicciotti (The Business Journal)
Roger Cubicciotti has lived and worked in biotech hotspots all over the country, but he chose the Piedmont Triad Research Park when it came time to settle his company, NanoMedica. Since arriving in 2010, Cubicciotti has also thrown his efforts behind building up fellow entrepreneurs and helping to organize the all-volunteer support group VentuRealization. (The Business Journal subscription required.)


Targacept exec to head biotech committee (The Business Journal)
Karen Hicks, the vice president of human resources at drug discovery firm Targacept, will chair the 24-member Advisory Committee for Biotechnology, under the auspices of N.C. Biotechnology Center.

Anthera seeks $33 million from stock offering (San Francisco Business Times)

Anthera Pharmaceuticals Inc. will use $33 million from the sale of 33 million shares for general corporate purposes, the company said Thursday.

CTRC tapped for clinical trial of ovarian cancer drug (San Antonio Business Journal)
Viral Genetics has selected the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at the University of Texas Health Science Center to conduct a Phase I clinical trial for an investigational ovarian cancer drug.

FDA rejects plan to expand use of Astex blood cancer drug

The Food and Drug Administration Tuesday rejected an attempt to expand the use of the blood cancer drug Dacogen, developed by Dublin’s Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc.
An FDA advisory panel last month recommended that the agency not approve the application by Eisai Co., which markets the drug in the United States.

Biotech's battle: Rebuild industry for next wave of drugs

Maybe it’s overdramatizing to say it feels like we’re passing through history, but as a number of Bay Area biopharma companies approach the cusp of drug approvals, it feels like we may not pass this way again.
It’s something to consider as the state’s biomedical industry players meet this week for the CalBio 2012 conference in San Francisco.
Maybe it’s my limited experience, but the sheer volume of drugs from Bay Area companies that are in front of the FDA in early 2012 seems unprecedented. After watching capital dry up for four years, just getting to this point seems a victory for some companies.
But for today's small life sciences companies to deliver big-time drugs in the coming years will take a new model for funding.

Slew of Bay Area drugs awaiting approval

(SF Business Times subscription required.)

A bounty of new drugs from the labs of Bay Area companies could win Food and Drug Administration approval in the next few months.
At least 10 drugs — from an obesity treatment to cancer drugs — are candidates for FDA approval by the end of June. Industry observers said they didn’t know how that number compares with any previous six-month period.
One thing is sure: After the economic downturn pushed many investors away from the capital-intensive drug-development business, the cadre of potential new drugs represents a victory of sorts. Many drug developers — especially smaller ones — have carried their drugs within sight of the finish line by sheer will or grit.

FDA panel votes against Astex leukemia drug

An advisory panel did not recommend Thursday that the Food and Drug Administration approve a leukemia-fighting drug from Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc. and partner Eisai Co. Ltd.
The FDA’s oncology advisory committee voted 10-3 against recommending that Dacogen be approved for elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia. One member abstained.
The recommendation is not binding, but the FDA typically follows a panel’s decision.
The FDA is scheduled to make its final decision March 6.

SuperGen closes deal with Astex; CEO wins $410K bonus

Overcoming shareholder criticism, SuperGen Inc. closed Wednesday on its acquisition of Astex Therapeutics Ltd. that won its CEO a $410,000 bonus and its new president a $449,000 salary.

Cancer drug companies SuperGen, Astex to merge in cash, stock deal

Cancer drug developers SuperGen Inc. and Astex Therapeutics Ltd. will merge in a deal that will pay Astex shareholders $25 million upfront and SuperGen stock as well as deferred compensation of $30 million in stock or cash over 30 months, the companies said late Wednesday.
Dublin-based SuperGen (NASDAQ: SUPG) and Astex, based in Cambridge, United Kingdom, expect the deal to close in July, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.