Pfizer and Medivation, Inc. have entered into an agreement to develop and commercialize Dimebon, Medivation’s investigational drug for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington’s disease. Dimebon currently is being studied in a confirmatory Phase III trial in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease.
   
Under the terms of the agreement, Medivation will receive an upfront cash payment of $225 million and is eligible to receive as much as $500 million based on development and regulatory milestones, as well as additional commercial milestone payments. The two companies will collaborate on the Phase III program and regulatory filings in the U.S. and will share all U.S. development and commercialization expenses along with profits/losses on a 60%/40% (Pfizer/ Medivation) basis. In addition, Medivation will co-promote Dimebon to specialty physicians in the U.S.
   
Pfizer will have responsibility for development, regulatory and commercialization outside the U.S. and will pay Medivation royalties on commercial sales outside of the U.S. The agreement is subject to approval under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.
   
Dimebon is an orally available, small molecule that has been shown to inhibit brain cell death in preclinical models relevant to Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington’s disease, making it a potential treatment for these and other neurodegenerative conditions. Based on preclinical data, Dimebon appears to improve the function of mitochondria, the energy generators in cells that play a vital role in governing brain cell health, growth and overall function. Dimebon also has been shown to stimulate the outgrowth of nerves from brain cells, or neurites, a process that is believed to play an important role in restoring or generating new brain cell connections.

Millipore Corp. and Agilent Technologies have formed a collaboration to develop ChIP (chromatin immunoprecipitation) kits for the epigenetics research market. The kits will be designed to improve productivity for protein research and simplify the way genetic information is studied.
   
ChIP is a technique that helps researchers understand the relationship between DNA and the proteins that impact gene regulation. The collaboration will combine Millipore’s antibody expertise, ChIP kits and reagents, with Agilent’s expertise with microarrays and data analysis solutions.
   
“This collaboration brings together two industry leaders to improve scientific workflows for epigenetic researchers,” said Geoffrey Crouse, vice president of Millipore’s Life Science Strategic Business Unit. “Our long history of leadership in the ChIP market coupled with Agilent’s leadership in DNA microarrays will enable us to help scientists push the frontiers of epigenetic research. We expect to help epigenetics researchers minimize the barriers of entry into chromatin state mapping, readily obtain reproducible genomic profiling data, and overcome the traditional challenges of ChIP assays.”
   
“We are very pleased to be working with Millipore to provide an end-to-end solution for studying the complexities of DNA-protein interactions and binding,” said Yvonne Linney, Ph.D., Agilent vice president and general manager, Genomics. “Our two companies are solidly positioned to fuel discoveries in this rapidly growing field.”

Pall Corp. has acquired GeneSystems, a privately held biotechnology company that has developed its own molecular diagnostics platform. The acquisition expands Pall's Total Fluid Management (TFM) capabilities in the biopharmaceuticals process monitoring market with GeneSystems' rapid microbiological detection equipment and disposables.  
   
Process monitoring includes the analytical tests required during biopharmaceuticals manufacturing for environmental monitoring, in-process control testing and finished product release testing, which are increasingly being scrutinized by regulatory agencies and support initiatives such as Process Analytical Technology (PAT).
   
GeneSystems gained market recognition for its quantitative Legionella diagnostic platform. GeneSystems has developed systems for the diagnosis of a range of pathogens, including food safety testing focused on E. coli. These systems employ advanced sample preparation methods and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology to enable fast and high throughput along with high reproducibility analysis of multiple DNA targets. Real-time PCR detects small quantities of specific microorganisms and provides results within hours.
   
“We are excited by this acquisition and the increased opportunities it presents for our pharmaceutical, biotechnology, environmental monitoring, quality control and diagnostics programs,” said Eric Krasnoff, Pall chairman and chief executive officer. "Customers seek better tools for rapid testing and process monitoring. GeneSystems expands our ability to provide Total Fluid Management to meet customer's raw materials, production, testing and environmental requirements. GeneSystems’ unique technologies complement Pall's markets and global reach.”
   
"It is wonderful to join Pall and have the opportunity to expand on a global scale the very significant customer advantages that our team has achieved, diligently and creatively, during the last few years,” said Darryl Spurling, chief executive officer of GeneSystems.

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