Week of November 12, 2012: Neptune Provides Update on Incident at its Production Plant; Tekmira and Alnylam Restructure Relationship and Settle All Litigation; and More

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Tekmira Pharmaceuticals have restructured their relationship with a new licensing agreement and have resolved all litigation between the parties in a settlement agreement. The new license agreement consolidates and clarifies certain intellectual property elements related to lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology for RNAi therapeutics. Further, Alnylam has elected to independently manufacture its LNP-based RNAi therapeutic products and to buy-down certain future potential milestone payments and a significant portion of future potential royalties for its ALN-VSP, ALN-PCS, and ALN-TTR02 programs. Read More

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has reached an agreement with XenoPort to terminate their collaboration concerning Horizant (gabapentin enacarbil) extended-release tablets, for which GSK had commercialization rights and certain development rights in the US. Under the termination and transition agreement, GSK is returning Horizant rights to XenoPort and providing certain assistance during the transition period ending Apr. 30, 2013, upon mutually agreed terms. The decision to return the asset is aligned with GSK’s ongoing strategy to streamline its portfolio to focus on core franchise opportunities. The agreement also resolves all litigation between the parties. XenoPort acknowledges that GSK fulfilled its contractual obligations on the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of Horizant. Read More

Neptune Technologies & Bioressources, a manufacturer of phospholipid products for the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries, reported that, on Nov. 8, 2012, an explosion and fire destroyed its production plant located in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Three employees were fatally injured. Eighteen other people were transported to the hospital-four of whom were severely injured. The incident completely destroyed Neptune’s current production plant that was in operation in Sherbrooke, but damages at the expansion facility currently under construction adjacent to Neptune’s Sherbrooke plant appear to be limited, according to the company. Neptune is strategizing on an action plan going forward to allow it to resume production and meet client demands, and plan particulars will be announced at a later date.

A roundup of additional company and people news from pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies, their suppliers, and contract-service providers. Read More