Investment firm buys Biogen's royalty rights to lupus drug Benlysta

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September 11, 2012 More than 2,700 companies nationwide are saving on lab supplies, shipping, news distribution, office products and more through the BIO Business Solutions cost-savings program. Find out how. The news summaries appearing in BIO SmartBrief are based on original information from news organizations and are produced by SmartBrief, Inc., an independent e-mail newsletter publisher. The information is not compiled or summarized by BIO. Questions and comments should be directed to SmartBrief at bio@smartbrief.com.   Today's Top Story  Investment firm buys Biogen's royalty rights to lupus drug Benlysta DRI Capital acquired Biogen Idec's royalty rights to Benlysta, a lupus treatment owned by Human Genome Sciences and its acquirer, GlaxoSmithKline. The deal entitles DRI to royalties from HGS and GSK. In turn, DRI will pay Biogen a multiple of some royalties covering October 2011 to September 2014. Biogen initially will receive $18.3 million to cover October 2011 to March 2012. Reuters (9/10)      Get More with The Business Platinum Card from American Express OPEN. EARN 25,000 MEMBERSHIP REWARDS® POINTS by spending $5,000 in the first 3 months of Card membership†. PLUS GET 40+ PREMIUM BENEFITS: • Complimentary Airport Club Access • Annual $200 Airline Fee Credit for any Airline • 24/7 personal concierge LEARN MORE                                           †Terms and Restrictions Apply.   Health Care & Policy  AmpliPhi, Special Phage Services to merge as phage therapy company AmpliPhi Biosciences is set to acquire Special Phage Services to form a company that will develop phage-based treatments against drug-resistant bacteria. The combination "would result in the creation of the first global phage therapy company covering the U.S., Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions," said AmpliPhi President and CEO Phil Young. Post-acquisition efforts will focus on developing drugs to fight global pandemic strains of bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Young said. Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (9/10)      Broad Institute and AstraZeneca team up to develop infection drugs AstraZeneca agreed to collaborate with the Broad Institute, backed by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to discover and develop treatments for severe bacterial and viral infection. The partners will use the institute's library of 100,000 diversity-oriented synthesis compounds. Drug Store News (9/10)      Pfizer and SFJ partner on Phase III trial of lung cancer drug SFJ Pharmaceuticals was selected by Pfizer to run a late-stage study of lung cancer drug candidate dacomitinib. The transaction is the second between the companies. SFJ will supervise and fund the trial across Europe and Asia. American City Business Journals/San Francisco/BiotechSF blog (9/7)      Sequencing study shows promise of personalized lung cancer drugs More than 60% of squamous cell lung cancer tumor cells had gene mutations indicating they could be treated by existing drugs or treatments in the pipeline for other cancers. The study was part of NIH's Cancer Genome Atlas project and was published in the journal Nature. Medical centers plan to collaborate to increase the size of trials for personalized treatments for the cancer. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (9/9)        Company & Financial News  $3.7M from NHLBI to support trials of Babesia blood test The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has awarded Immunetics a two-year research contract worth $3.7 million for clinical studies of a blood test for Babesia infection. The trials, which will be conducted in collaboration with Blood Systems Research Institute and Creative Testing Solutions, are necessary for the blood test to obtain FDA approval. Mass High Tech (Boston) (9/10)      Aduro gets $867,846 DoD grant to develop prostate cancer vaccine Aduro BioTech received an $867,846 grant from the Department of Defense to finish preclinical development of a prostate cancer vaccine. The money will be used to generate listeria strains to express tumor-linked prostate cancer antigens and assess vaccine candidate strains in animal models. Pharmaceutical Business Review Online (9/7)        Global Developments  MedImmune, WuXi unite to make autoimmune, inflammatory drugs MedImmune, the biologics unit of AstraZeneca, has formed a joint venture with Wuxi AppTec to develop and market MEDI5117 in China. The monoclonal antibody for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases is in early-stage clinical development in the U.S. and Europe. The deal gives AstraZeneca and MedImmune the option to acquire full rights to the drug, but otherwise the venture will keep commercialization rights. Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (9/10)      The Buzz(CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENTS) Sidley Austin LLP Expands Global Life Sciences Presence With Addition of Drug Development Professional Dr. Ling Su in Shanghai Interested in learning more about advertising in BIO SmartBrief? Contact Meryl Harold at (202) 407-7828 or mharold@smartbrief.com.    Featured Content    10 Online Marketing Terms You Need to Know Now Which Coupons Motivate Online Shoppers? Can You Balance More Than One Business? 3 Types of Nightmare Clients and How to Manage Them Building an Empire: Panera Bread's Ken Rosenthal   Food & Agriculture  Zimbabwe farmers urge government to adopt biotechnology The Zimbabwe Farmers Union and the Confederations of Zimbabwe Industries called on Zimbabwe's government to end a ban on biotech crop production to achieve greater food security. The nation will gain by adopting biotech food production, said ZFU information officer Tinashe Kairiza. Radio VOP (Zimbabwe) (9/8)        Industrial & Environmental  Report: RFS promotes advanced-biofuels production Despite the difficulties facing the industry, production of advanced biofuels is on the rise, driven in large part by the Renewable Fuel Standard and the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard, according to a study from Environmental Entrepreneurs. DomesticFuel.com (9/7)        News from BIO  Ship with FedEx FedEx is now offering member companies discounts of up to 35% off select FedEx services, both U.S. and international services. The BIO program with FedEx is one of the many cost-savings programs offered by BIO through its Business Solutions program. There is no charge for BIO member companies to participate in any of the BIO Business Solutions programs -- it is a benefit of membership. Learn more about the BIO and FedEx program.      Learn more about BIO -> Conferences  |  Join BIO  |  Media  |  Issues  |  Industry   SmartQuote  To see ourselves as others see us is a most salutary gift. 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