TAIPEI, June 25, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- TaiGen Biotechnology Company, Limited ("TaiGen") and Zhejiang Medicine Company, Limited ("ZMC") today announced that they have signed an exclusive agreement to manufacture and commercialize nemonoxacin, a novel broad-spectrum antibiotic, in China (excluding Hong Kong, and Macau). Nemonoxacin is a novel broad-spectrum non-fluorinated quinolone antibiotic under development for respiratory infections. TaiGen will be responsible for completing the Phase 3 clinical trial for community acquired pneumonia ("CAP") in China. ZMC will be responsible for manufacturing, sales and marketing of nemonoxacin in China through its wholly-owned subsidiary, XinChang Pharmaceuticals. TaiGen will retain full development and commercialization rights outside the licensed territory including Taiwan, the United States, European Union, and Japan. Under the terms of the agreement, TaiGen will receive an upfront payment of US$ 8 million from ZMC and will receive additional milestones as well as royalties on product sales. The term of the agreement is 20 years. Nemonoxacin has demonstrated efficacy and safety in CAP and diabetic foot infection in multinational and multi-center clinical trials conducted by TaiGen. In particular, nemonoxacin has excellent activity against drug-resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and quinolone-resistant MRSA. Nemonoxacin is taken once-a-day and available in both oral and … Continue reading →

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/skdhnn/translational_rege) has announced the addition of the "Translational Regenerative Medicine - Oncology, CNS and Cardiovascular-Rich Pipeline Features Innovative Stem Cell and Gene Therapy Applications" report to their offering. More Guidelines Needed to Grow Regenerative Medicine Market, Report Finds Standardized research guidelines are needed to control and encourage the development of gene therapy and stem cell treatments, according to a new report by healthcare experts GBI Research. The new report* shows how regenerative medicine is seen as an area with high future potential, as countries need ways to cope with the burden of an aging population. The stem cell market alone is predicted to grow to around $5.1 billion by 2014, while gene therapy has also shown promise despite poor understanding of some areas of regenerative medicine and a lack of major approvals (the only approvals to date being made in Asia). Up until now, securing research within clinics has been difficult, with a high number of failures and discontinuations throughout all phases of clinical study. Stem cell therapy uses bone marrow transplants as an established treatment method, but the development of the therapy into further applications and has not yet become common practice. Similarly, tissue … Continue reading →

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire -06/25/12)- When it comes to disease, few are crueler than ALS. Approximately 5,600 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. The motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. The life expectancy is 2-5 years from the time of diagnosis. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. Most ALS patients expire from suffocation while suffering no cognitive depreciation. Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics Inc., trading on the Over the Counter Bulletin Board in the United States, is leading the fight to finding a cure for ALS with its NurOwn proprietary technology. The NurOwn technology is changing the field of regenerative medicine by reprogramming bone marrow derived from mesenchymal stem cells into neuron-supporting cells. The axon terminals (nerve cells ending) will take up neurotrophic factors secreted by the transplanted cells into the muscles or the spinal cord and transport them … Continue reading →

NEW YORK, June 25, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NeoStem, Inc. (NYSE MKT:NBS) ("NeoStem" or the "Company"), a cell therapy company, today announced that it has been awarded a two year grant totaling $595,252 for the "Development of Human, Autologous, Pluripotent Very Small Embryonic Like (VSELs) Stem Cells as a Countermeasure to Radiation Threat" from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This peer reviewed grant was awarded to support research to be headed by Denis O. Rodgerson, Ph.D., Director of Stem Cell Science for NeoStem and Mariusz Ratajczak, M.D., Ph.D., who is the head of the Stem Cell Biology Program at the James Graham Brown Cancer Center at the University of Louisville and co-inventor of VSELTM Technology. This award will fund studies to investigate the potential of very small embryonic-like stem cells as a countermeasure to radiological and nuclear threat. The product candidate, which is an autologous stem cell therapy derived from the patient's own stem cells, will be developed to rescue patients who have been exposed to radiation due to nuclear accident or terrorist threat and to treat cancer patients who have undergone radiation therapy and who consequently … Continue reading →