January 24, 2007 -- Renovis laid off 40% of its personnel to concentrate its spending on three programs; Astellas Pharma of Japan received an Approvable letter for an immunosuppressant drug; Molecular Insight in-licensed a Novartis drug that has completed Phase II trials; Lexicon Genetics began testing LX1031 in a Phase I trial for irritable bowel syndrome; Crucell received a 2.4 million euro grant to develop a malaria vaccine; Merck Serono will begin a Phase II test of cladribine for MS patients; Wyeth received an approvable letter for Pristiq, a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor; Neurocrine received a grant to study adenosine A2A receptor antagonists in Parkinson’s disease; and Sangamo also received an award to study ZFP Therapeutics for Parkinson’s disease. The Centient Biotech 200™ rose 24 points to 4099, a gain of .48%. More details...
