Thursday, September 19, 2013

Fall in Licensing Deals Characterizes First Half of 2013 in the Pharmaceutical Sector

Despite a positive start to the year characterized by healthy IPO activity and free-flowing venture capital, licensing deals, the life blood of the industry, have stalled, signaling that rising valuations could be pricing buyers out of the market. Buy Ceftin (Cefuroxime) pills online without prescription The industry now faces the second half with cautious optimism over its ability to sustain some of the buoyancy seen in the first half , according to the newly released, “Pharma Half-Year Review 2013” report from Evaluate’s editorial arm, EP Vantage. The report, based on data from EvaluatePharma. 
“How well the industry performs during the next 16 months as it seeks to extend the lifecycles of important franchises or build up new classes of medicines will go a long way towards determining whether the current optimism is sustained, or if another bust is hiding just beyond this boom.”
Of note in the first half of 2013 was exceptional growth in the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index, a key valuation metric of small and medium-sized companies. Buy Celebrex (Celecoxib) tabs online without prescription The Index exceeded its previous record of 1,596.93 set 13 years earlier, growing 27 percent through June 30 — nearly equal to its growth for all of 2012. The Dow Jones U.S. Pharmaceuticals Index showed similar gains at 21 percent. Compare this with the gains of 14 percent and 13 percent for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 respectively, and the amount of investment rushing into the pharma sphere becomes even more apparent.
However, not all areas of the industry were quite as bright. While venture financing and merger-and-acquisitions activity picked up, the industry will continue to fall short of the M&A activity that preceded the patent cliff. Buy Uroxatral (Alfuzosin) without prescription Additionally, licensing activity remains low now that high valuations raised many sellers’ expectations out of realistic territories.
“Despite the encouraging signs that have emerged recently, there are still deep seated issues to deal with, such as productivity, reimbursement and proving the value of products to payers,” said Lisa Urquhart, EP Vantage editor. Buy Vitamins online “How well the industry performs during the next 16 months as it seeks to extend the lifecycles of important franchises or build up new classes of medicines will go a long way towards determining whether the current optimism is sustained, or if another bust is hiding just beyond this boom.”
Key findings of the “Pharma Half-Year Review 2013” report include:
  • IPO activity continues to increase as 20 companies floated in the first half of the year raising $1.28 billion between them. Only 16 companies completed IPO’s during the whole of 2012.
  • The industry raised $2 billion in venture finance during the first half of the year with two thirds of the total coming in the second quarter. Medical Helper
  • A total of 416 licensing deals were closed, with $1.59 million changing hands in the first half of 2013. Given these weak numbers, the industry may struggle to match the total of 2012, which was the slowest in at least five years.
  • The pharma industry saw $29 billion worth of M&A transactions in the first six months, putting 2013 on track to be the best year since 2010 (excluding mega-mergers).
  • US product approvals have nearly matched the encouraging pace of 2012, with 17 approved by June 30. Should the remaining 29 small-molecule therapies and nine biological agents make it to the market this year, projected five-year US sales will reach $16.3 billion, above the $15.9 billion projected from 2012.

About Evaluate Ltd.
Evaluate is the trusted source for high quality commercial market intelligence and exclusive consensus sales forecasts to 2018. Our services are EvaluatePharma, EvaluateMedTech and EvaluateClinicalTrials. Our award-winning editorial arm, EP Vantage, leverages our market intelligence and analysis to provide daily opinion and insights. Evaluate’s services give you the insights you need to ask the right questions and get the right answers. That’s intelligence you can act on.

Monday, August 5, 2013

NanoViricides Signs a Non-Disclosure Agreement with the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute for IND-enabling Efficacy Studies on FluCide® and for Testing its Novel Drug Candidates against the Highly Lethal MERS Human Coronavirus

NanoViricides, Inc.  said it has signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (“LRRI”). The Company intends to enter into a Master Services Agreement with LRRI for the IND-enabling efficacy studies of both its broad-spectrum injectable and oral FluCide® drug candidates. Buy Pyridium (Phenazopyridine) without prescription These studies will employ multiple unrelated subtypes and strains of Influenza A, including the novel H7N9 strain, the subtype which is currently circulating in China. The Company has already shown that the injectable and oral FluCide drug candidates are substantially more effective than oseltamivir (Tamiflu®) in controlling influenza A virus infections in a highly lethal animal model using two unrelated subtypes of influenza A, namely H1N1 and H3N2. In addition to FluCide, LRRI will also be able to evaluate the Company’s anti-MERS drug candidates in cell culture and animal models when available. The NDA enables the scientists at the Company and LRRI to exchange confidential and proprietary information in preparation for the intended studies.
The injectable FluCide drug is intended for severely ill hospitalized patients while the follow-on oral drug is intended for use in out-patients. Buy Yasmin (Drospirenone - Ethinyl Estradiol) tabs online without prescription Following advice from the Company’s pre-IND meeting with the FDA, the Company intends to evaluate both drugs against multiple unrelated subtypes of influenza A in animal models and in cell culture studies.
H7N9 is a novel subtype currently circulating in China. Recent studies have indicated that it is a potential pandemic threat. H7N9 was found to be less sensitive to approved drugs than the H1N1/2009 pandemic strain. See New studies on H7N9 raise pandemic concerns | CIDRAP.
The Company has recently developed drug candidates for evaluation against the novel MERS h-CoV (“Middle East Respiratory Syndrome human Coronavirus”). Buy Zanaflex (Tizanidine) pills online without prescription The Obama administration has designated MERS as a potential threat to public health and national security, on June 4, 2013. Administration declares Mideast flu a potential public health emergency - The Hill's Healthwatch. No drugs or vaccines are available against MERS h-CoV.
The Company has recently executed a NDA with the UK Public Health Agency that is intended to lead to a Master Service Agreement for the evaluation of FluCide against the novel A/H7N9 influenza strain as well as evaluation of the Company’s novel drug candidates against the newly emerging MERS human Coronavirus. Clinigen Group plc Acquires Oncology Support Therapy Cardioxane from a World-Leading Pharmaceutical Company The Company believes that independent testing of our drug candidates at these two sites should result in a dataset providing a high degree of confidence.
About Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute:
The Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (LRRI) is a private, biomedical research organization dedicated to improving public health through research on the prevention, treatment and cure of respiratory disease. LRRI is committed to curing respiratory diseases through research aimed at understanding their causes and biological mechanisms; assessing and eliminating exposures to respiratory health hazards; and developing improved therapeutics, vaccines, and diagnostics. Buy Vitamins online LRRI is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico and employs 1,200 people including 150 Ph.D.’s.
About NanoViricides:
NanoViricides, Inc. is a development stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for viral therapy. The Company's novel nanoviricide® class of drug candidates are designed to specifically attack enveloped virus particles and to dismantle them. All Best Rx : Buy drugs online The Company is developing drugs against a number of viral diseases including H1N1 swine flu, H5N1 bird flu, seasonal Influenza, HIV, oral and genital Herpes, viral diseases of the eye including EKC and herpes keratitis, Hepatitis C, Rabies, Dengue fever, and Ebola virus, among others.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current expectation regarding future events. Actual events could differ materially and substantially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors. FDA Approved Rx : Online Pharmacy Certain statements in this release, and other written or oral statements made by NanoViricides, Inc. are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Drugs Rx Guide : Buy drugs online Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors that are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in documents filed by the company from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities. Although it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors, they may include the following: demonstration and proof of principle in pre-clinical trials that a nanoviricide is safe and effective; successful development of our product candidates; our ability to seek and obtain regulatory approvals, including with respect to the indications we are seeking; the successful commercialization of our product candidates; and market acceptance of our products.