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Nanotechnology firm Liquidia plans new ophthalmology company

Nanotechnology firm Liquidia plans new ophthalmology company

MORRISVILLE, N.C. — Nanotechnology company Liquidia Technologies plans to form a new ophthalmology company with an experimental glaucoma treatment expected to start clinical trials in 2014.

Morrisville-based Liquidia said today that the new company would be able to advance Liquidia’s efforts to create products in ophthalmology and other therapeutic areas while also maximizing the return for the company’s investors. WRAL Tech Wire reported in February that Liquidia was considering spinning out one or more companies this year.

Liquidia offered few other details in today’s announcement, other than to say it would have more information later in the second quarter. In a statement, CEO Neal Fowler said that the structure for creating and financing the new company will be considered for other assets and therapeutic areas.

Liquidia’s proprietary “PRINT” technology enables a nanoparticle manufacturer to control the size and shape of the nanoparticles. Changing the size and shape of a nanoparticle can improve drug delivery and reduce side effects. Vaccines were Liquidia’s first target, a pursuit that GlaxoSmithKline liked enough to strike a licensing deal that gave GSK exclusive rights to develop new vaccines with the technology.

Liquidia said in today’s announcement that it independent from the new ophthalmology business, Liquidia will continue to focus on vaccine and pulmonary product development, including the work that has already begun under the GSK partnership.

Liquidia’s technology is a platform technology that has medical as well as consumer product applications. Fowler has acknowledged a partnership with Proctor & Gamble (NYSE: PG). In February, Fowler said that Liquidia’s PRINT technology can be used to make nanoparticles that improve how a product is delivered to the skin. At the time, he said an ophthalmology company could be spun out first, followed by a consumer product with P&G. 

Liquidia Technologies - 05/02/2013

Ultragenyx Appoints Eric Yuen, MD as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President

NOVATO, CA –May 1, 2013 - Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the development of treatments for rare and ultra-rare genetic disorders, today announced it has appointed Eric Yuen, MD as its Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President.  In this new role, Dr. Yuen will provide leadership and direction to Clinical Operations, Clinical Affairs, Clinical Sciences, Data Management/Biometrics, and Drug Safety.  He will report to Dr. Emil Kakkis, CEO, and will serve on the Senior Management Team.

Dr. Yuen brings over 19 years of clinical development experience in academia and industry.   In 2004, Dr. Yuen joined Johnson & Johnson as Senior Director and Neurology Franchise Medical Leader.   During his tenure at J&J, he also held several executive positions including Vice President, Therapeutic Area Head, CNS in 2006 and Vice President, Scientific Licensing from 2008 to 2009.  Dr. Yuen joins Ultragenyx from Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy R&D, LLC, a J&J affiliate, where he was the Head of Clinical Development since 2009.  Prior to J&J, Dr. Yuen also served as Director of Clinical Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience at the Merck Research Laboratories. 

“As a board-certified neurologist, Dr. Yuen’s addition to the management team at Ultragenyx will provide critical support in advancing our clinical programs,” said Dr. Kakkis.  “His clinical vision and proven leadership, as well as his extensive medical and research experience, will strengthen our clinical development efforts and support the progress of our product pipeline.”

Dr. Yuen commented, “I am excited about being a part of a dedicated team focused on developing novel treatments for rare disease patients who have no approved treatments and applying my experiences in clinical development and neuromuscular diseases to help solve the devastating medical problems of these metabolic genetic diseases.” 

Dr. Yuen received his undergraduate training at Stanford University and his M.D. from the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine.  He completed his residency in Neurology and post-doctoral fellowships at the University of California, San Francisco.  Before joining industry in 2000, Dr. Yuen was a faculty member at the University of Washington, serving as a clinical investigator, studying treatments for ALS, neuropathy and multiple sclerosis. 

About Ultragenyx

Ultragenyx is a privately held, development-stage biotechnology company committed to bringing to market life-transforming therapeutics for patients with rare and ultra-rare metabolic genetic diseases.  The company focuses on diseases for which the unmet medical need is high, the biology for treatment is clear, and for which there are no effective treatments. 

The company is led by a management team experienced in the development and commercialization of rare disease therapeutics.  Ultragenyx’ strategy is predicated upon time and cost-efficient drug development, with the goal of delivering safe and effective therapies to patients with the utmost urgency. 

For more information on Ultragenyx, please visit the company’s website at www.ultragenyx.com.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical - 05/01/2013

Two Pappas Ventures' Portfolio companies make FierceMedicalDevices' 2012 Fierce 15 list: CardioDx and TyRx

FierceMedicalDevices named two Pappas Ventures' portfolio companies to the 2012 Fierce 15 list, the inaugural list of the most innovative and exciting medical device companies. CardioDx is a cardiovascular molecular diagnostics company based in Palo Alto and TyRx is a New Jersey device company developing a range of drug-eluting implantable devices.

  • "CardioDx scored a major victory in August, securing Medicare reimbursement for Corus CAD, and the company is optimistic that private insurers will follow suit, opening up an even larger market for the diagnostic."
  • "Four years after gaining initial FDA clearance and three years after hitting the market, Tyrx has already sold more than 30,000 units. And the company is waiting for FDA clearance of a fully bioresorbable version of Aigis that dissolves within 90 days (version one is partially dissolvable)."

Click here to read the full report.

Uncategorized - 10/02/2012

TyRx Press Release - TYRX(R) Receives New Product Innovation Award

AIGISRx Antibacterial Envelope for Pacemakers and Defibrillators Recognized by Frost & Sullivan

MONMOUTH JUNCTION, N.J., Sep 14, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- TYRX, Inc., the leader in the commercialization of implantable medical devices designed to help reduce surgical-site infections associated with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) including pacemakers and implantable defibrillators, announced today that Frost & Sullivan has named the AIGISRx(R) Antibacterial Envelope as the recipient of its prestigious New Product Innovation Award for 2012.

"To date TYRX's AIGISRx is very unique in the fact that it is the first and only antibacterial product of its kind to receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance. The product not only helps in stabilizing the pacemaker or ICD, but it also helps reduce infection by delivering antibiotics directly to the surgical site in the first 7 to 10 days following implantation," said Darshana De, IP and Best Practices Analyst from Frost & Sullivan.

The AIGISRx Antibacterial Envelope is designed to address surgical-site infections which are expensive to treat and have a significant impact on patients and hospitals.

Patients suffering from surgical-site infections following CIED procedures:

  • spend an average of two extra weeks in the hospital
  • undergo repeat surgical procedures to treat the infection
  • cost the facility an average of $72,485
  • experience significant increases in morbidity & mortality, with 1-year mortality rates of 26.5% to 35.1%, depending on device type

The recipient of the Frost & Sullivan New Product Innovation Award is selected after rigorous analysis of industry's leading companies who demonstrate outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development.

"Since TYRX was founded, we have been working diligently to research, develop, and commercialize technologies which help reduce surgical-site infections and improve patient outcomes," remarked Robert White, President and CEO of TYRX. "Our team appreciates Frost & Sullivan's acknowledgement of our product leadership and innovation."

About TYRX, Inc.

TYRX, Inc., headquartered in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, is a pioneer in the development, manufacture, and distribution of innovative, implantable combination drug-device products including the AIGISRx(R) Antibacterial Envelope. The AIGISRx Envelope is specifically designed to aid in the stabilization of CIED placement as well as to help reduce surgical-site infections associated with Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices (CIEDs). AIGISRx products contain the antimicrobial agents rifampin and minocycline, which have been shown to reduce infection by organisms representing the majority of the infections reported in CIED-related endocarditis, including "superbugs" or MRSA.

For more information, please visit www.TYRX.com

Uncategorized - 09/14/2012

Liquidia CEO to Participate in Biotech Panel to Explore “How to Create 54 Liquidias”

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Liquidia Technologies today announced the Company’s CEO, Neal Fowler, will participate in a panel discussion titled “How to Create 54 Liquidias” at the upcoming Nanotech Commercialization Conference (NCC) on April 4th, 2012. The concept of the panel is to explore how North Carolina can further create opportunities and provide resources that will lay the foundation for innovators to build successful companies like Liquidia in the region. The NCC is the preeminent nanotechnology conference in the region and is being held this year in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina April 4-5, 2012.

“Through this panel we want to explore the opportunities that exist for our next generation of innovators and how they too can find success in North Carolina”

Over the next decade, nanotechnology has the potential to influence every aspect of our lives, including our energy, food, medicines, water, buildings, and much, much more. According to a published report by BCC Research, the market value of the worldwide nanomedicine industry is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 12.5% to reach $130.9 billion by the fiscal year 2016. The acceptance and application of nanotechnology to everyday products is a foreshadowing of the growth expected across a multitude of fields including medicine, devices, and diagnostics.

“Liquidia’s success continues to be a shining example of what is possible for startup companies that make roots in North Carolina”, said Jim Roberts, Director of Business Development at COIN, “Through this panel we want to explore the opportunities that exist for our next generation of innovators and how they too can find success in North Carolina”.

Chris William, Managing Director of the Private Client Group at Wells Fargo and Executive Producer of the PBS television series, Carolina Business Review, will host the NCC panel that will also include the Chairman of The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, Charles E. Hamner, D.V.M., Ph.D., and Executive Director of the Office of Science & Technology for the North Carolina Department of Commerce, John Hardin. Conference details can be found at http://www.nanoevent.org.

ABOUT LIQUIDIA

Liquidia Technologies, founded in 2004, is a privately held biotechnology company located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. By leveraging precise fabrication techniques of the semiconductor industry, Liquidia has become the only company in the world with the ability to rapidly design and manufacture precisely engineered particles of virtually any size, shape, or composition using a unique particle engineering and manufacturing platform know as PRINT®. This unique ability to precisely engineer particles enables scientists to explore new product frontiers that, until now, have otherwise been out of reach for the life sciences industry. In addition to the development of its own products, Liquidia licenses its PRINT particle technology and its GMP manufacturing capabilities to support proprietary programs advanced by collaborators. For more information, please go to www.liquidia.com.

Liquidia Technologies - 04/03/2012

A look back, and forward

This past year has held some pleasant surprises for me. I was particularly intrigued by the Plexxikon buyout for $935 million, the bulk of it upfront. In a sane world, Plexxikon--which developed the remarkable new skin cancer drug Zelboraf (vemurafenib)--would have gone public. But as far as the IPO market for biotech companies is concerned, this isn't a sane world.

Plexxikon helped illustrate the potential biotechs have to distinguish themselves with great science and a sharp development focus. That kind of expertise is clearly worth a considerable sum; a maxim other companies like Pharmasset have clearly learned how to profit by. Plexxikon's experience also demonstrated the limitations developers face in a world where investors will typically turn a cold shoulder to all the risks involved in drug development.

I'm wrapping this year's run of FierceBiotech reports with a look back, and forward. The key trends of 2011--with a wide array of venture capitalists complaining loudly, the R&D revolution still at the midway point, deal-making more important than ever, and regulators feeling the heat from a disgruntled industry--will all play into 2012.

Fundamental changes can't occur quickly in biotech. It took years to get where we are today. Years more are required to see if new strategies can work or new biotechs can navigate the hazards of clinical development. Now that we've passed the 10th anniversary of FierceBiotech, we can say we've reached the second generation of the publication. And we're planning to take our coverage of the industry up a notch or two in 2012. Call it FierceBiotech 2.0.

We'll be taking our traditional holiday break next week, returning the Tuesday after New Year's Day. It's a chance for us to retool some aspects of our coverage and come back stronger than ever. We hope you enjoy your own break and will see you in the new year.

- John Carroll

Plexxikon - 12/23/2011

Survival Benefit With Syndax Pharmaceuticals' Entinostat Maintained in Women with Advanced Breast Cancer

Survival Benefit With Syndax Pharmaceuticals' Entinostat Maintained in Women with Advanced Breast Cancer

--Seven-month survival advantage for exemestane plus entinostat treated patients--,
--Data presented at San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium--,

WALTHAM, Mass., Dec. 7, 2011 -- WALTHAM, Mass., Dec. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that, with a 23-month patient follow up of ENCORE 301, a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 study of exemestane with and without entinostat in 130 patients with locally recurrent or metastatic estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, the median overall survival of exemestane plus entinostat patients reached 26.9 months versus 19.8 months for exemestane plus placebo. This represents a 42% reduction (p=0.04) in the risk of dying for these patients. Previously presented data from ENCORE 301 demonstrated a near doubling in the progression-free survival (PFS) (4.3 vs. 2.3 months) with exemestane plus entinostat and the identification of a subset of these patients whose median PFS reached 8.5 months. The updated data is being presented today, December 7, 2011, at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in San Antonio, Texas.

"It is both exciting and encouraging to see after two years of follow up that patients treated with entinostat and exemestane benefited from an additional seven months of overall survival," said Denise A. Yardley, MD, breast program leader, senior investigator at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute and principal investigator of the study. "This encouraging signal of not only a progression-free survival advantage (4.3 months vs 2.3 months) but also of an overall survival benefit for this combination, coupled with an excellent safety and tolerability profile, provide the platform for the larger scale confirmatory, randomized, phase 3 study anticipated to begin enrollment in the first half of 2012."

Highlights of the data to be presented include:

  • Overall survival: 26.9 months for exemestane + entinostat vs. 19.8 months for exemestane + placebo HR = 0.58 (95%CI: 0.34, 0.97) p = 0.04
  • Progression-free survival: 4.3 months for exemestane + entinostat vs. 2.3 months for exemestane + placebo HR = 0.73 (95%CI: 0.49, 1.09) p = 0.06; 1-sided significance prospectively defined as  <0.10
  • Progression-free survival of 8.5 months for exemestane + entinostat in subset of patients with increased protein acetylaton vs. 2.8 months in non acetylators HR = 0.32 (95%CI: 0.13, 0.79)
  • Trend in improved progression-free survival in hormone-resistant vs. hormone-sensitive patients
  • Exemestane combined with entinostat was well tolerated with the most frequent adverse events consisting of fatigue, gastrointestinal disturbances and hematologic abnormalities

"The continued survival benefit increases our confidence that entinostat will play a critical role in the treatment of women with estrogen receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer," said Joanna Horobin, MD, president and chief executive officer of Syndax.  "We look forward to moving entinostat into phase 3 clinical testing in 2012."
San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium

Presentation Date/Time: Wednesday, December 7 from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Poster Title: Entinostat, a Novel Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor, Added to Exemestane Improves PFS in Advanced Breast Cancer in a Randomized, Phase II, Double-Blind
Study Session: POSTER DISCUSSION I: Endocrine Resistance
Abstract Number: PD01-04
Location: Ballroom A

Breast Cancer and Hormone Therapy
Approximately 230,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer are diagnosed in women annually in the United States and there are approximately 150,000 women living with metastatic breast cancer (MBC).  Over 70 percent of women with breast cancer have estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer.  The most effective cancer treatments target the underlying biology and in breast cancer the most common oncogenic driver is estrogen receptor signaling.  Blocking estrogen activity with aromatase inhibitors represents an effective treatment for most ER+ MBC patients, however acquired drug resistance to aromatase inhibitors leads to disease progression, ultimately requiring less effective, more toxic chemotherapies.(1)  Delaying resistance and disease progression represents a significant unmet need that could prolong survival while decreasing health care costs associated with chemotherapy and hospitalization.

About Entinostat
Syndax's lead product entinostat is a novel, oral small molecule inhibitor of class I histone deacetylases, key enzymes that alter the structure of chromatin to control gene expression. Entinostat is differentiated from other members of the class through its unique selectivity profile, pharmacokinetic properties and safety profile. Entinostat has been studied in more than 600 cancer patients where objective tumor responses have been observed in both solid and hematologic malignancies.  Breast cancer animal models demonstrated that resistance to aromatase inhibitors occurs through up-regulation of growth factor signaling pathways and down-regulation of estrogen receptor-alpha (ERα). Entinostat effectively down-regulates growth factor signaling in breast cancer cells where these pathways are active. Entinostat also up-regulates the expression of ER in breast cancer cells which have negligible or undetectable levels of ER. The ability to target multiple mechanisms of resistance establishes entinostat as a promising candidate for preventing and overcoming aromatase inhibitor resistance through epigenetic modulation. In pre-clinical testing entinostat induced tumor regression when combined with an aromatase inhibitor after the development of hormone resistance.

Additional phase 2 studies with entinostat have demonstrated promising results in combination with the EGFR-TKI erlotinb (ENCORE 401) in non-small cell lung cancer and as a single agent in Hodgkin's  lymphoma (ENGAGE 501).  Results from the ENCORE clinical program have provided the basis for moving entinostat in pivotal, phase 3 testing across a platform of breast and lung cancer indications.

About Syndax
Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a Waltham, MA-based, late-stage, oncology-focused pharmaceutical company. The company is building a portfolio of new oncology products to extend and improve the lives of patients by developing and commercializing novel cancer therapies in optimized, mechanistically driven combination regimens. Syndax has worldwide rights to develop and commercialize entinostat which has shown promise in randomized clinical trials in solid tumors. Syndax is backed by top-tier venture capital firms Domain Associates, MPM Capital, Avalon, Pappas and Forward Ventures. Formed in 2005, Syndax's intellectual property is based on work from scientific founder Ronald Evans, Ph.D., recipient of the 2004 Albert Lasker Prize for Basic Medical Research, a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, a professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.   For more information please visit www.syndax.com.

Uncategorized - 12/08/2011

Survival Benefit With Syndax Pharmaceuticals' Entinostat Maintained in Women with Advanced Breast Cancer

Survival Benefit With Syndax Pharmaceuticals' Entinostat Maintained in Women with Advanced Breast Cancer

--Seven-month survival advantage for exemestane plus entinostat treated patients--,

--Data presented at San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium--,

WALTHAM, Mass., Dec. 7, 2011 -- WALTHAM, Mass., Dec. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that, with a 23-month patient follow up of ENCORE 301, a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 study of exemestane with and without entinostat in 130 patients with locally recurrent or metastatic estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, the median overall survival of exemestane plus entinostat patients reached 26.9 months versus 19.8 months for exemestane plus placebo. This represents a 42% reduction (p=0.04) in the risk of dying for these patients. Previously presented data from ENCORE 301 demonstrated a near doubling in the progression-free survival (PFS) (4.3 vs. 2.3 months) with exemestane plus entinostat and the identification of a subset of these patients whose median PFS reached 8.5 months. The updated data is being presented today, December 7, 2011, at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in San Antonio, Texas.

"It is both exciting and encouraging to see after two years of follow up that patients treated with entinostat and exemestane benefited from an additional seven months of overall survival," said Denise A. Yardley, MD, breast program leader, senior investigator at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute and principal investigator of the study. "This encouraging signal of not only a progression-free survival advantage (4.3 months vs 2.3 months) but also of an overall survival benefit for this combination, coupled with an excellent safety and tolerability profile, provide the platform for the larger scale confirmatory, randomized, phase 3 study anticipated to begin enrollment in the first half of 2012."

Highlights of the data to be presented include:

  • Overall survival: 26.9 months for exemestane + entinostat vs. 19.8 months for exemestane + placebo HR = 0.58 (95%CI: 0.34, 0.97) p = 0.04
  • Progression-free survival: 4.3 months for exemestane + entinostat vs. 2.3 months for exemestane + placebo HR = 0.73 (95%CI: 0.49, 1.09) p = 0.06; 1-sided significance prospectively defined as  <0.10
  • Progression-free survival of 8.5 months for exemestane + entinostat in subset of patients with increased protein acetylaton vs. 2.8 months in non acetylators HR = 0.32 (95%CI: 0.13, 0.79)
  • Trend in improved progression-free survival in hormone-resistant vs. hormone-sensitive patients
  • Exemestane combined with entinostat was well tolerated with the most frequent adverse events consisting of fatigue, gastrointestinal disturbances and hematologic abnormalities

"The continued survival benefit increases our confidence that entinostat will play a critical role in the treatment of women with estrogen receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer," said Joanna Horobin, MD, president and chief executive officer of Syndax.  "We look forward to moving entinostat into phase 3 clinical testing in 2012."

San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
Presentation Date/Time: Wednesday, December 7 from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Poster Title: Entinostat, a Novel Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor, Added to Exemestane Improves PFS in Advanced Breast Cancer in a Randomized, Phase II, Double-Blind
Study Session: POSTER DISCUSSION I: Endocrine Resistance
Abstract Number: PD01-04
Location: Ballroom A

Breast Cancer and Hormone Therapy
Approximately 230,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer are diagnosed in women annually in the United States and there are approximately 150,000 women living with metastatic breast cancer (MBC).  Over 70 percent of women with breast cancer have estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer.  The most effective cancer treatments target the underlying biology and in breast cancer the most common oncogenic driver is estrogen receptor signaling.  Blocking estrogen activity with aromatase inhibitors represents an effective treatment for most ER+ MBC patients, however acquired drug resistance to aromatase inhibitors leads to disease progression, ultimately requiring less effective, more toxic chemotherapies.(1)  Delaying resistance and disease progression represents a significant unmet need that could prolong survival while decreasing health care costs associated with chemotherapy and hospitalization.

About Entinostat
Syndax's lead product entinostat is a novel, oral small molecule inhibitor of class I histone deacetylases, key enzymes that alter the structure of chromatin to control gene expression. Entinostat is differentiated from other members of the class through its unique selectivity profile, pharmacokinetic properties and safety profile. Entinostat has been studied in more than 600 cancer patients where objective tumor responses have been observed in both solid and hematologic malignancies.  Breast cancer animal models demonstrated that resistance to aromatase inhibitors occurs through up-regulation of growth factor signaling pathways and down-regulation of estrogen receptor-alpha (ERα). Entinostat effectively down-regulates growth factor signaling in breast cancer cells where these pathways are active. Entinostat also up-regulates the expression of ER in breast cancer cells which have negligible or undetectable levels of ER. The ability to target multiple mechanisms of resistance establishes entinostat as a promising candidate for preventing and overcoming aromatase inhibitor resistance through epigenetic modulation. In pre-clinical testing entinostat induced tumor regression when combined with an aromatase inhibitor after the development of hormone resistance.

Additional phase 2 studies with entinostat have demonstrated promising results in combination with the EGFR-TKI erlotinb (ENCORE 401) in non-small cell lung cancer and as a single agent in Hodgkin's  lymphoma (ENGAGE 501).  Results from the ENCORE clinical program have provided the basis for moving entinostat in pivotal, phase 3 testing across a platform of breast and lung cancer indications.

About Syndax
Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a Waltham, MA-based, late-stage, oncology-focused pharmaceutical company. The company is building a portfolio of new oncology products to extend and improve the lives of patients by developing and commercializing novel cancer therapies in optimized, mechanistically driven combination regimens. Syndax has worldwide rights to develop and commercialize entinostat which has shown promise in randomized clinical trials in solid tumors. Syndax is backed by top-tier venture capital firms Domain Associates, MPM Capital, Avalon, Pappas and Forward Ventures. Formed in 2005, Syndax's intellectual property is based on work from scientific founder Ronald Evans, Ph.D., recipient of the 2004 Albert Lasker Prize for Basic Medical Research, a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, a professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.   For more information please visit www.syndax.com.

Uncategorized - 12/08/2011

Selventa Announces a Joint Technology Collaboration with Pfizer Inc., to Include Developing Knowledge-sharing Portal of Bi Read more: Selventa Announces a Joint Technology Collaboration with Pfizer Inc., to Include Developing Knowledge-sharing Portal of

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Selventa™ today announced a continuation and expansion of its strategic partnership with the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, Pfizer Inc., in the areas of biological knowledge dissemination and drug safety. The scope of the new collaboration, co-funded by Pfizer, includes creating a publicly available version of Selventa’s Biological Expression Language (BEL) and associated BEL Framework that will enable organizations to capture, store, combine and use scientific knowledge across a wide range of scientific applications to help inform and streamline decision-making regarding drug targets. The collaboration includes establishing a community of BEL stakeholders and users, and the development of a BEL community portal to disseminate the technology to the scientific community at large.

“The structure of this joint effort enables Selventa to expand its existing technology to develop a knowledge-sharing portal that has the potential to benefit not only Pfizer scientists but also the entire scientific community,” said David de Graaf, President and CEO of Selventa. “We are extremely excited to take our collaboration to the next level and look forward with great anticipation at the prospect of opening our technology platform and working even more closely with cross-functional R&D teams at Pfizer.”

Until recently, Selventa had only used the Genstruct® Technology Platform (GTP) as an internal platform for collaborative research projects with Pfizer and other pharmaceutical partners. Through recent rebranding efforts and collaborations such as this, Selventa is currently transitioning its technology platform and business model to a more open, standards-based approach, thereby enabling broad adoption and use of Selventa tools, infrastructure and knowledge among its customers, their business partners, and the wider scientific community.

“Pfizer is pleased to be part of this collaboration,” said Denise Robinson-Gravatt, Head of Pfizer’s Drug Safety Technology. “The success of our industry to a large extent is determined by new drug innovation, so the more we can make broadly available to the scientific community open-source solutions involving non-proprietary research and technology tools, the more we’re facilitating innovation to occur, which ultimately is a win-win for all stakeholders involved – the scientific community, the pharmaceutical industry and patients.”

About Selventa

Founded in 2002 and privately-held, Selventa helps clients find optimal treatments for the right patients by offering scientific consulting services, software and strategic partnerships. The company analyzes molecular patient data, accelerates the development process and clarifies therapeutics and diagnostics decisions. Selventa engages in short-, mid- and long-term relationships with top-tier pharmaceutical and life science companies to develop new therapeutics and mechanistic biomarkers in the areas of oncology, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular diseases, inflammation and drug safety.

Selventa - 03/28/2011
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