Month: September 2013

ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Roche has struck an exclusive global licensing deal with Inovio Pharmaceuticals to develop vaccines to fight cancer and hepatitis B. Under Tuesday’s deal, Roche will pay $10 million up front, with development and commercial milestones of up to $412.5 million for exclusive access to Inovio’s DNA-based vaccines INO-5150 for prostate cancer and INO-1800 for hepatitis B. Inovio will also be entitled to up to double-digit tiered royalties on product sales. …

By Sophie Knight TOKYO (Reuters) – To stem the red ink on its loss-making camera division, Olympus Corp has decided to rely on a format that so far has been a flop outside of its home turf in Japan. The company on Tuesday released the "OM-D E-M1", a mirrorless model Olympus says is the first of its kind to compete on quality with traditional single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras. Olympus is now hoping the E-M1, priced for the pro market at 145,000 yen ($1,500) for the body alone, will help it boost mirrorless and SLR sales by 24 percent to 7. …

A Los Angeles woman who was photographed with a fake mustache during surgery is suing the hospital and her anesthesiologist, claiming the prank violated her dignity and endangered her health.