Edito’s Note: VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS), Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA), Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)
Earlier today RFD IP Business Services (“RFD”) released a new report analyzing the likely inequitable conduct challenges to VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS) and the patents that protect its approved drug, Qsymia(R) (fixed dose combinations of phentermine and topiramate). What is new in the Inequitable Conduct Report? The report exposes the tension between, on the one hand, admissions by Vivus attorneys at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo PC (“Mintz Levin”) that the company’s earliest Qsymia patents do not teach how to use low doses of topiramate (15 to 50 mg), while simultaneously trying to obtain claims from these early patents that cover doses of topiramate from 5 to 1000 mg.
News Buzz: Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA), Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) (SBWire)
Earnings of Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) in the second quarter of 2013 at 17 cents per share were higher than the earnings in the previous year. The firm’s revenues of $68.9 million were 213% higher than the previous year for the same period thanks to $65 million milestone payment from partner Eisai for Belviq. The pharmaceutical firm had launched the obesity drug, Belviq in June 2013 and the drug has recorded sales of $1.3 million which is evident from the 12,500 prescriptions written for it until July 19. The firm also got $0.5 million milestone payment from Eisai submission of New Drug in Canada for Belviq.
Array says Amgen ends agreement, to cut 20 percent jobs (Reuters)
Array Biopharma said it would cut 20 percent of its workforce as Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) plans to end an agreement to develop and market Array’s drug to treat Type 2 diabetes. Array shares fell as much as 7 percent to $6.12 in trading after the bell. The company said it would record a one-time restructuring charge of $2.7 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2014. Array and Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) entered into the agreement in December 2009, under which Array received an upfront payment of $60 million and milestone payments of $8.5 million.
Amgen ‘neck and neck’ with competitors in race for new anti-cholesterol drugs approval (Med City News)
In one of the most closely-watched medical races of all time, Amgen and rival pharmaceutical companies are chasing approval for new anti-cholesterol drugs that have the potential to be blockbusters. Cardiologists see them as the single most promising class of drugs currently in development, said Dr. Steven Nissen, the department chair of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. For its new cholesterol-fighting drug, AMG 145, Thousand Oaks-based Amgen expects to have data from its pre-marketing clinical trial period available in early 2014.
2 Biotechs Aim To Capitalize On The Treatment Of Melanoma (Seeking Alpha)
Data from key trials of experimental treatments for melanoma brings good news for those affected by this deadly form of cancer. Following the disappointment from Vical’s (VICL) failed Phase 3 study, the development of melanoma treatments offer investors a solid opportunity with two different stocks.
