I want to thank you for visiting NexParadigm.com over the past year; it has been my pleasure to deliver to you what I hope has been relevant and insightful content in the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors.
I am proud to announce that I have co-founded Chimera Research Group in collaboration with Tro Kalayjian, Tony Pelz, and Patrick Crutcher. I will be serving as a Senior Writer and Analyst. Going forward, you will be able to find all of my relevant updates at www.ChimeraResearchGroup.com
The HCV landscape is looking eerily similar to that of HIV treatments at its infancy, with a few differences. While the development of drugs for HIV took off quickly after identification of the disease, only now are truly effective therapies coming to market for HCV, led by pioneering work from Vertex. HIV drug development was [...]
It seems many in the science community think niche drugs are the salvation for Big Pharma’s woes. With Pfizer’s crizotinib and Roche’s Zelboraf each expected to reach blockbuster status while targeting narrow populations, many are of the belief that future drugs should be aimed toward similarly small populations. This strategy is unlikely to generate consistent [...]
Some 15 years ago, scientists at Eli Lilly discovered the first PI3kinase inhibitor, code name LY294002. Although only of modest potency and selectivity, it became widely used by the research community as a tool compound to elucidate the PI3K pathway. In recent years, the field has taken off with compounds in development for oncology and [...]
A new class of drugs targeting the JAK kinases is set to challenge today’s biggest selling biologics for the treatment of arthritis and other inflammatory diseases. Heading this class is Pfizer’s tofacitinib; this potent, but relatively un-selective JAK inhibitor demonstrated positive results in five pivotal trials earlier this year. Pfizer intends on filing for marketing [...]
Therapeutic antibodies have been in use for decades now, becoming a mainstay for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases. The molecules have evolved quickly through scientific advancements from simple mouse antibodies to complex humanized antibody-drug conjugates. Rapid growth in this category has grabbed Big Pharma’s attention, shifting its focus away from traditional small molecule [...]
In the world of small molecule drug development, companies often talk about their large compound screening libraries or special chemistry platforms. You know the story: large numbers of compounds are tested against a target to generate hits, subsequent testing and manipulation narrow down the hits to a small number of leads. Finally, after passing many [...]
The problem with YMI, besides its latecomer status behind Incyte is the uneven profile of its compound. While the company claims the product is less myelosuppressive than Incyte’s INCB18424, and may even improve anemia in patients with Myelofibrosis, it has a worse side-effect profile in other aspects. I do believe CYT387 may be less myelosuppressive, [...]
Celsion is working on a cancer therapy called ThermoDox, a heat sensitive liposomal doxorubicin formulation. The technology was developed as a way to target drug delivery to the tumor. Liposomes were designed to be stable at normal body temperatures but mild hyperthermia (increasing body temperature) in the range of 41 to 42°C would trigger the [...]
After taking a post-ASCO fall and sinking below $2.50, YM Biosciences is back near $3.00 with a couple assists from biotech columnist Adam Feuerstein, first naming it a top 10 pick for stocks under $300 million then in a separate article called it the best of the ten. Like many biotechs, YMI’s fortunes are tied [...]
Now that Cubist has Teva off its back, its stock has risen from the low 20s to the mid 30s. It is often suggested as a takeover candidate, but with a large cash horde and a history of M&A activity, Cubist is just as likely to be the acquiring company. With a market cap of [...]
Eli Lilly CEO John Lechleiter is calling for U.S. immigration officials to issue more green cards, saying a shortage of highly skilled immigrants is stifling innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. (Bloomberg) Really? Last I heard the industry has been on a firing binge, cutting back on R&D while outsourcing a multitude of functions to CROs. [...]
A great article in the Wall Street Journal by Hester Plumridge AstraZeneca’s Too-Concentrated Solution talks about the company’s sale today of its medical devices unit AstraTech to Dentsply International. With the sale, AstraZeneca is focusing its resources the core prescription drugs business. This doesn’t sound like a good plan considering AstraZeneca doesn’t exactly have the [...]
Cancer drug developers have long waffled between the virtues of potent, highly specific inhibitors versus messier ones like Sutent; but there may be a middle ground. Today, multiple small molecules targeting receptor tyrosine kinases VEGF, EGFR, and HER2 have been approved along with a bunch of non-selective kinase inhibitors. The only successfully targeted non-receptor kinase [...]
Bone metastases is a painful condition that occurs in about 90% of advanced prostate cancer patients and is associated with shorter overall survival. In the last few years, many advances have been made in the treatment of prostate cancer, with several new drugs approved and more on the horizon. Approved drugs include Provenge, Jevtana, Zytiga, [...]
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