lots of news today

Well, I wasn't quite right on my Acorda discussion: the FDA advisory committee voted nearly unanimously in favor of Fampridine to help improve walking function in patients with MS. In spite of the questions surrounding the medications effectiveness and safety profile, it looks like the potential benefit to patients with this disabling disorder could not be ignored. Acorda's stock obviously reflected this news today with a jump of over 50%.

Read more here


Looking for the next promising vaccine manufacturer who may have something up its sleeve? Check out NanoBio. It has an interesting intranasal delivery platform utilizing a new adjuvant to stimulate the immune system's response to a vaccine. The initial phase I studies are going to get underway shortly with a recent NIH grant and a green light from the FDA, but the technology looks promising enough for NanoBio's future to look pretty bright. As a side note I'm pretty interested in their Trivalent intranasal vaccine to protect against Botutlism, Antjrax, and the Plague. Hopefully no one would ever be exposed to all three, but one vaccine is always preferable to three (at least for the patient's sake).

Check out NanoBio's pipeline here

Finally, Amgen has been waiting for quite a while for a positive FDA ruling on denosumab and just when it looks like that day is coming...the FDA seems to be dragging its feet once again. There is little doubt that this medication is effective in preventing bone loss and it will the first of its class if (or when) approved, so it should not have any trouble bringing in lots of revenue when finally available. That being said, get a piece of Amgen before the FDA makes its call...

Read the Fierce Biotech piece here