Valneva, a company created from the merger of Intercell AG of Austria and Vivalis SA of France, has raised €40 million in a share placement in order to support future vaccine and antibody product development. The offer was oversubscribed.
A project to develop biomarker-guided personalised vaccines for patients with glioblastoma has received €6 million in European Union funding under the Framework 7 programme. Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH is the coordinator.
For several years now scientists have been using computer science and advanced chemistry to produce experimental protein therapeutics that they say incorporate the best features of the small molecule drug and the antibody therapeutic. Bicycle Therapeutics Ltd of the UK is an example of this approach with its technology for structurally modified peptides.
AstraZeneca Plc will invest up to $100 million over five years in its previously-announced collaboration the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden to create a new centre for research into cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
Privately-held Immunocore Ltd of the UK has secured a licencing deal with Genentech (Roche) to discover and develop therapies against multiple of cancer targets. The deal is potentially valued at more than $320 million.
The European Medicines Agency’s main scientific committee, the CHMP, is recommending approval of the cellular immunotherapy for prostate cancer, Provenge (sipuleucel-T). Provenge was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2010.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the first recombinant coagulation Factor IX product for the prophylaxis of bleeding in people with haemophilia B. The manufacturer is Baxter Healthcare Corporation.
Prosensa Holding BV, a Dutch company that is developing antisense technology for therapies to treat rare diseases, has priced its previously-announced US initial public offering of shares at $13 per share. The offering comprises 6 million ordinary shares, giving a gross value of $78 million.
MorphoSys AG has secured its second antibody licencing agreement in less than a month – this time with Celgene Corp for the development of a new therapeutic for multiple myeloma. The deal is valued at up to $818 million before royalties.
Drisapersen, a candidate molecule for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), has received ‘breakthrough therapy’ status from the US Food and Drug Administration, according to GlaxoSmithKline Plc. Drisapersen is an antisense oligonucleotide.