On the cusp of the New Year, obesity is in the news once again with the acquisition of privately held Marcadia Biotech Inc. by Roche Holding Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland.

Launched in 2006 with a $37 million Series A financing by venture capital firms Alta Partners and Clarus Ventures, SARcode Corp. had been working quietly to bring to market a class of small-molecule lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) antagonists as a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory topical agent to treat unmet medical needs in ophthalmology, dermatology and other inflammatory diseases.

Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. has vowed to press forward for approval of its weight loss drug lorcaserin despite the FDA's issuance of a complete response letter (CRL) in October.

The Institute for OneWorld Health (iOWH) has a novel business model: The nonprofit pharmaceutical company was founded in 2000 to pursue promising drug candidates that have been discarded by for-profit companies for lack of a viable market.

Despite a bumpy road that includes two FDA approvable letters, the amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis drug candidate Kiacta (eprodisate) has been given another chance to prove itself through a confirmatory Phase III study that was initiated this week by Bellus Health, of Laval, Quebec, and its development partner Celtic Therapeutics LLLP.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has reported that its oral laquinimod for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) hit the primary endpoint in its two-year Phase III ALLEGRO study, demonstrating significant reduction in annualized relapse rate compared to placebo.

Just one day after filing a prospectus with the SEC for a registered underwritten public offering, Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. has priced the offering of 4 million shares of its common stock (NASDAQ:MNTA) at $14.35 per share. The proceeds, before expenses, to Momenta will be approximately $57.4 million.