The Life Sciences in New York State

Progenics Initiates Phase II in HIV

Tarrytown-based Progenics Pharmaceuticals announced that it is entering Phase II for PRO 140, an antibody that blocks HIV viral entry by blocking the CCR5 receptor.

What I find interesting is that they are looking to study this antibody in patients who have not received oral anti-retrovirals during the previous three months. Even more interesting is their attempt to develop a self-injectable, subcutaneous formulation.

So in theory, an HIV positive patient could undergo a shorter-term course of oral anti-retrovirals, then self-inject with PRO 140. If this pans out, it would be a substantially different way of attacking HIV and delaying disease progression.

This may also address some of the safety concerns that have emerged with oral CCR5 inhibitors. I'm specifically thinking of GSK's decision a few years ago to drop aplaviroc in Phase III due to hepatotoxicity issues.

Emisphere Technologies, Inc. Moves Into New Corporate Headquarters

OK, but I’m still calling them a Tarrytown-based company.

Emisphere Technologies, Inc. today announced it will move its corporate headquarters from Tarrytown, New York to Cedar Knolls, New Jersey

Emisphere Technologies, Inc. Moves Into New Corporate Headquarters.

OSI Pharmaceuticals Rises on 3Q Results: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. rose Friday after it raised its 2007 guidance on better-than-expected third-quarter results, and analysts predicted renewed growth for the biotechnology company's flagship drug.

OSI Pharmaceuticals Rises on 3Q Results: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance.

First Albany...RIP

It's a shame...I would have kept the name.

First Albany Companies, to Be Renamed Broadpoint, Announces Shareholder Approval and Closing of $50 Million Equity Investment from MatlinPatterson

First Albany Companies Inc. (NASDAQ: FACT), to be renamed Broadpoint Securities Group, Inc., today announced the approval by shareholders and closing of a $50 million equity investment from an affiliate of MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities Partners II. This investment provides the Company with additional resources to grow its business, focus on its core investment products and services strengths, provide incentives to its employees, and better meet the needs of its clients.

Pfizer suddenly discovers biotech

Normally a story like this would be greeted with a yawn. However, with Pfizer, they have suffered the double whammy of Lipitor's impending genericization and the failure of torcetrapib. So to make Wall Street happy, they announce their new willingness to be more of a biotech company.

I've never bought into this argument that pharma and biotech - which I define as parenteral peptides and proteins - are so different. Yes we're talking about different ways to manufacture and deliver these drugs. But at the end of the day, it's about having an organization that can develop and commercialize an innovative product.

Lipitor was the fifth statin to market, with a marginally better efficacy profile versus competitors. Yet Lipitor is a $9 billion product. Compare this with Exubera, which is by all accounts a flop. My point here is that if Pfizer gets their hands (likely through major acquisition) on an innovative "biotech" product, they will likely succeed with it. Hence, the last sentence in the quote below is key.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were an army of analysts at Pfizer HQ on 42nd Street analyzing M&A opportunities. Pfizer will acquire the successful developer, then use their proven skills to successfully commercialize any "biotech" product they acquire.



Pfizer's future rests with biotech

Pfizer has already announced a plan to invest $10 million a year for the next five years to help start-up biotechs in San Diego. Expect to see Pfizer snapping up biologics from smaller drug developers and investing more money in biotech companies in the months and years to come.

Other than that, it's a fine product

What strikes me about this is that there doesn't seem to be anything positive about Exubera.

Great idea + poor design = unsuccessful product

Exubera becoming a big disappointment for Pfizers

With patients put off by Exubera's difficult dosing device, insurers reluctant to foot the bill and doctors concerned about its long-term impact on patients' health, sales of Pfizer's inhaled-insulin diabetes therapy have fallen dramatically behind initial projections.

Company moves to New York

Welcome to Delcath Systems.

Delcath Systems, Inc. Moves Headquarters to New York

Delcath Systems is the developer of percutaneous perfusion technology for organ- or region-specific delivery of therapeutic and chemotherapeutic agents. The Delcath system is currently being tested with the drug melphalan in a Phase III trial of patients with metastatic ocular and cutaneous melanoma in the liver, and a Phase II trial of patients with primary liver cancers and metastatic tumors in the liver from neuroendocrine cancers and adenocarcinomas, as well as patients with melanoma who previously received isolated perfusion.

Pfizer expands VC program

Interesting, and about time they do this...

Pfizer Expands Venture Capital Program

The buildup, which comes as New York-based Pfizer seeks to counter patent expirations and pipeline problems, means start-ups will have greater access to the pharmaceutical company's resources, and venture firms will increasingly be able to look to Pfizer as an investment partner.

AMRI continues expansion in India

Albany Molecular completes purchase of Indian manufacturing sites

The plants, in Aurangabad and Navi, were purchased from the Runwal Group, and also come with additional land for expansion. AMRI, an Albany, N.Y., drug discovery company, already has said it plans to invest $15 million over the next three years to expand and upgrade the Aurangabad facility.

NYBA opens office in Albany

Good. We need NYBA to have more of a local presence, in my view. An office in Albany will strengthen ties with both the local biotech community and state government. I'd like to see NYBA take it a step further and establish an office in the Western part of the state.

New York Biotechnology Association Opens Capital Area Office at University at Albany Center for Functional Genomics

New York Biotechnology Association Opens Capital Area Office