Week of July 9, 2012: Amgen Completes Acquisition of KAI Pharmaceuticals; Renaissance Acquisition Holdings Acquires DPT Laboratories; and More

Amgen has completed its acquisition of KAI Pharmaceuticals, a privately held company based in South San Francisco, California. The acquisition was initially announced Apr. 10, 2012, and includes KAI’s lead product candidate KAI-4169, a novel agent being studied initially for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism in patients with chronic kidney disease who are on dialysis. Read More

Renaissance Acquisition Holdings, a portfolio company of RoundTable Healthcare Partners, an operating-oriented private-equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry, has acquired the CDMO DPT Laboratories. DPT’s headquarters and staff will continue to be located in San Antonio, Texas, and its management team will remain in place. As a result of the transaction, DFB Pharmaceuticals, based in San Antonio and Fort Worth, Texas, will maintain a meaningful interest in the combined business and will provide oversight and counsel through representation on Renaissance’s board of directors. Read More

Seven pharmaceutical companies (Abbott, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co., and Sanofi) and four research institutions (the Infectious Disease Research Institute; the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health; Texas A&M University; and Weill Cornell Medical College), working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, have launched a partnership that aims to expedite the discovery of new treatments for tuberculosis (TB). The partnership, known as the TB Drug Accelerator (TBDA), will target the discovery of new TB drugs by collaborating on early-stage research. The long-term goal of the TBDA is to create a TB drug regimen that cures patients in only one month. Existing drugs, all at least 50 years old, require six months to cure the disease-a lengthy process that contributes to 20–30% of patients dropping out before completion. Aided by nearly $20 million from the Gates Foundation, the partners launched the TBDA in April 2012, and have begun the first round of screening for new TB drug candidates. The TBDA aims to develop five new preclinical drug candidates with treatment-shortening potential within five years and proof-of-concept for a one-month, three-drug regimen within 10 years. Read More