Industry News

As Bloomberg reports, German's Der Spiegel has ferreted more details about drug research in Soviet-era East Germany, where pharma groups tied to some of the biggest names in the industry reportedly benefited from cheap clinical trials before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Elan's ($ELN) board of directors has rebuffed the most recent acquisition offer from Royalty Pharma, saying that the bid valued at $6.4 billion undervalues the Ireland-based biopharma group and robs investors of the best value for their shares. With its eyes on Elan's prized Tysabri royalty stream, Royalty made the most recent $12.50-per-share offer on Monday.

Three weeks after an FDA panel overwhelmingly rejected Aveo's bid to gain an approval for its kidney cancer drug tivozanib, the biotech has earned another vote of no confidence--this time from its pharma partner.

Merck has cut one of most advanced efforts to develop a new therapy for Parkinson's disease. Its Phase III clinical trials of preladenant for the prevalent neurological disorder failed to beat placebo, prompting the U.S. drug giant ($MRK) to halt extension studies of the experimental A2A receptor agonist and abandon plans to file for regulatory approvals for the treatment.

Scientists failed to replicate the tantalizing evidence of efficacy from a study of the cancer drug bexarotene in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, throwing cold water on efforts to advance the approved anti-tumor therapy for patients with the memory-stealing illness.

For years patients from depression have been cycled through one drug after the next, a hit-and-miss approach that also reflects the poor odds of success in clinical development. But now investigators say that a trial of a well-known anesthetic often used illicitly in the club scene has real potential in the fight against depression.