Many Aurora kinase inhibitors have entered development, but while none have had a successful end, Lilly believes the specificity of AurKa's AK-01 will make it a safer drug. The asset fits well into Lilly's oncology strategy, which includes both targeted therapies and immuno-oncology drugs.

India’s Biocon has high expectations for its Herceptin biosimilar, but patient groups are vocal in their criticism of the drug’s price in comparison to Roche’s.

Derived from Strategic Transactions, Elsevier Business Intelligence’s premium source for tracking life sciences deal activity, the Dealmaking column is a survey of recent health care transactions listed by relevant industry segment –In Vitro Diagnostics, Pharmaceuticals, and Medical Devices – and then categorized by type –Acquisition, Alliance, or Financing.

It ought to be hard to convince an oncology-focused biotech to license its crown jewel to a firm without experience developing oncology drugs, but Serono SA was able to do just that-twice in the span of eight days-when it in-licensed Phase II and Phase III oncology programs, respectively, from Micromet AG and CancerVax Corp. in December.