Here we present the most useful and interesting business news in biotechnology from across the web.Forbes Link: Ten Pharmas Aim to Cut Red Tape to Speed Drug Development
"Transcelerate plans to register as a non-profit, and is looking for a chief executive. It’s backers are: Abbott (NYSE:ABT), AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN), Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY), Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY), GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), Genentech a member of the Roche Group, and Sanofi (NYSE:SNY). The cost of the project will largely consist of contributing the time of experts on company payrolls.”Wall Street Journal Link: GE Feels Its Own Cuts General Electric Co.'s (NYSE:GE) $18 billion health-care business is being forced to navigate a slowdown in medical imaging—one that in some ways has been aggravated by GE itself. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co . (NYSE:JPM) and Chrysler Group LLC, are adopting high-deductible health plans, pushing down the use of imaging by privately insured Americans.”Reuters Link: Astex Pharma Ends Development Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SUPG) said it would discontinue the development of its experimental small-cell lung cancer drug, Amuvatinib, as the drug failed to achieve a high enough response rate in patients in a mid-stage study."Shares of the company were down about 10 percent at $3 in premarket trade. They closed at $3.32 on Thursday on the NASDAQ. The main goal of the trial, known as ESCAPE, was to show that the drug had a response rate of not less than 10 percent in treating lung cancer patients. Amuvatinib fell short with a 9.5 percent response rate.” Financial Times Link: Johnson & Johnson to Open Life Science Centers “Johnson & Johnson is to open four life science ‘innovation centres’ as it decentralises decisions on investment and partnerships to boost productivity. "In a boost to the UK’s continued importance in drug development , it will open a European centre in London, as well as two in the US – in Boston and California – and one in China. "Each will have the authority to make investments and forge alliances with companies and academic institutions. "The move marks the latest in a series of initiatives by large pharmaceutical companies to restructure their functions as they seek to boost discovery of new drugs, at a time when winning regulatory approval is rare, uncertain and increasingly costly.” In Vivo Link: Deal of the Week Goes to PSA “Emerging markets dominated deal news this past week, notably inked by Merck (NYSE:MRK), Pfizer & AstraZeneca in China, as the companies seek to expand their broader, established product portfolio further to tap that vast country' s inland cities and rural areas, and by Sinclair IS and Quintiles in Mexico: "Sales in emerging markets will grow by $150 billion or more between 2011 and 2016, according to IMS Health. "A host of Chinese biotechs are starting to jump start their R&D pipelines by in-licensing compounds from Western developers: Asceltis Inc., Aslan Pharmaceuticals Pte. Ltd., and Hua Medicine, to name a few. Some Western firms, such as Merck and AstraZeneca, have invested in Chinese biotechs that are aiming to bring innovative new drugs to market.”
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