DOHA, Qatar – Tuberculosis, malaria, pandemic flu and an unknown disease are among the scariest infectious disease threats according to a group of experts gathered in Qatar for a global health summit. And, on a scale of one to 10, the state of readiness of the world to deal with such an outbreak was a resounding three. Read More
Mitochondrial DNA with mutations was sometimes preferentially replicated after spindle transfer to donor eggs, with the end result that the mutated mitochondria were once again dominant after transplantation. Read More
Early but strong data suggest "we might be onto something" with self-injected APL-2 for the blood disease paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), Apellis Pharmaceuticals Inc. CEO Cedric Francois told BioWorld Today, as the company disclosed positive interim results from two ongoing phase Ib open-label, dose-escalation trials. Read More
LONDON – Whether the amyloid theory of Alzheimer's disease is correct or not, the failure of numerous monoclonal antibodies targeted against the aberrant protein indicates these products are not addressing the brain atrophy that occurs before the behavioral symptoms are overt. Read More
TOKYO – Public backlash against the proposal and internal agreement to cut the price of anticancer drug Opdivo (nivolumab) by half continues. Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) promised to work on regular biennial drug price review and said the emergency review of Opdivo price was an anomaly. Read More
HONG KONG – The process whereby an extremely potent new antibody can neutralize infection by the Zika virus has been discovered by researchers at Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School (Duke-NUS), a key finding that may lead to development of the first effective Zika virus therapies. Read More
Myokardia Inc., of South San Francisco, said it received a $25 million milestone payment from Sanofi SA, of Paris, in conjunction with the filing of an investigational new drug application with the FDA for MYK-491 to treat dilated cardiomyopathy. Read More
Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, has dosed the first patient in a new arm of its phase I/IIa trial of cancer drug candidate BAL101553. Read More