Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc said that enrolment of patients into four studies of a new agent against Gram-negative bacteria, GSK052, has been stopped pending investigation of a microbiologial finding in a small number of patients.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc reported an underlying sales growth of 4% in 2011 and improved pharmaceutical productivity, as the effects of a multi-year restructuring programme and a new R&D strategy started to deliver results.
Innate Pharma SA reported revenue and other income of €11.7 million in 2011, reflecting the impact of its licensing agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company for rights to an anti-cancer monoclonal antibody in early clinical development.
Venture-capital backed Pieris AG has received a €1 million German government grant to support the development of a cancer compound that targets the c-Met signalling pathway. The funds will be used for biomarker discovery.
Cytos Biotechnology Ltd has received approval from a court in the canton of Zurich to restructure a convertible bond valued at about $44.8 million. This follows a move to cut its workforce last August from 82 to10 and to reduce the size of its executive.
Wilex AG is set to receive up to €2.6 million from the German government to support the preclinical and clinical development of a small molecule cancer compound that targets the P13K signalling pathway.
Novo Nordisk A/S expects revenue to grow by 7-11% this year even as some of its products face generic competition, and government healthcare reforms put downward pressure on prices. The company now claims a 24% share of the diabetes market.
Agennix AG of Germany has stopped further enrollment and treatment in a Phase 2/3 trial of talactoferrin, a genetically-engineered form of the human protein, lactoferrin, on safety grounds. The drug was being studied in sepsis.
Zealand Pharma A/S of Denmark said that revenue, plus other operating income, amounted to DKK 170.7 million (€23 million) in 2011, about double the DKK 88.2 million (€11.9 million) earned a year earlier. Income mainly came from alliances.
A Norwegian start-up company,Targovax AS, has raised NOK 13 million (€1.7 million) in a Series A financing round to support the clinical development of a therapeutic vaccine against pancreatic cancer. The candidate product is a peptide vaccine that targets mutations on ras genes.