Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Work underway at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital seeks to harnesses the body's own immune cells known as natural killer, or NK, cells to help children battle cancer. NK cells are the immune system's warriors. The cells circulate widely in the body, armed with proteins, called enzymes, capable of delivering a deadly one-two punch to viruses and cancer cells.

Hana Biosciences, a biopharmaceutical company focused on strengthening the foundation of cancer care, today announced that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the use of menadione to prevent and treat skin rash in patients taking biologic and small molecule epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors, such as Erbitux® and Tarceva®, for anti-cancer therapy.

Hana Biosciences Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on strengthening the foundation of cancer care, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009, and provided a corporate update.

Despite cancer survival rates increasing dramatically for children and older adults in the last 20 years, there has been minimal improvement in the survival rates in the Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) population, an age range defined as 15 – 29 years by the presenters.

Bio-Path Holdings, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company with drug development operations in Houston, Texas, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has allowed an IND (Investigational New Drug) for the Company’s lead cancer drug candidate liposomal Grb-2 to proceed into clinical trials.

Currently, no definitive standard of care exists for adolescent and young adults (AYA) with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Recent research suggests that AYAs treated with pediatric treatment protocols have better outcomes than those treated with adult treatment protocols.

Micromet, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of next-generation antibodies for the treatment of cancer, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2009. The Company also highlighted recent pipeline progress and outlined expected 2010 milestones.

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that its investigational pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor, AP24534, has been granted orphan drug designation by both the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). In the U.S., the orphan designation of AP24534 is for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL) and in the E.U., its orphan designation is for CML and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Oxford Finance Corporation today announced that it is the agent and primary lender for a $25 million credit facility provided to EUSA Pharma. MidCap Financial and Silicon Valley Bank are co-lenders in the transaction.