This week we had the usual mix of news on partnerships, clinical trials, and the like, as well as some fascinating in-depth discussions with key players in the life sciences arena.
—Antibiotic developer Rib-X Pharmaceuticals announced that the oral form its experimental antibiotic radezolid passed a mid-stage clinical trial as a treatment for a common form of pneumonia. The New Haven, CT, firm is looking to partner with a pharmaceutical company to help move the drug toward FDA approval.
—Genzyme (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]) of Cambridge, MA, won approval from European regulators to market plerixafor (Mozobil) for patients with lymphoma and multiple myeloma who need stem cell transplants. The drug helps boost the number of stem cells that can be collected from the blood for such transplant procedures.
—Altus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ALTU]]) of Waltham, MA, said it will need to raise more capital before the end of next month in order to continue its operations. In March, the firm reduced its staff and abandoned development of a cystic fibrosis treatment in order to focus on ALTU-238, a treatment for patients with growth hormone deficiency.
—Cambridge-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ALNY]]) joined forces with Vancouver’s Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (TSX:[[ticker:TKM]]) to come up with new drug-delivery particles to get RNA-interference drugs where they need to go in the body. Alnylam will fund the research and gets exclusive rights to the resultant discoveries.
—Anti-viral drug maker Idenix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:IDIX]]) priced a secondary public offering of 7.25 million shares at $3.14 each. The Cambridge-based firm expected to raise $21.2 million from the offer.
—Irish drug company Elan filed suit against its Cambridge-based partner, Biogen Idec (NASDAQ:[[ticker:BIIB]]), over Biogen’s objections to a deal with affiliates of health Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:[[ticker:JNJ]]) that Elan announced last month. That deal focuses on
