While You Were Getting Eliminated

Ah, the World Cup Not a pleasant weekend to be an American or English fan of the beautiful game; we could, um, parrot the experts, but we'll spare you. Let's just say it was very disappointing. Of course if you read the press in England, you could be forgiven for thinking it was the end of the world.

But life goes on. ADA continues this week in Orlando -- plenty of GLP and insulin news, below -- and our very own EuroBiotech Forum starts Tuesday in Paris. It's not too late to sign up for two days of partnering and excellent content, including keynote talks from Novartis Pharma CFO Jonathan Peacock and Teva Pharmaceuticals Europe president and CEO Gerard van Odijk.

While you were watching the drugs that watch your blood sugar ...

• Morphosys has licensed a Phase I anti-CD19 antibody from Xencor. The last time we checked in with Morphosys regarding its in-licensing ambitions, CEO Simon Moroney told us "The review isn't complete and we're optimistic, but the ground isn't littered with jewels." We're glad they finally found something shiny enough to pay $13mm u/f for. Xencor will run Phase I for what is now known as MOR208 and then Morphosys picks up development, paying Xencor milestones and royalties on worldwide sales.


• Will Novartis need to up its bid for the eyecare giant Alcon? That company's independent directors committee certainly thinks so, and it has an expert backing it up, reports Reuters.


• Boehringer Ingelheim will work with Marinomed to commercialize in various markets an OTC nasal spray for the common cold. Marinomed gets about €1 million u/f and could receive milestones based on market entry and royalties.


• AstraZeneca and Medicines for Malaria Venture announced a partnership whereby MMV will have access to AZ's compound library for discovery efforts against malaria parasites.


• ADA: Novo Nordisk's diabetes drugs were on display at ADA -- liraglutide bested Januvia as an add-on to metformin and proof of concept achieved for ultra-long-acting insulin Degludec. Analysts report this morning that Novo also began talking about liraglutide Depot, a longer-acting version of the peptide.


• ADA: BMS and AZ put out a trio of releases on Saturday with Onglyza and dapagliflozin data. Onglyza and metformin as first line combo therapy? Check. Onglyza/metformin non-inferiority study vs glipizide/metformin? Check. Dapagliflozin add-on Phase III? Check.


• ADA: There's plenty more from Byetta, Januvia, canagliflozin, taspoglutide and all your other favorites. News roundup here.

image from flickr user baldheretic used under a creative commons license