Laureate Pharma, Inc. has entered into a cGMP contract manufacturing agreement with Alopexx Pharmaceuticals, LLC. Alopexx’s mAb F598 antibody will now be manufactured by Laureate under the agreement. The antibody is intended to be used for the treatment and prevention of Staphylococcus aureus infections.

According to a study that points to a new strategy for preventing or possibly reversing fibrosis, the scarring that can lead to organ and tissue damage, a molecule called Epac (Exchange protein activated by cAMP1), plays a key role in integrating the body’s pro-fibrotic and anti-fibrotic response. Cardiac fibrosis can result in a decline in cardiovascular function that occurs with aging or, in some patients, after a heart attack. The study, conducted by a group of researchers led by Paul A. Insel, indicated that increasing Epac expression inhibited the synthesis of collagen, which promotes tissue fibrosis.

A new study, which is to be published in the April 2008 edition of the journal of Phytotherapy Research, showed that an antioxidant plant extract from the bark of the French maritime pine tree, Pycnogenol, can reduce all osteoarthritis (OA) symptoms by 56%. The study, led by Dr. Gianni Belcaro, revealed a particularly high efficacy of Pycnogenol for lowering joint pain by 55%. Moreover, patients required dramatically less standard pain medication (-58%), which significantly improved gastrointestinal complications resulting from the pain medication by 63%.

Photo by Mark Shandro

DSM Pharmaceutical Products’ unit, DSM Biologics, has collaborated with Upfront Chromatography A/S to optimize Upfront’s new, fully disposable chromatography system for use with DSM’s proprietary manufacturing technology. The fully integrated disposable chromatography system will offer biopharmaceutical manufacturers significant efficiency and productivity benefits and is expected to be available for commercial use by the summer of 2008. The flexible, easy-to-use and high capacity bioprocessing platform can be scaled from 0.1L to 100L for commercial manufacture and recovery of a range of biopharmaceuticals, including monoclonal antibodies.

MitoSciences Inc and the University of Oregon (UO) today announced the completion of an exclusive commercial license for a suite of biotechnology innovations. The agreement is associated with a portfolio of monoclonal antibodies that are being used by MitoSciences to develop tests for cell-based drug toxicity screening and for multiplexing assays used to generate mitochondrial protein biomarkers for diagnostics and personalized medicine. The antibodies are sold individually and in kits to the life science research market.

Eurand NV’s affiliate, Eurand Pharmaceuticals Inc, has been granted an exclusive license by Chiesi Farmaceutici SpA for its gastro-resistant, controlled-release tablet formulation of the corticosteroid, beclomethasone dipropionate, in the U.S. and Canada. The gastro-intestinal product is currently approved and marketed in the U.K., Italy, Spain and Belgium. Eurand’s newly licensed product is as effective in treating Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s disease as classical corticosteroids, with relatively lower side effects.

According to a new study published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Oxalobacter formigenes, a naturally occurring bacteria, reduces recurring kidney stones in the body by about 70%. The research studied 247 patients with recurrent calcium oxalate stones in the kidney and compared these to a control group of 259 adults. The researchers collected data and observed a strong inverse association between presence of O. formigenes and kidney stones.