Two years after being acquired by AstraZeneca, the company remains relatively autonomous in rare disease, but with “bridges” to its big pharma parent.

Rona hopes technology acquired from Sanofi will enhance its RNA capabilities in liver and non-liver indications. NeuroFront gets Greater China and Singapore rights to Novaremed’s neuropathic pain drug.

While many of his peers elbowed each other to leap into oncology, James Xue decided to focus on rare diseases such as Hunter’s Syndrome. Now, 10 years after founding CANbridge, the CEO sat down for an audio interview with Scrip to offer his views on a flurry of key issues impacting orphan drug development in potentially the world's largest pharma market.

Positing substance addiction as a memory disease, Addiction Therapies Inc. seeks to address both its chemical and behavioral components. Initially targeting nicotine, alcohol and cocaine addiction, ATI will combine novel therapeutics drugs with proprietary dosing strategies in a platform designed to actively engage addicts in their own recovery.