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Shire's $325M FerroKin Buy Validates Iron Chelator Drug Ireland’s Shire plc bulked up its hematology business by scooping up small biotech FerroKin BioSciences Inc. for $100 million in up-front cash, plus potential milestone payments of up to $225 million based on achieving clinical development, regulatory and net sales targets. The acquisition adds FerroKin’s iron chelator candidate FBS0701 to a hematology franchise that includes Xagrid and a growing development pipeline. Currently in Phase II studies, FBS0701 is a once-daily oral capsule designed to treat iron overload following chronic blood transfusions. Excess iron in vital organs such as the liver and heart increases the risk of organ failure and is the principal cause of death in transfusion-dependent patients. | CRS Weighs in on Need for Generic-Innovation Balance WASHINGTON – As more and more drugs fall off patent, Congress may need to reset the scales to maintain the proper balance of lower drug prices through access to generics and an environment that encourages innovation. That may require new or expanded incentives, a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report suggested, especially if the U.S. is to maintain its status as a leader in biopharma innovation. To keep the scales from tipping too far to the generic side, Congress could explore ways to incentivize increased innovation through changes to data or marketing exclusivities for new and improved drugs, the report said. | |||
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HIV Transgenic Mice Suggest General Kidney Fibrosis Target The course of HIV is driven by the virus’ infection of immune system cells. But the virus also infects other cell types, including two kinds of kidney cells. The viruses’ infection of kidney cells leads to fi brosis and, ultimately, kidney failure. Now scientists at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have unraveled the molecular mechanism of how HIV infection of kidney cells leads to kidney fi brosis. In doing so, they have identifi ed a potential target, HIPK2, whose inhibition may be able to prevent or treat not just HIV-induced kidney fi brosis, but other kinds of kidney fi brosis as well. The fi ndings, co-corresponding author Cijiang He told BioWorld Today, “could apply to any patient with kidney disease.” | Calif. Accelerator Launches With $90M Funding from Merck Merck and Co. Inc. helped to launch a new nonprofi t translational institute based in San Diego, the California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr), to accelerate translation of basic biomedical research into commercialized medicines. The Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based big pharma will provide Calibr with $90 million in funding over a period of seven years in exchange for an option to exclusively license any protein or small-molecule candidates derived from work carried out by Calibr. “This is a little bit different than anything that’s been done before,” Pete Schultz, director of Calibr, told BioWorld Today. | |||
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