April was a dry month for life sciences news, but May has been roaring with Halozyme’s product recall, Pathway Genomics’ aborted sales plan, and funding news—lots of funding news. Your Xconomy life sciences briefing begins now.
—San Diego’s Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HALO]]) and its manufacturing partner, Baxter Healthcare, announced that they are voluntarily recalling Hylenex, an injectable fluid used to enhance treatment of pediatric dehydration. The companies said they had discovered flakes of glass particles in a limited number of Hylenex vials.
—The FDA put the kibosh on plans by San Diego’s Pathway Genomics to sell over-the-counter genetic tests at the corner Walgreens, the drug store chain operated by the Walgreen Company of Deerfield, IL. The FDA says it wants to retain regulatory oversight of plans by Pathway Genomics and other companies to sell genetic tests and services.
—Nobel laureate K. Barry Sharpless and Scripps Research Institute colleague M.G. Finn told Luke they’re encouraged by the increased attention they’re getting for their work on “click” chemistry. By combining combinatorial chemistry, high-throughput screening, and building chemical libraries of molecular building blocks, they say click chemistry can be used to speed up drug discoveries by making multistep synthesis fast, efficient, and predictable.
—Connect is developing a pilot program with a $100,000 grant from the Biogen Idec Foundation that will send the entrepreneurial founders of early-stage biotech companies into local classrooms to talk with teenagers about their breakthrough innovations and startup companies. Connect CEO Duane Roth says the program was conceived as a way to get young people excited about studying science, technology, engineering, and math.
—Cambridge, MA-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals, which has significant operations in San Diego, is anxiously awaiting the results from three crucial clinical trials of its lead drug candidate for treating hepatitis C. Bob Kaufman, the company’s chief medical officer, told