r&d news in brief

Japanese company Daiichi Pharmaceutical has reached agreement with Rigel Pharmaceuticals, of the US, to develop new cancer treatments with few side effects. The joint research will focus on developing targeted molecular therapy, which seeks to attack cancer cells without destroying normal cells. Daiichi plans to take advantage of Rigel's expertise in targeted molecular therapy to accelerate the process of finding chemical compounds that inhibit the action of toxic molecules.

Danish biopharmaceutical group Ferring Pharmaceuticals and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIMDC), of Boston in the US, have signed a collaborative agreement to discover and develop new drugs for the treatment of osteoporosis. The collaboration will focus on the role of the parathyroid hormone (PTH) and its receptor in bone metabolism. Under the terms of the three-year agreement, BIDMC will receive compounds from Ferring Pharmaceuticals to test as activators or suppressors of the PTH pathway. The two parties will then collaborate in the design and testing of new peptide therapies for the treatment and prevention of bone loss.