Diabetes – Know the symptoms

Diabetes – Know the symptoms

 

MOTHER INDIA OFF TARGET

More women die at childbirth in India than anywhere in the world. This can be fixed only if the government focuses on the quality, not quantity, of healthcare it is providing.

“As is always, the numbers are very impressive”. Under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), 8,722 doctors, 2,914 specialists, 14,529 paramedics, 33, 413 staff nurses, 69,662 auxiliary nurse midwives, and 10,995 doctors and 3,894 paramedics practicing traditional medicine have been hired to ensure that everyone in rural India—irrespective of where they live and how much they earn — have access to basic healthcare facilities.

Government data also shows that decentralisation, flexible financing, improved management and incentives — have ensured more women were choosing hospitals over home to deliver their babies, bringing the maternal mortality rate (MMR) down from 254 per lakh live births in 2006 to 212 in 2009. Still, 12.5 lakh newborns and 63,000 women die each year cause of pregnancy- related causes.

QUALITY CHALLENGED
The devil is in the detail. An incredible 1,3 crore (11.3 million) women have benefited from the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), which offers pregnant women free and cashless deliveries, including free caesarean-sections, and Rs. 1,400/- incentive to deliver in a hospital.  There is low-birth preparedness that leads to delays in pregnant women reaching a hospital and getting treated for preventable complications.

An analysis of maternal deaths, for example, showed that 13% deaths happened on the way to the hospital and 11% after the women return home, which shows poor management before and at the hospital. What’s clearly lacking is quality. Quality is lost in the rush to meet targets, such as attaining 100% institutional deliveries. We have the standards, technical tools and the basic infrastructure, needed, but still the quality of delivery depends on people, not on standard compliances.

WHO’S TO BIAME?
The quality is missing and hospitals cannot continue to take pride in institutional deliveries, if it’s just taking deaths from home to hospitals. Most government institutions have a take it or leave it approach and don’t care if the patients don’t like what they offer. This attitude needs to change, which is tough because, in this country, we are very tolerant of bad quality.

A major reason for the national apathy to incompetence is that action is rarely taken against erring government appointees, who focus more on hanging on to the job than doing it well. What will improve quality is better tracking and monitoring to identity and eliminates avoidable cause of death and complications help identify areas specific problems and ensure transparency.

But the review should not be done by the provider, as it usually happens in India. There is massive underreporting of deaths, with one state reporting only 20% maternal deaths, with the doctors listing the deaths under different pregnancy- related complications, such as septicaemia or organ failure.

Source: UNITED NATIONS
Hindustan Times – Delhi

 

Merck Serono Innovation Cup 2012

The Merck Serono Innovation Cup in its second year will bring again together a promising new generation of academic talents from the life sciences and business administration in a meeting of the minds with Merck Serono retired professionals. It’s all happening at the Summer Innovation Camp to be held near Frankfurt, Germany in August 2012.

During a one week summer camp (12-17th August), 25 selected students will attend in-depth presentations about the pharmaceutical industry given by Merck Serono management and external experts. Participants will work in small teams to generate an innovative idea that addresses a scientific challenge and develop the idea into a business plan. Teams will receive coaching and guidance from the experienced summer camp moderator and Merck Serono Innovation Management.

The teams will present their business plans to a grand jury. The jury will be composed of Merck Serono top management plus external consultants. The jury will select the best business plan and present the winning team with the Merck Serono Innovation Cup award and cash prize of EUR 10,000.

This opportunity is open to post-graduate students in the life sciences field studying for a PhD in biology, medicine, biotech, bioinformatics, biochemistry, pharmacy or related fields, and to advanced MBA students or recent MBA graduates with an interest in the pharmaceutical business.

Travel, accommodation and food expenses will be paid by Merck Serono.

Further information about the program and how to apply are available online:
http://innovationcup.merckserono.com

 

Women’s Health Therapeutics Market to 2017 – High Unmet Need will Drive Uptake of Novel Drugs

Women’s Health Therapeutics Market to 2017 – High Unmet Need will Drive Uptake of Novel Drugs Such as Prolia and Odanocantib in the Menopause and Osteoporosis Market

GBI Research finds that the women’s health therapeutics market will grow rapidly, largely due to the introduction of new therapies and the increased awareness among patients and physicians in two of the largest segments within WH disorders, the menopause and osteoporosis. Novel non-hormonal therapeutics will become more popular during the forecast period. Though many of the major selling drugs in the osteoporosis market are set to lose patent protection in 2012, the launch of effective therapies such as Prolia (recently launched in 2010) will drive the market revenues. The overall women’s health therapeutics market is driven by postmenopausal osteoporosis and menopause. The endometriosis market is heavily genericized and lacks an effective and safe option for the treatment of endometriosis.

In 2010, the women’s health therapeutics market was estimated to be worth $14,530m. GBI Research forecasts the market to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.9% between 2010 and 2017 to record a sales value of $24,671m in 2017.

The market has considerable unmet need, as the majority of the diseases in the market are served by hormonal therapeutics. Hormones have been shown to be associated with significant safety issues such as risks of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease. Hence, the use of hormones has declined and women are worried about resuming hormonal therapy for the treatment of the menopause/osteoporosis. There is an opportunity for pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs with greater safety profiles and more competitive prices.

The women’s health therapeutics market R&D pipeline is moderately strong, with the majority of first-in-class drugs in late stages of development. These drugs are expected to drive market revenues and it is expected that, if they are approved and are shown to have better safety profiles, patients will comply with novel therapies. In particular, non-hormones are set to take over the conventional hormone therapeutics market.

Scope

– Analysis of the leading therapeutic segments, including endometriosis, postmenopausal osteoporosis, menopause and urinary incontinence

– Analysis of the women’s health therapeutics market in the leading geographies of the world, which include the US, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Japan

– Market characterization of the women’s health therapeutics market, including market size, annual cost of therapy and treatment usage patterns

– Key drivers and barriers that have a significant impact on the market

– Coverage of pipeline molecules in various phases of drug development

– Competitive benchmarking of leading companies. The key companies studied in this report are Pfizer, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd., Merck and Warner Chilcott Plc.

– Key M&A activities and licensing agreements that took place in 2010 in the women’s health therapeutics market

Reasons to buy

– Develop market-entry and market expansion strategies by identifying the leading therapeutic segments and geographic markets poised for strong growth.

– Reinforce R&D pipelines by identifying new target mechanisms which can produce first-in-class molecules with more efficiency and better safety.

– Develop key strategic initiatives by understanding the key focus areas of leading companies.

– Exploit in-licensing and out-licensing opportunities by identifying products that could fill portfolio gaps.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/04/4161418/womens-health-therapeutics-market.html#storylink=cpy

 

Personalised cancer treatments soon?

Scientists have figured out how to keep tumour cells alive in the lab, allowing them to test how a patient may react to different treatments before dispensing the one that works best

Cancer is the leading cause of death in the world, killing 7.6 million people in 2008 according to the latest data from the World Health Organisation. Now. US?researchers said they have discovered how to keep tumour cells alive in the lab, generating buzz in the scientific community about a potential breakthrough that could transform cancer treatment.

Until now, scientists have been unable to make cancer cells thrive for very long in the laboratory in a condition that resembles the way they look and act in the body. Doctors have largely relied on biopsied tissue that is frozen or set in wax to diagnose and recommend treatment.

The advance has sparked new hope that someday doctors may be able to test a host of cancer-killing drugs on a person’s own tumour cells in the lab, before returning to the patient with a therapy that is likely to be a good match.

“This would really be the ultimate in personalised medicine,” said lead author Richard Schlegel, chairman of the department of pathology at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“The therapies would be exactly from their tissues. We would get normal tissue and tumour tissue from a particular patient and specifically match up their therapies,” Schlegel said.

“We are really excited about the possibilities of testing what we can do with this.”

The method, described in the online edition of the American Journal of Pathology, borrows on a simple method used in stem cell research, experts said.

Lung, breast, prostate and colon cancers were kept alive for up to two years using the technique, which combines fibroblast feeder cells to keep cells alive and a Rho kinase (ROCK) inhibitor that allows them to reproduce.

If other scientists can replicate the technique the advance could herald a long-awaited transformation in the way cancer cells are studied.

“A tumour from one patient is different from a cancer from another patient, even though they appear to be the same under a pathologist’s microscope, and really that is one important reason why so many clinical trials fail,” said Marc Symons, investigator at the Center for Oncology and Cell Biology at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, New York.

“I think it is fair to say this may revolutionise the way we think of cancer treatment,” added Symons, not involved in the study.

Courtesy: Mumbai Mirror, December 20, 2011

 

Dr Reddy’s exits drug research

Dr. Reddy​’s Laboratories Ltd has exited diabetes and cardiovascular drug research citing the high cost of running clinical trials.

“Even the largest of the large companies are moving away from these areas, because the cost of these projects is becoming so huge,” G.V. Prasad, chief executive and managing director of Dr. Reddy’s said on Monday.

Dr. Reddy’s shares fell 1.2% to Rs1,586.65 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday. The benchmark Sensex lost 0.72%.

The Hyderabad-based company’s much-hyped anti-diabetes drug Balaglitazone was stuck at phase-III trials. The firm was unable to find a partner to take the drug through the advanced clinical study.

 

Four in ten drugs wrongly administered in hospitals

– (The Telegraph via NewsPoints Desk)

• A report published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing finds that nurses make medication mistakes, such as crushing or allowing patients to chew pills which should be taken whole and mixing drugs together to make them easier to swallow, as reported Wednesday in The Telegraph.
• The most commonly made mistake was giving patients medicine earlier or later than they were meant to, including 18 of 49 doses of Parkinson’s disease medication being administered more than an hour late, which could have allowed patients’ symptoms to escalate out of control.
• Nurses also failed to flush tubes in between administrations of drugs, and used the wrong syringes to inject medication into feeding tubes.
• Researchers observed medical staff as they administered 2,129 doses of drugs to patients across a number of hospitals and in 817 cases, an error was made.
• Patients who have difficulty swallowing three times more at risk than the average patient.

 

Obese need more medicines than others

Obesity raises the amount of prescription drugs you take, with medicines to treat high blood pressure and high cholesterol topping the list of drugs used by obese adults, shows a study of 10,000 people in the US. Use of medications to treat diabetes, asthma and thyroid problems, as well as antidepressants and painkillers, was also higher in obese people in some or all age groups.

Roughly, one thirds of the sampled people over 20 years used at least one drug to lower blood pressure and one in five used a cholesterol lowering drug. That compares to about 17% of normal weight adults on blood pressure medication and one in 10 on cho-lesterol drugs.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times – Delhi Sun, 04 Dec-11

 

Low-cal diet can cure diabetes

Consuming a low-calorie diet daily for four months can cure Type 2 diabetes, a new study has revealed. People who cut down on their calories intake had a far more significant improvement in the condition and in their general health than the medication offered.

They no longer required life- saving insulin, the level of fat built up around their hearts was considerably reduced and their cardiac function improved.

“It is striking to see how a relatively simple intervention of a very low-calorie diet effectively cures Type 2 diabetes,” the Daily Express quoted lead author of the study, Dr Sebastiaan Hammer as saying.

“Our results show that 16 weeks of caloric restriction improved heart function in these patients.”

“More importantly, despite regain of weight, these beneficial cardiovascular effects were persistent over the long term.”

“Lifestyle interventions may have more powerful beneficial cardiac effects than medication in these patients,” Hammer added.

In the study, the researchers used scans and analysed heart function and pericardial fat in 15 patients-seven men and eight women-with Type 2 diabetes before and after four months of a diet consisting of 500 calories a day.

Changes in body mass index (BMI) were also measured. The results revealed that caloric restriction reduced BMI from 35.3 to 27.5 over a period of four months.

Pericardial fat also decreased by about a third and resting heart function improved distinctly.

The discovery important implications because diabetics and the obese are particularly more vulnerable to suffering a potentially fatal heart attack or being struck down by debilitating heart disease.

Courtesy: TOI, ANI | Nov 29, 2011

 

Right to health – Health concerns as critical as those for education and food

Nearly 70 per cent of Indians have to meet their expenses on healthcare and medicines out of their own income, says a recent report of the World Health Organisation (WHO). This exposes the appalling state of the country’s public healthcare system and inadequate public spending on health services. Leaving aside the rich welfare states, where governments take care of all or the bulk of the health needs of their citizens, India compares poorly in this respect even with its not-so-rich neighbours in Asia, where hardly 30 to 40 per cent of an individual’s health expenses come out of her pocket. The consequences of such a dismal state of affairs are disturbing. The WHO report has far more damaging findings that should wake up our government. About 3.2 per cent of Indians are pushed into poverty annually because of high medical bills. Worse, about 30 per cent of the rural people in India do not seek cures for their ailments because of the financial costs involved. In urban areas, too, about 20 per cent of diseases remain untreated due to unaffordable costs. A sizable proportion of hospitalisation cases in both rural and urban areas are funded by loans and sale of assets.

Indeed, the health issue, in its broader perspective, cannot be viewed in isolation from sanitation and access to clean potable water, since these aspects are critical for prevention of several dreaded diseases. Unfortunately, the country’s track record on this count is also poor and does not inspire confidence. A World Bank-supported study has estimated the economic impact of inadequate sanitation in the country at around 6.4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). This apart, some of the diseases which were once eradicated, such as malaria, have staged a comeback simply because there was no sustained preventive drive after their eradication. In addition, several new and relatively more dreadful ailments, which were unheard of till a few years ago, such as dengue, chikungunya, meningitis and the like, have surfaced and assumed threatening dimensions. The genesis of this worrisome situation can, indeed, be traced to the steady shrinkage in government spending on health care. It has plummeted from around 1.6 per cent of the GDP in the mid-1980s to less than one per cent now. As a result, the overall public health infrastructure has remained underdeveloped vis-à-vis the needs of the large population.

Besides, most government hospitals and rural primary health centres have remained understaffed, ill-equipped and starved of essential drugs. It is believed that a marginal hike in investment in drug procurement, from the present meagre 0.1 per cent of GDP to 0.5 per cent, can ensure universal access to at least the essential drugs, easing the burden on private expenditure to a considerable extent. Though it can be argued that the private healthcare sector in India has grown rapidly in terms of infrastructure as well as quality of service and has begun to attract patients from abroad, this remains largely inaccessible to the poor because of high costs. What is perplexing is that a country which has chosen to give its people the statutory right to education and is planning to do the same for food, the right to an equally important fundamental need like health and sanitation is being disregarded. What needs to be acknowledged is that an increase in investment in public health is bound to yield handsome returns by way of improving the productivity of people and reducing economic losses due to health factors.

Courtesy – Business Standard / New Delhi November 27, 2011

 

Merck Serono supports the Chimiscope: an educational laboratory to stimulate interest in chemistry

Geneva, Switzerland, November 25, 2011 – Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Germany, today announced its support for the Chimiscope, a new initiative of the University of Geneva and the Association Industrielle Genevoise des Sciences de la Vie (AIGSV) developed in the framework of the International Year of Chemistry.

The Chimiscope is designed to share scientific knowledge, encourage ambition around chemistry and biochemistry, and highlight career prospects in the field. Merck Serono has provided financial support to this educational initiative as part of its commitment to the promotion of life sciences. Located within the compound of the University of Geneva, the Chimiscope offers a demonstration laboratory to allow school children, students, teachers and the general public to discover chemistry and biochemistry in an interactive manner. The complex includes a laboratory, a conference room seating approximately 25 people, and features audio-visual equipment for presentations and video projections.

”In Switzerland there are only a few initiatives, aimed at motivating young people to explore careers in chemistry and biochemistry. The University of Geneva is ideally positioned to accommodate and initiate a program such as the Chimiscope,“ said Professor Alexandre Alexakis, Chairman of the section of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Geneva.

“Chemistry and biochemistry are essential for researchers to develop new drugs that will contribute to improving patients’ lives”, said Dr Bernhard Kirschbaum, Head of News Release Global Discovery & Early Development at Merck Serono. “As a major player in the field of life sciences, Merck Serono is committed to supporting initiatives such as the Chimiscope, which aims at sharing and practicing science. We hope that the Chimiscope will inspire the young generations of scientists and spark new vocations for future careers in research.”

The funding of the Chimiscope is part of a broader partnership of Merck Serono with the University of Geneva, which also includes support for open door days for microbiology and an exhibition on the genome recently created in the Medical School. Merck Serono’s commitment towards science and educational initiatives is further reflected in the company’s support and active participation in events such as “Nuit de La Science” since 2004, a highly popular exhibition taking place every two years in Geneva, aimed at sharing science with the general public, and recently, through the donation of audio-visual equipment for the temporary exhibition “Elementary! A History of Chemistry” at the Geneva sciences museum.

 

Merck Serono: CHMP Gives Positive Opinion for Extended Indication for Rebif to Treat Patients With Early Signs of Multiple Sclerosis

GENEVA, November 18, 2011/PRNewswire/ –Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, announced today that it received a positive opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), the scientific committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), for its variation application to extend the indication of Rebif (interferon beta-1a), its leading treatment for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The positive CHMP opinion is for the use of Rebif 44 micrograms three times weekly in patients who have experienced a single demyelinating event, an early sign of the disease, and who are at high risk of converting to MS.

“This is an important step towards making Rebif available across Europe to patients with early signs of multiple sclerosis,” said Dr. Annalisa Jenkins, Head of Global Drug Development and Medical at Merck Serono. “It is part of our on-going commitment to improving access to Rebif for patients with this devastating disease, and supporting its appropriate use.”

In addition to updating the indication section, the CHMP recommendation includes an update of the posology section adding the approved posology of Rebif in the first demyelinating event indication, and an update of the pharmacodynamic properties section summarising the design of the REFLEX[1] study together with its main results. The CHMP recommendation provides the basis for an amendment of the marketing authorisation to reflect the variation by the European Commission, which is expected within three months from the opinion.

The submission of a type II variation to extend the indication of Rebif was supported by the results of the REFLEX study. The REFLEX study was conducted with the HSA-free[2] formulation of Rebif, which is now available in all European Union countries, Australia, Canada and Switzerland, as well as a number of countries in Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. The HSA-free formulation of Rebif is not available in the United States.

Merck Serono has a long-standing commitment to the therapeutic area of MS. The company continues to invest in discovering and developing treatment options in this area, including active life-cycle management initiatives targeting numerous aspects of Merck Serono’s foundation therapy Rebif (formulation, indication, delivery devices). In addition, the company continues to strengthen existing – and identify new – collaborations to advance research and bring therapies to market.

 

Merck Serono to Mark World Diabetes Day

GENEVA, November 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ —

• Merck Serono to run awareness activities for the prevention of Type 2 diabetes
• The company has a strong heritage in providing treatment for Type 2 diabetes extending over fifty years

Merck Serono markets Glucophage®, the worldwide leading brand in volumes of metformin[1], which is recommended by the IDF as the first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes[2]

Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, today announces that the company is participating in World Diabetes Day (WDD), a global awareness campaign initiated by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), taking place every year on 14 November[3]. Responding to the call of the IDF to shine a blue light on buildings, Merck Serono will light up its Geneva headquarters in blue[4], helping the diabetes community to put diabetes in the spotlight. During WDD the company will also raise awareness among its employees on the needs for early detection of the disease and offer free glucose blood screening to employees at its headquarters in Geneva.

“Prevention and early detection of diabetes remain a necessity to limit the long-term complications of diabetes. In the countries where Merck Serono has a presence, we have been actively involved in various local awareness and early detection campaigns, including educational activities and free screening for patients at risk”, said Belén Garijo, Chief Operating Officer at Merck Serono. “The company has a strong heritage in the treatment of diabetes, starting in 1957 with the development of metformin. We are proud that metformin is recommended by the IDF as the first-line treatment of choice for type 2 diabetes[2], and that Merck Serono’s Glucophage® continues to be the worldwide leading brand in volumes of metformin[1]”, she added.

Merck Serono has a long history in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes worldwide accounting for at least 90% of all cases of diabetes[5]. The company developed metformin in 1957, and started its first commercialization under the brand name Glucophage® in France. Since 2005, the IDF has recommended metformin as the treatment of choice for first-line therapy in its first ever evidence-based Global guidelines for the management of type 2 diabetes[2]. To respond to patients’ individual needs, the company went on developing new formulations and presentations of metformin including Glucophage® XR, an extended release formulation, Glucophage® Powder Formulation in Sachets, and Glucovance® (metformin and glibenclamide), a fixed-dose combination therapy containing two anti-hyperglycemic compounds indicated for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The availability, indications and prescribing information for these prescription only medicines vary from country to country.

Type 2 diabetes can remain undetected for many years. The diagnosis is often made accidentally from associated complications or through an incidental abnormal blood or urine glucose test.

 

Merck and Ono Pharmaceutical Form Collaborations

Merck KGaA announced that it signed two agreements for collaboration of its Merck Serono division with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan to strengthen its multiple sclerosis and cancer franchises.

The first agreement grants Merck worldwide exclusive license rights for the development and commercialization of ONO-4641 outside of Japan, Korea and Taiwan. ONO-4641 is a novel oral compound currently in Phase II of development that was originally discovered and developed by Ono for the potential treatment of multiple sclerosis. The second license agreement provides Ono with co-development and co-marketing rights of Stimuvax in Japan. Stimuvax is an investigational therapeutic cancer immunotherapy designed to stimulate the body’s immune system to target cancer cells that express the tumor antigen MUC-1 that is in development in Phase III for patients suffering from non-small cell lung cancer.

“Merck Serono is committed to building on our leadership franchise in multiple sclerosis and we are excited about adding a potential oral treatment, ONO-4641, to our pipeline,” said Stefan Oschmann, Executive Board Member of Merck and responsible for the Merck Serono division. “We also believe that Ono will bring a wealth of experience in developing innovative therapies and understanding regulatory requirements in Japan.”

“We are very glad to partner with Merck Serono for the development and marketing of ONO-4641, given Merck Serono’s commitment to developing treatments for people living with multiple sclerosis,” said Gyo Sagara, Ono’s President and Representative Director. “Moreover, we are delighted to collaborate in Japan on Stimuvax and together with Merck Serono to offer a potential future medicine for people suffering from non-small cell lung cancer.”

Under the terms of the agreement for ONO-4641, Merck Serono will acquire worldwide exclusive rights, excluding Japan, Korea and Taiwan, to develop and commercialize ONO-4641. Ono will receive 1.5 billion Japanese Yen (about € 14 million) as an upfront payment and could receive additional payments based on the achievement of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones for ONO-4641. No further financial terms are disclosed. ONO-4641 is a sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor agonist, and the multi-national Phase II study DreaMS (Drug Research EvaluAtion for Multiple Sclerosis) is on-going in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

Under the terms of the separate agreement for Stimuvax, Ono will receive a co-development and co-marketing license for Stimuvax in Japan and Merck Serono will receive an upfront payment of € 5 million. No further financial terms are disclosed. A Phase II study for Stimuvax (EMR63325-009) is being conducted by Merck Serono Co., Ltd., a Japanese subsidiary of Merck, for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer in Japan; Phase III studies are in progress outside Japan. Merck obtained the exclusive worldwide licensing rights from Oncothyreon Inc., Seattle, Washington, USA.

 

Merck Serono & F-Star Collaborate for Novel Targeted Biologics

Austria’s F-Starfor announced yesterday the agreement with Merck Serono for the discovery of new antibody-derived therapeutics against inflammatory disease targets.

Merck Serono has signed a research, license and commercialisation agreement with Austria’s antibody engineering company F-Star, for the discovery of new antibody-derived therapeutics against inflammatory disease targets with F-Star’s Modular Antibody Technology.

Merck Serono will nominate up to three therapeutic targets and the parties will collaborate to jointly discover mono-specific Fc-based targeted biologics (Fcabs) and bi-specific IgG-based targeted biologics (mAb2), for which Merck KGaA will have exclusive worldwide development and commercialisation rights.

Vienna-based F-Star will receive an initial technology access fee and research-based funding and is eligible to receive additional licence fees, development, regulatory and commercialisation milestones, which could total €492m, as well as undisclosed tiered royalties on product sales.

Susan Herbert, head of portfolio development at Merck Serono, said, ‘We believe that F-Star’s Modular Antibody Technology has the potential to offer important functional advantages over conventional antibodies and will potentially allow us to generate highly differentiated drugs for patients with so far unmet medical needs.”

 

Merck Serono Announces Creation of Oncology Chair in Partnership with EPFL

The Chair will be headed by Prof. Douglas Hanahan, a world-renowned researcher in molecular oncology

Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, announced today the establishment of the Merck Serono-endowed oncology Chair, as part of the research partnership signed with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) in October 2007. This Chair is led by Prof. Douglas Hanahan, a renowned specialist in fundamental and translational cancer research, Professor of Molecular Oncology at EPFL and Director of the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC). The Chair will investigate the role of the microenvironment in tumor development and progression, and the prospects for applying knowledge of cancer mechanisms to the development of its therapeutic targeting.

“We are delighted to build on our existing partnership with one of the world’s leading institutes of scientific and technical expertise to develop key translational projects in oncology,” said Dr. Bernhard Kirschbaum, Executive Vice-President of Global Research & Early Development at Merck Serono. “We expect this project to significantly contribute to the progress of basic research in oncology, an area of high unmet needs”.

This scientific partnership with EPFL has already allowed the implementation of many transdisciplinary scientific collaborations, including the ‘Prof. Patrick Fraering’s Chair’ and various research projects in neurosciences, including in Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and multiple sclerosis. Several scientific papers and abstracts have already been published or presented on these topics, such as results on imaging technologies as well as on the validation of specific targets and/or pathways involved in disease processes, e.g. describing critical steps for future drug developments.