Transparency Market Research published a report on the global biotechnology market and claiming that this vibrant market is expected to grow at an average annual growth rate of CAGR rate of 11.6 percent by the end of 2017. The data provided indicates that in 2011, the market was valued at roughly $216.5 billion, yet major changes in the way the industry operates and innovative developments in the sector, have pushed values to reach $414.5 billion by the end of 2017.
This week, Allergan PLC announced the acquisition of biopharmaceutical company, Tobira Therapeutics, Inc. in a deal worth as much as $1.7 billion, a move to gain more exposure in the liver diseases therapies area. Allergan has agreed to make a direct payment of $28.35 a share in cash and as much as $49.84 a share based on the successful completion of certain developments, regulatory and commercial milestones. Even if the company does not reach certain developments, the offer still represents a 498 percent premium to Tobira’s closing price of $4.74 a share earlier in the week. Shares of Tobira skyrocketed over 700 percent after the announcement.
Another small cap company focused on the development of antibody-based products to address unmet medical needs in the treatment of cancer, MabVax Therapeutics Holdings, Inc., has released the current progress of its antibody development program, HuMab-5B1. MabVax worked on two clinical trials this year with therapeutic agent (MVT-5873), a new generation PET imaging product (MVT-2163), and a radio immunotherapy agent (MVT-1075), and plans on filing an Investigational New Drug with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration later this year. On August 17th, MabVax Therapeutics reached a corporate milestone by successfully completing their uplisting and started to trade on NASDAQ exchange.
MabVax Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. Phase I trial for MVT-5873 began in the first quarter of this year to evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics as a single agent or in combination with a standard of care chemotherapy. The trial is currently examining patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. The MVT-2163 is a positron emission tomography PET imaging agent. The Phase I trial began in the second quarter of this year. In preclinical models the use of the imaging agent resulted in high-resolution images of tumors in xenograft animal models, and now being tested on humans in hopes to help with diagnosis, monitoring, and assessment of patients with pancreatic cancer. MabVax’s collaborations with key cancer research centers and oncology companies include the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Rockefeller University and Heidelberg Pharma.
Pharmaceutical company, Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc. continues to rally after many Wall Street investment research firms upgraded the company to a “buy.” Aerie has disclosed effective phase 3 trial results for its glaucoma drug, Roclatan. Roclatan is capable of reducing intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients who has glaucoma or ocular hypertension. Aerie is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company mainly focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of first-in-class therapies for the treatment of patients with diseases of the eye. Ever since the release of the reports, shares soared over 50 percent and peaked all-time highs at $38.74.
Shares of Puma Biotechnology Inc. surged over 13.5 percent after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted its New Drug Application to treat breast cancer, the PB272 (Neratinib). Neratinib allows the company to treat extended adjuvant patients with early stage HER2-overexpressed breast cancer who have also had prior adjuvant breast cancer therapy with Herceptin (trastuzumab). Puma Biotechnology is a biopharmaceutical company devoted to the acquisition and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer.
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