NEWS

Pfizer and Astellas Announce Top-Line Results from Phase 4 PLATO Trial of XTANDI® (enzalutamide) Capsules in Patients with Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer By: Pfizer Press Release December 15, 2016   Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE:4503) today announced the Phase 4 PLATO study, evaluating the efficacy and safety of [..]

Pfizer Receives FDA Approval for EUCRISA™ (crisaborole), a Novel Non-Steroidal Topical Ointment for Mild to Moderate Atopic Dermatitis (Eczema) Pfizer News December 15, 2016  Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved EUCRISATM (crisaborole) ointment 2%, a novel non-steroidal topical phosphodieterase-4 (PDE-4) inhibitor for the treatment [..]

IBM Cloud Unveils New Features and Growing Momentum for Open Serverless Platform December 15 2016 IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced companies across a range of industries, including one of the world’s top banks, Santander Group, are designing and testing new apps with Bluemix OpenWhisk, IBM’s event-driven and open serverless computing platform. [..]

Novartis provides update on pegpleranib Phase III clinical trial program in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD or wet AMD) Recent Lucentis EU approval in new choroidal neovascularization (CNV)  indication demonstrates Novartis’ strong commitment to innovate and grow Lucentis (ranibizumab) as standard of care in diseases of the retina [..]

Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca Going to Co-develop Modifying Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease  December. 12, 2016 (PRNewswire) Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) and AstraZeneca announced a worldwide agreement to co-develop MEDI1814, an antibody selective for amyloid-beta 42 (Aβ42), which is currently in Phase 1 trials as a potential disease-modifying treatment [..]

Novartis LEE011 (ribociclib) plus letrozole analyses show superior PFS across broad spectrum of patients in first-line HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer versus letrozolev LEE011 plus letrozole reduced risk of progression or death by 55% over letrozole alone in de novopatients, and by 54% in patients with three or more metastases – [..]

Stem cell biomarker predicts leukemia patients’ response to chemo By Amirah Al Idrus  FIERCE BIOTECH December 9, 2016  Researchers at Toronto’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre have landed on a new biomarker that can predict if patients with acute myeloid leukemia will respond to standard treatment. It could help identify which [..]

Novartis’ Ultibro® Breezhaler® improved lung function and COPD symptoms after direct switch from previous treatment   Results further support the 2017 GOLD recommendations that dual bronchodilation should be the foundation treatment for the majority of symptomatic COPD patients   Data from the pragmatic CRYSTAL study showcased for the first time [..]

Study: Mobile-money services lift Kenyans out of poverty Rob Matheson | MIT News Office December 9, 2016 Since 2008, MIT economist Tavneet Suri has studied the financial and social impacts of Kenyan mobile-money services, which allow users to store and exchange monetary values via mobile phone. Her work has shown [..]

“Google Docs” for life sciences accelerates discovery Rob Matheson | MIT News Office December 9, 2016 Numerous innovations have hit life science labs in the past decade, such as new techniques for designing DNA and editing genomes. Yet, researchers still rely on older tools — such as paper notebooks, Excel [..]

IBM Debuts Blockchain Ecosystem To Help Accelerate Growth of Networks on Hyperledger Fabric By: ARMONK, N.Y. – December, 8 2016 IBM Security (NYSE: IBM) today announced that global leaders in banking, healthcare, insurance, education and other key industries have joined the IBM Watson for Cyber Security beta program. Sun Life Financial, [..]

Novartis’ Lucentis® received EU approval in new indication – Lucentis the only treatment available for a wide range of CNV conditions   Results of the pivotal MINERVA[5] study showed a significant gain in visual acuity of approximately 10 letters at two months, which was maintained for one year[1]   Lucentis [..]

Novartis announces Zykadia® first-line study results showing 16.6 month progression-free survival in patients with ALK+ advanced NSCLC Patients without brain metastases at diagnosis experienced median progression-free survival of 26.3 months, the longest seen in a global Phase III study in ALK+ NSCLC[1]   Patients with measurable brain metastases in the [..]

FDA Approves Genentech’s Avastin® (Bevacizumab) Plus Chemotherapy for a Specific Type of Advanced Ovarian Cancer Approval based on two large Phase III studies including GOG-0213 that showed a five month overall survival difference for women with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer on Avastin plus chemotherapy compared to chemotherapy alone In the [..]

FDA Approves Nivolumab for Head and Neck Cancer By: NCI Staff December 5, 2016 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved nivolumab (Opdivo®) on November 10 for the treatment of squamous cell cancer of the head and neck (SCCHN). Nivolumab is already approved for the treatment of several other cancers. [..]

New interim data demonstrate Sandoz proposed biosimilar rituximab has equivalent efficacy to reference product ASSIST-FL trial demonstrates equivalent safety, efficacy, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of Sandoz proposed biosimilar rituximab (GP2013) to the reference product[1] Interim data in over 600 adults show potential of GP2013 as an alternative rituximab[1] Sandoz proposed biosimilar [..]

Novartis data shows Treatment-free Remission rates are consistently above 50% regardless of reason for switch to Tasigna® from Glivec® ENESTop post-hoc analysis provides further insights into Treatment-free Remission (TFR) among Ph+ CML switch patients[1] The Tasigna TFR trials, including ENESTop, demonstrate our continued commitment to the CML community By: Novertis [..]

Novartis presents results from first global registration trial of CTL019 in pediatric and young adult patients with r/r B-ALL 82% (41 of 50) of patients achieved complete remission or complete remission with incomplete blood count recovery in interim analysis of Novartis study (ELIANA) ELIANA, the first global CAR T cell [..]

Genentech’s Gazyva Helped People With Previously Untreated Follicular Lymphoma Live Significantly Longer without their Disease Worsening Compared to Rituxan First Phase III study to show superior progression-free survival compared to Rituxan-based standard of care treatment for most common slow-growing form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphom Results will be presented during the Plenary [..]

Novartis SEG101 (crizanlizumab, formerly SelG1) significantly reduces frequency of sickle cell pain crises in Phase II study SEG101 reduced annual rate of sickle cell-related pain crises (SCPC) by 45.3% compared to placebo in patients with or without hydroxyurea therapy   SEG101 is a potential new disease-modifying, preventive treatment option for [..]

  New Phase 2 Results Show Investigational Compound Glasdegib Improved Overall Survival in Acute Myeloid Leukemia and High-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndrome Data on First Smoothened Inhibitor to Show Clinical Benefit in This Patient Population to be Presented During Oral Session at 2016 ASH Annual Meeting December 3, 2016    Today, Pfizer [..]

Relvar® Ellipta® 100/25 mcg gains approval in Japan for use in patients with COPD 02 December 2016 GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK) and Innoviva, Inc. (NASDAQ: INVA) today announced that the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has approved Relvar® Ellipta®(fluticasone furoate / vilanterol 100/25 mcg) for the relief [..]

IBM and Pfizer Collaboration to Accelerate Immuno-oncology Research with Watson for Drug Discovery Collaboration combines IBM Watson’s cognitive computing capabilities with Pfizer’s scientific knowledge to help scientists generate meaningful insights December 2, 2016   ARMONK, N.Y. and NEW YORK, Dec. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE:  IBM) Watson Health and [..]

LYRICA® (pregabalin) Phase 3 Trial in Pediatric Epilepsy Meets Primary Endpoint By: Pfizer News December 2, 2016    Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) announced today positive top-line results of a study that evaluated the use of LYRICA® (pregabalin) Capsules CV and Oral Solution CV as adjunctive therapy for pediatric epilepsy patients four [..]

Pfizer Announces Positive Top-Line Results from the Pivotal Comparative REFLECTIONS B3271002 Study for PF-05280014, a Potential Biosimilar to Herceptin®1 (trastuzumab) Results Demonstrate Equivalence in Objective Response Rate in Patients with HER2-positive Metastatic Breast Cancer By: Pfizer Inc. November 30, 2016  Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) today announced that the pivotal REFLECTIONS B3271002 [..]

LIGO back online, ready for more discoveries Upgrades make detectors more sensitive to gravitational waves. By: Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office November 30, 2016     Today, scientists restarted the twin detectors of LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, after making several improvements to the system. Over the last [..]

Biologics License Application is Accepted by FDA for Avelumab for the Treatment of Metastatic Merkel Cell Carcinoma If approved by the FDA, avelumab, an investigational immunotherapy, could be the first treatment indicated for patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC)    Avelumab has previously received FDA Breakthrough Therapy and Fast [..]

UNICEF Funding The SayCel For Cell Services to Developing Regions UNICEF has announced that SayCel, a mobile connectivity company founded by NYU’s Edwin Reed-Sanchez, is one of five companies worldwide selected to receive funding through UNICEF’s first round of investments from its Innovation Fund. Nov 24, 2016 NYU News   UNICEF [..]

Artificial Muscles using Nylon fibers MIT engineers find a simple and inexpensive new approach to creating bending artificial muscle fibers. David L. Chandler | MIT News Office November 23, 2016   Artificial muscles — materials that contract and expand somewhat like muscle fibers do — can have many applications, from [..]