Cerecor gets exclusive rights to Merck's potential CNS drugs

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March 21, 2013 BIO has teamed up with FedEx to offer member companies discounts of up to 35% off select FedEx Express, FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery services through the BIO Business Solutions cost-savings program. Learn more. 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  Cerecor signs deal with Merck for potential CNS drugs Baltimore-based biotech firm Cerecor secured exclusive global rights to develop and market compounds that inhibit catechol-O-methyltransferase from Merck & Co. Cerecor said the agents have the potential to be used as treatments for addiction, schizophrenia and other central nervous system disorders. Cerecor will review more than 2,000 drug candidates and select some for clinical development. Merck could get milestone fees and sales royalties. Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (3/20), Bloomberg Businessweek/The Associated Press (3/20)      Safinamide Hits Endpoints in Two Parkinson's Phase III Trials Newron Pharmaceuticals SpA and its partner, Zambon SpA, remain on track to file for approval for safinamide as add-on therapy in Parkinson's disease in the fourth quarter, following the release of pivotal Phase III data at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in San Diego this week. Find out the details.   Health Care & Policy  Dendritic cell production patent is awarded to NW Bio Northwest Biotherapeutics obtained a U.S. patent for technology involving the production of human dendritic cells. The method mirrors the way the immune system produces the cells, the firm said. Pharmaceutical Business Review Online (3/20)      Biogen reports MS drug trial results at neurology meeting A trial found that Biogen Idec's experimental drug peginterferon beta-1a cut the annual rate of relapse by 36% compared with placebo in patients with multiple sclerosis when given every two weeks. The study of the injectable drug, which would be sold as Plegridy is approved, was presented at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. Reuters (3/20)      BioMarin's Pompe disease drug to enter Phase II/III study BioMarin Pharmaceutical plans to initiate by year-end a Phase II/III study of its experimental Pompe disease drug, BMN-701, after obtaining positive results from a Phase I/II trial. The study showed that patients who took BMN-701 were able to walk farther and breathe better. American City Business Journals/San Francisco/BiotechSF blog (3/20)      Meridian earns CLIA moderate complexity rating for Strep tests The FDA has granted moderate complexity status for Meridian Bioscience's Group A and Group B Streptococcus tests under the agency's Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments program. The assays, which already have been cleared by the FDA and run on the company's illumigene platform, originally were classified as high complexity tests. GenomeWeb Daily News (free registration) (3/19)        Company & Financial News  Addex gets $1M MJFF grant to test potential dyskinesia drug The Michael J. Fox Foundation awarded Addex Therapeutics a $1 million grant to support clinical trials of dipraglurant against levodopa-induced dyskinesia among Parkinson's disease patients. Dipraglurant, an oral, small molecule allosteric modulator, selectively inhibits metabotropic glutamate receptor 5. Pharmaceutical Business Review Online (3/20)      UK molecular Dx firm gets $1.1M boost to expand tech sales A financing round has pulled in $1.1 million for Lumora, a U.K.-based firm focused on molecular diagnostics. The company will use the proceeds to expand the commercialization of its Bioluminescent Assay in Real Time, or BART, system and other diagnostic products in Europe and the U.S. GenomeWeb Daily News (free registration) (3/19)        Industry Deals  Biolife, Pevion enter manufacturing agreement for cancer vaccine Pevion Biotech agreed to manufacture Biolife Science's HER-Vaxx cancer vaccine for use in midstage trials for the treatment of gastric cancer. Pevion will be eligible for royalties on eventual sales of HER-Vaxx, which was developed using Pevion's vaccine technology and Biolife's peptides. Biolife plans to submit the vaccine for FDA approval in the third quarter. Australian Life Scientist (3/19)        Food & Agriculture  Some stores won't carry biotech salmon Larger, mainstream grocers are not among a handful of markets that say they won't sell AquaBounty Technologies' biotech salmon if it is approved. "We think we have a safe and healthy product that we hope will be given a chance to be fairly judged by consumers," AquaBounty CEO Ronald Stotish said. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (3/20)        Industrial & Environmental  Plan to cut Pentagon's biofuels budget falters in the Senate The Senate rejected an amendment that would have transferred $60 million from the Pentagon's drop-in biofuels budget to its operations and management budget. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., hailed his colleagues' decision, saying military dependence on "foreign fossil fuels and decades-old power systems" is a liability. The Hill/E2 Wire blog (3/20)        News from BIO  Are you taking full advantage of your membership? 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