Genzyme begins phase 3 trials of Campath for MS

Genzyme Corp. of Cambridge and German partner Bayer Schering Pharma AG said they have begun phase 3 trials of their cancer drug Campath to treat multiple sclerosis. The companies said they plan on reporting phase 2 results Oct. 14. After phase 3, they hope to seek US regulatory approval in 2011 to market the drug, also known as alemtuzumab, to treat MS. Campath has already been approved in the United States as a treatment for a type of leukemia. Genzyme voluntarily suspended testing of the drug in 2005, after one patient died from bleeding in the brain. (Todd Wallack)

Interleukin Genetics Inc.'s chief financial officer, Thomas E. Gerson resigned last week for "personal reasons" after just two weeks on the job, the company said. Gerson is the latest in a string of executives to leave the struggling Waltham biotech company, which is developing a series of genetic tests. The company's controller, John M. McCabe resigned effective Aug. 30. Chief medical officer, Dr. Ramon W. Mohanlal, left on Aug. 17, and in July, chief executive Timothy J. Richerson and chief strategy officer David A. Finkelstein resigned. The company's stock has fallen 80 percent this year as its losses have increased. (Todd Wallack)

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc., the Cambridge company developing drugs from gene-blocking molecules, said a study in animals may ease concern about the safety of the experimental drugs derived from Nobel-prize winning science. The study, published in the journal Nature and performed by scientists at Alnylam and three research institutes, showed the company's gene-blockers work without disrupting a critical cell-regulation system. The findings are part of efforts at Alnylam and other research groups to pit genetic technology called RNA interference against intractable diseases. (Bloomberg)

Parexel International Corp., a Waltham biopharmaceutical services company, said it completed the acquisition of Taiwan-based Apex International Clinical Research Co. for about $50.9 million. Under terms of the tender offer, Parexel paid about $2.51 for each Apex share of common stock. The name of the new entity is Parexel Apex International. (AP)

Yale's endowment earned a 28 percent return in the fiscal year ended June 30, bringing its value to $22.5 billion, the university's investments office said. The endowment's value at the end of the prior fiscal year, in which it earned a 22.9 percent return, was $18 billion. Projected spending from the endowment in the university's 2007-08 fiscal year is $843 million, or 37 percent of net revenue. (AP)

For the second straight day, Vonage Holdings Corp. was hit with bad legal news when a federal Appeals Court upheld a jury verdict and injunction against it. Vonage shares fell 26.2 percent to 96 cents, their lowest since the company went public in May 2006. In March, a Virginia jury had awarded Verizon Communications Corp. $58 million in damages plus 5.5 percent royalties on future revenue after finding Vonage violated three Verizon patents in building its Internet phone system. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which hears patent cases from around the country, partially upheld the March verdict, directing the trial court to reconsider the verdict on one of the three patents. It also vacated the damages and royalty awards. On Tuesday, Vonage was ordered to pay Sprint Nextel $69.5 million after a jury found Vonage willfully infringed six Sprint telecommunications patents. (AP)

SLM Corp., more commonly known as Sallie Mae, said an investment group planning to buy the student lender for $25 billion is backing out of the deal. Private equity firm J.C. Flowers, Bank of America Corp., and JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed this year to the purchase, but said potential federal legislation further regulating the student lending industry could kill the acquisition. Sallie Mae said the group has no contractual ability to back out of the deal and said it will pursue any methods to get it completed. (AP)

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