What follows below is a review of some of the biotech and pharma news stories that caught my attention during the month of December 2013. Fitch Puts Negative Outlook on Bristol-Myers. AstraZeneca Loses at the Federal Circuit on Omeprazole. Merck and GlaxoSmithKline Collaborate on Regimen for Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma. Teva and Pfizer Settle Viagra® Patent Dispute. FTC Settles with Mylan over Agila Acquisition. FDA Fast Tracks Savara Pharmaceuticals Antibiotic AeroVanc to treat MRSA. Fitch Gives Johnson & Johnson AAA Rating. Sales of Antiretroviral Drugs for HIV Predicted to Decrease.
The conjugates covered by this patent could enable less frequent and better tolerated dosing of one of the most widely used treatments worldwide for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, interferon-beta-1b. The invention described in the European Patent relates to methods for the preparation of conjugates of poly(ethylene glycol), and derivatives thereof, with interferon-beta-1b. Compared to the corresponding unconjugated bioactive components, the conjugates of the invention have increased stability (i.e., longer shelf life and longer half-lives in vivo). In addition, compared to conjugates of the same bioactive component prepared with polymer chains that are attached randomly to solvent-accessible sites along the polypeptide chains, the conjugates of the invention have increased receptor-binding activity and increased potency.