formulation for twice-a-day injection. The companies said their joint decision was based on a commercial reassessment of their prospects as well as “evolving dynamics” within the field of obesity therapeutics.
—In his BioBeat column, Luke argues that Seattle-based Dendreon’s (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) recent first-and-goal fumble was a self-inflicted, one-of-a-kind screw up. So there’s no reason for Wall Street to extrapolate from Dendreon’s troubles and see broader trouble throughout the life sciences industry.
—The FDA set a deadline of Jan. 28 to complete its review of a recently updated new drug application for exenatide once-weekly (Bydureon) that was submitted by Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly (NYSE: [[ticker:LLY]]), and Waltham, MA-based Alkermes (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALKS]]).
—Foster City, CA-based Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GILD]]) agreed to buy a Genentech clinical biologics manufacturing facility in Oceanside, CA, about 36 miles north of San Diego. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
—San Diego’s Acutus Medical, a startup developing an improved way to map heart arrhythmias, raised $1 million in initial funding from private investors and Index Ventures, which has offices in Jersey, Geneva, and London.
—The FDA accepted changes that San Diego’s Santarus (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SNTS]]) made in its protocols for a late-stage clinical trial of a new heart drug the company is developing with the Netherlands-based Pharming Group under a special protocol assessment. The FDA wanted to see the changes in the trial of a recombinant human C1 inhibitor (Rhucin) as a treatment for Hereditary Angioedema, a disorder that can trigger acute swelling of the limbs, face, windpipe, and intestinal tract.
—San Diego-based ViaCyte named Allan Robins as acting CEO following the departure of John West, who resigned for personal reasons. With part of its funding coming from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, ViaCyte is focused on cell therapy treatments for diabetes.
—Xconomy has published its third annual Xconomy Guide to Venture Incubators, which provides information on 64 incubator programs nationwide—nearly twice as many as our 2010 incubator guide. Most of the listings are tech incubators, but some cleantech and biotech incubators also are listed. We’d like to include more life sciences incubators in next year’s guide, so please bring those to our attention at [email protected].
