SuperGen To Acquire Astex
Pharmaceutical company SuperGen Inc, released a statement on Thursday stating the company has agreed to purchasing British based drug company Astex Therapeutics Ltd.
SuperGen’s released partial terms of the deal stating that they will be acquiring the company from Astex for 25 million dollars in cash. Astex Therapeutics shareholders own 35% of the combined company at closing. SuperGen also stated that they will pay 30 million dollars in cash or stock, in addition to the 25 million dollars. The 30 million dollars will be compensated over a 30 month period.
The deal is awaiting approval from regulators as well as shareholders, however if it does pass approval the deal will completed in July. Once the deal is finalized, shares of the company combined will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker “ASTX”.
SuperGen which is located in Dublin California develops drugs that fight tumors and blood disorders. One of the most well known drugs the company has made is the drug Dacogen. Dacogen is a drug used to treat myelodysplastic syndrome. Myelodysplastic syndrome is a condition in which bone marrow produces blood cells that are misshaped and thus cannot produce healthy blood cells. Astex is a private company that studies drugs used to treat cancer and other life threatening viruses.
SuperGen plans to rename Astex Therapeutics to Astex Pharmaceuticals.
Orndorff to lead bioscience association
Ariel Pharmaceuticals founder Steve Orndorff has been tapped to head the board of directors of the Colorado BioScience Association, an industry trade group with several Boulder Valley members.
Orndorff takes over the chairman duties from Rick Jory, chief executive officer of Sandhill Scientific in Highlands Ranch. Derek Cole is the newly named vice chairman of the board. Cole is vice president at Broomfield-based ARCA biopharma Inc., a company that makes therapies for heart failure.
Broomfield-based Ariel Pharmaceuticals is a startup pharmaceutical company focused on bringing three experimental neurological drugs to market. Orndorff previously was president and chief executive of Broomfield-based Accera Inc., an Alzheimer’s therapy company, which he started and ran. Before that, Orndorff held the same role at Broomfield-based Univera Pharmaceuticals Inc., a drug discovery company that focused on inflammation diseases.
Orndorff is a founding board member of the Colorado BioScience Association and the past president of the Society for Industrial Microbiology.
In addition, treasurer Norwood Robb, from the Denver School of Science and Technology, and secretary Linda Pryor, from Pfizer Inc., will continue as officers. Four new board members also have been approved by members.
Newly named CBSA board members include:
Jeff Castleberry, chief operating officer, EndoShape Inc., Boulder;
Joe Guiles, executive director, MicroRx, CSU Ventures, division of Colorado State University, Fort Collins;
Scott Hutton, senior director of global marketing, Medtronic Navigation, a sector of Medtronic Inc., Louisville;
David Mitchell, executive director, plant manager, Merck & Co. Inc., Boulder.
Reappointments of board members include:
John Dunning, president and chief executive, Clarimedix Inc., Boulder;
Rick Jory, president and chief executive officer, Sandhill Scientific Inc., Highlands Ranch;
Ruth Lytle-Barnaby, executive director, Poudre Valley Health System Community and Foundation Development, Fort Collins;
Will Vaughn, director of technology transfer, Colorado School of Mines, Golden
Michael Weiner, partner, Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Denver;
Jim Wilson, senior audit manager, Ernst & Young, Denver.
The group’s mission is to support the regional bioscience community through advocacy and to look for collaboration opportunities. It promotes the interests of more than 400 regional bioscience companies and an estimated 20,000 employees.
Transcept Pharmaceuticals to Present at Future Leaders in the Biotech Industry Conference on April 15, 2011
POINT RICHMOND, Calif., April 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSPT), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of proprietary products that address important therapeutic needs in the field of neuroscience, today announced that Transcept management is scheduled to present at the Future Leaders in the Biotech Industry Conference on April 15, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. ET.
About Transcept
Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of proprietary products that address important therapeutic needs in the field of neuroscience. The most advanced Transcept product candidate is Intermezzo® (zolpidem tartrate sublingual tablet). Transcept has resubmitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that seeks approval of Intermezzo® as a prescription sleep aid for use in the middle of the night at the time a patient awakens and has difficulty returning to sleep. The FDA has assigned a date of July 14, 2011 for its completion of the Intermezzo® NDA review. Transcept and Purdue Pharmaceutical Products L.P. have entered into a collaboration agreement for the development and commercialization of Intermezzo® in the United States. In March 2011, Transcept initiated a Phase 2 study of TO-2061, a low dose ondansetron augmentation therapy for patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) who have not adequately responded to treatment with approved first-line pharmacotherapy.
Cancellation of Drug Licenses at the Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association
A 49-year-old woman has been charged of allegedly forging documents and extracting money from people. She was a former employee of the Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association.
The woman used to be in charge of the licensing and registration at the pharmaceutical agency. She apparently committed these crimes from the time period ranging from January 2009 to the August of the year 2010.
This was found out in a research conducted on the inside of the institution, which was conducted by officials from the Saskatchewan College of Pharmacists. Two pharmacists had their drug licenses cancelled as a result of the same review.
The investigation was brought into action after the officials of the firm has realized that there were missing funds in the August of last year.
There were reports coming up in this January about the criminal investigation that took place in the firm and it was found that there were issues in the licensing of the pharmacists documents and prevented him from working in the province.
According to the officials of the firm, there was no potential threat to the public by the actions of these lawbreakers and thieves working in the firm. It was just that the entity was facing losses due to their actions.