PellePharm announced its launch today, with financing from BridgeBio Pharma. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company is developing a topical gel to treat basal cell carcinoma, including the tumors that result from Gorlin syndrome. The company’s topical inhibitor compound, patidegib, acts on the hedgehog pathway – a signaling pathway that transmits cellular information for adult tissue […]
Researchers use drug-loaded microneedles for transdermal delivery
Researchers from the Beijing University of Chemical Technology have developed a method to introduce a bubble-shaped microstructure into the base of drug-loaded dissolving microneedles for use as a transdermal drug delivery system. The team’s work was published today in Scientific Reports. Drug-loaded dissolving microneedles are made with water soluble polymers and are designed to overcome the barrier […]
Study finds medical skin glue can reduce IV drip failure
Researchers from the Caboolture Hospital in Queensland, Australia found that medical skin glue can be used to hold hospital intravenous lines in place, significantly reducing the risk of infection, pain, blockage or overall failure. The team’s work was published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. The Emergency Medicine Foundation of Australia, along with Queensland Health, funded […]
Trump comments send pharma, biotech shares down
(Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday took aim at drugmakers, promising in a magazine interview that “I’m going to bring down drug prices,” and shares of U.S. pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies fell. In a cover story for Time magazine, which named him its Person of the Year, Trump said that “I don’t like what […]
Aerie completes enrollment of phase III trial for intraocular pressure eye drops
Aerie Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:AERI) said today that it completed enrollment for its 2nd phase III registration trial, Mercury 2, evaluating its Roclatan once-daily eye drops for intraocular pressure resulting from glaucoma or ocular hypertension. The company’s Roclatan solution is a fixed dose combination of its drug Rhopressa (netarsudil ophthalmic solution) and latanoprost, a widely prescribed prostaglandin […]
Mylan to cut 10% of workforce in restructuring efforts
Mylan (NSDQ:MYL) shares dropped 5% this morning after it said in regulatory filing that it expects to cut less than 10% of its global workforce as a result of its restructuring efforts. The Canonsburg, Penn.-based company has about 35,000 employees, according to Reuters, and wrote in the SEC filing that it will implement restructuring programs in specific […]
SRI wins $150m grant to develop HIV prevention products
SRI International said today that it landed a $150 million contract from the National Institutes of Health‘s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Division of AIDS to support the development of HIV microbicides and other pre-exposure agents. According to the 7-year deal, the research institute will provide preclinical product development services for non-vaccine […]
UK slaps Pfizer with record $107m fine over price hikes
The U.K.’s Competition & Markets Authority reportedly fined Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and Flynn Pharma a record amount for the companies’ massive price hikes to their unbranded versions of anti-epilepsy drug Epanutin. The British anti-trust watchdog fined Pfizer and Flynn Pharma $107 million (£84.2 million) and $6.5 million (£5.2 million), respectively. New York City-based Pfizer used to market the phenytoin sodium anti-epilepsy […]
Baxter releases infusion pump programming software
Baxter (NYSE:BAX) launched its Sigma Spectrum Safety Management System this week at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists meeting. The infusion pump system consists of an analytics software and a suite of remote professional services for cyber-security monitoring. The Deerfield, Ill.-based company said its Sigma Spectrum system was developed to minimize infusion pump programming risks, […]
Researchers develop targeted, photodynamic nanoparticles for tumor therapy
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have developed photodynamic nanoparticles that can effectively target deep-tissue tumors. The team’s work was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. “This study signals a major step forward in photodynamic therapy by developing a new class of NIR-absorbing biodegradable organic nanoparticles for a highly effective […]