Adaptimmune Therapeutics Plc has returned to Nasdaq to raise new capital with an underwritten public offering of 24 million American depositary shares (ADSs) at a price of $4 per ADS. The issue raised a net $89.8 million after underwriters exercised their option to purchase additional shares. The company will use the proceeds to advance the development of its portfolio of immunotherapies for cancer which it is doing independently and through partnerships.
Netherlands-based Azafaros BV has raised €25 million in a Series A financing round to advance compounds for rare metabolic disorders. The round was led by Forbion Capital Partners, with Participation from BioMedPartners and founding investor BioGeneration Ventures. Azafaros was created in 2018 on the basis of discoveries by scientists at Leiden University and Amsterdam University Medical Center.
The European Medicines Agency has won a case in the Court of Justice of the European Union upholding its right to publicly disclose information from a pharmaceutical company’s application for marketing, once that product has been approved. The case concerns a decision by the EMA to grant a third party access to a regulatory dossier of PTC Therapeutics International Ltd in 2015 for a product for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc is to contribute adjuvant to an international project to create a vaccine against infections from the coronavirus which originated in China and is rapidly spreading elsewhere. The World Health Organization has declared the spread of the virus to be a public health emergency. GSK will be working with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a group set up in 2017 to develop vaccines to stop future epidemics.
Sales of non-insulin treatments for diabetes helped sustain growth at Novo Nordisk A/S where turnover for 2019 amounted to DKK 122 billion (€16.3 billion), up by 9% on a reported basis from a year earlier and by 6% in constant exchange rates. Operating profit advanced by 11% to DKK 52.3 billion giving an operating margin of 43%.
Sales, distribution and administration costs increased during the year however spending on research and development declined partly due to a reversal of write-downs of inventory prior to the launch of the oral semaglutide drug Rybelsus.
GlaxoSmithKline plc plans to complete its previously announced restructuring – separating into a dedicated biopharma company and a new publicly-listed consumer healthcare business – over the next two years. The new biopharma business will focus on science related to the immune system, taking advantage of the company’s existing expertise in vaccines and immuno-oncology.
An antisense oligonucleotide directed against a non-coding microRNA in cardiac tissue has shown an ability to reverse heart failure in preclinical studies involving a variety of animal models including a clinically relevant pig model of heart failure. The results of the study were reported in Nature Communications on 31 January 2020. The lead author is Ariana Foinquinos of Hannover Medical School in Germany.
Roche finished 2019 with increases in both sales and operating profit despite competition from biosimilar versions of two of its core products. Group sales were CHF 61.5 billion ($63.8 billion), up by 8% even as the cancer drugs Herceptin and Rituxan retreated following the loss of exclusivity. Roche reported an operating profit of CHF 17.5 billion on the basis of International Financial Reporting Standards, up by 19%. Net income was CHF 14 billion, up by 30%.
Sandoz, the generics division of Novartis, has completed the acquisition of the Japanese business of Aspen Global Inc, expanding its presence in Japan, the third largest market for generics in the world. Aspen’s portfolio consists of about 20 products with a focus on ana+esthetics and specialty medicines. The acquisition gives Sandoz a dedicated sales, marketing and medical organisation enabling it to deal directly with hospitals.
Sandoz is paying €300 million upfront for the assets and €100 million after the closing of the deal.
Novartis continued to focus on proprietary drug development in 2019 while giving its Sandoz generics unit more autonomy within the company. Acquisitions and divestments continued to shape the business. During the year, Novartis spun out its Alcon eye division with its portfolio of ophthalmic surgical products, and spent $3.4 billion upfront to acquire a treatment for dry eye disease from Takeda Pharmaceutical Col Ltd. It also agreed to pay $9.7 billion to acquire The Medicines Company and its late stage product inclisiran for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.