#b#Expansions#/b#
Antares Pharma Inc. (AIS), 100 Princeton South, Suite 300, Ewing 08628; 609-359-3020; fax, 609-359-3015. Paul K. Wotton, president and CEO. www.antarespharma.com.
Antares Pharma has entered into an agreement with LEO Pharma for the marketing of Antares’s dermatological drug injector OTREXUPT, which won FDA approval earlier this month.
OTREXUPT is a self-injection device that comes pre-filled with methotrexate, for patients with rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile arthritis, and severe psoriasis.
The exclusive promotion and marketing agreement between the two companies gives LEO exclusive domestic rights to sell the OTREXUPT (methotrexate) to dermatologists for symptomatic control of severe recalcitrant psoriasis in adults.
Under the terms of the agreement, Antares may receive up to a total of $20 million including an upfront payment of $5 million. Antares Pharma will record all product revenue associated with future dermatology prescriptions and pay LEO Pharma a percentage of OTREXUPT net sales generated in dermatology. LEO Pharma will be responsible for promotion and marketing activities in dermatology.
Covance Inc. (CVD), 206 Carnegie Center, Princeton 08540-6681; 609-452-8550; fax, 609-452-9375. Joe Herring, CEO. www.covance.com.
Covance, a drug development services company, has made a deal with NeoGenomics, an oncology genetics testing service, to jointly provide anatomic pathology and specialty laboratory testing services for global clinical trials.
Covance will establish a laboratory at NeoGenomics’ Fort Myers, Florida, facility and together with NeoGenomics will provide specialty testing services. The companies will then expand joint capabilities globally at Covance’s central laboratory locations in China, Switzerland, and Singapore.
#b#Damages Awarded#/b#
Janssen Pharmaceutica (JJ), 1125 Trenton-Harbourton Road, Box 200, Titusville 08560-0200; 609-730-2000; fax, 609-730-2323. Denice Torres, president. www.janssen.com.
According to press reports, a Philadelphia jury has decided Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceutica unit must pay $4.02 million to a woman claiming the company’s seizure drug Topamax caused birth defects.
Virginia resident April Czimmer sued the company after her son was born in 2007 with a cleft lip, a condition that required four surgeries. She had been taking the drug for six months. Czimmer’s case is the first of about 134 cases pending in state court in Philadelphia over the drug. Janssen said it will appeal the verdict.
Topamax was one of J&J’s top sellers between its approval in 1996 and 2009, when it lost patent protection. Lawyers for the company argued that oral clefts such as the one the suffered by the plaintiff’s son are a common birth defect, with about 4,500 babies born each year in the U.S. with cleft lip, and that other risk factors could have caused it. They also argued the plaintiff had been warned by her doctor about the possibility of the drug causing birth defects.
#b#Start-Ups#/b#
SureFire Results, 13 Park Place, Princeton 08540; 609-578-0135; Rob Hemel, COO. www.surefireresults.com.
SureFire Results, a marketing agency specializing in social media, recently opened an office just off Nassau Street in Princeton’s central business district. The company also offers website hosting.
Company owner Rob Hemel said SureFire Results was founded in 2012 by him and two other people, and the office was opened in August. Humel has an MBA and previously worked in marketing and consulting.
#b#Stock News: Celator Listed#/b#
Celator Pharmaceuticals (CPXX), 200 Princeton South, Suite 180, Ewing 08628; 609-243-0123; fax, 609-243-0202. Scott Jackson, CEO. www.celatorpharma.com.
Celator Pharmaceuticals has been listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The pharmaceutical company, which focuses on developing cancer drugs, began trading on the exchange as CPXX on November 11. It is also listed on the OTC Bulletin Board and the OTC Link exchanges.
This quarter the company also began a Phase 3 clinical trial of its lead drug, CPX-351, which is intended to combat acute myeloid leukemeia.
#b#New in Town#/b#
West Windsor School of Real Estate, 64 Princeton-Hightstown Road, West Windsor; 609-683-5000; Paul DeBaylo.
The West Windsor School of Real Estate recently opened on Princeton-Hightstown Road next to the Century 21 office. Paul DeBaylo, who runs the school, says it offers courses for people who want to take the state real estate licensing exam in addition to continuing education for real estate agents and training for agents who want to become licensed brokers.
Century 21 is financing the school, but it is independent of that real estate company and has a separate entrance. DeBaylo says 84 percent of the school’s students passed the real estate exam on their first try, versus a state average of about 70 percent.
#b#Crosstown Moves#/b#
Archer & Greiner PC, 101 Carnegie Center, Princeton 08540; 609-580-3700. Neal Schonhaut, managing attorney. www.archerlaw.com.
The Archer & Greiner law firm has moved to Carnegie Center.
Roche Financial Partners, 214 Commons Way, Princeton 08540; 609-575-6762. Robert Gregov, president. www.rochepartners.com.
Roche Financial Partners has moved from 212 Carnegie Center to Commons Way.
#b#Death#/b
Mollie Merlino, 88, on November 14. An artist and arts advocate, Merlino was a member of the New Jersey Council on the Arts, the Friends of the State Museum, the Trenton City Museum, and the Mill Hill Playhouse, and was manager of the museum shop at the State Museum. She was a delegate to the 1984 Democratic National Convention.
