Probiodrug AG has secured €15 million from venture capitalists and private investors to support its programme for glutaminyl cyclase inhibitors, the lead compound of which is set to move towards clinical proof of concept in Alzheimer’s disease.
The Swedish speciality pharmaceutical company, Pharmalink AB, has raised SEK35 million (€3.93 million) in a share placement with its existing investors including Sweden’s Industrifonden, to support the late-stage development of two products.
BioInvent International AB is to discover antibodies and provide research services to Les Laboratoires Servier under a licensing and collaboration deal announced on 4 January that has a potential value of €11 million as well as future royalties.
A new Swedish company, Galecto Biotech AB, has received venture funding to develop small-molecule modulators of the galectin family of proteins that could potentially treat fibrosis, inflammation and other diseases.
Apogenix GmbH of Germany has received €2.3 million from the German government to explore a new indication for its lead cancer product, APG101, which is a fusion protein. The new indication is myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).
Zealand Pharma A/S has received €3 million in milestone payments from the Helsinn Group of Switzerland following progress in the early-stage development of a new peptide drug for the treatment of diarrhoea induced by chemotherapy.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Prevnar 13, a pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine, for people 50 years and older to prevent pneumonia and invasive disease caused by the bacterium, Streptococcus pneumoniae.
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and colleagues have described how antigenic drift occurs on the influenza virus opening the possibility that more rational designs for influenza vaccines could be created in the future.
A novel study that will look at the relative efficacy of two marketed rheumatoid arthritis drugs has been initiated by UCB SA. The post-marketing study will compare UCB’s Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) with Abbott’s Humira (adalimumab).
The European Medicines Agency has announced the start of a safety review of aliskiren-containing medicines following a decision by Novartis, the developer, to stop a Phase 3 study of the drug in a new indication.