Company News

Faron to raise up to £10 million

Country
Finland

Finland-based Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy is proposing to raise up to £10 million, before expenses, in a private share placement to support the late-stage development and commercialisation of its product for acute respiratory distress syndrome Traumakine.

BTG acquires Roxwood Medical

Country
United Kingdom

The British specialty pharma company BTG Plc has broadened its portfolio of treatments for hospital procedures with the acquisition of Roxwood Medical Inc of Redwood City, California. The deal is valued at up to $80 million.

Ablynx files for IPO on Nasdaq

Country
Belgium

Ablynx NV has filed registration documents with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to raise up to $150 million in an initial public offering of its shares on Nasdaq. Based in Ghent, Belgium, Ablynx went public on Euronext in Brussels in 2007.

Novartis in alliance to target the proteome

Country
United States

Novartis has announced a new academic alliance to explore the proteome as a source of new drug leads for cancer and other serious diseases. The collaboration is with the University of California Berkeley, US.

Evotec invests in Exscientia

Country
Germany

Evotec AG has made a €15 million equity investment in Exscientia Ltd which is developing artificial intelligence technologies to aid drug discovery. The German company already has a research collaboration with Exscientia dating from 2016.

Autolus raises $80 million in C financing

Country
United Kingdom

UK-based Autolus Ltd has secured $80 million in Series C capital from new and existing investors to advance the development of its engineered T cell therapies for cancer. The new investors include US-based Cormorant Asset Management and Nextech Invest of Switzerland.

Gates partners with Immunocore

Country
United Kingdom

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is to invest up to $40 million in Immunocore Ltd to support the development of the company’s T cell receptor technology (TCR) for infectious disease. The UK company already has partnerships exploring TCRs against cancer.

New guselkumab data in plaque psoriasis

Country
United States

New longer-term data from a Phase 3 trial of the drug guselkumab for plaque psoriasis has shown that patients achieved consistent rates of skin clearance following treatment at both 52 and 100 weeks, according to the developer Janssen Research & Development LLC.

EMA recommends two new cancer drugs

Country
United Kingdom

The European Medicines Agency has recommended two new cancer drugs for approval in Europe, each with an entirely different mechanisms of action. The first is a PARP inhibitor for ovarian cancer and the second, a photodynamic therapy for prostate cancer.

Genenta raises €7 million in Series B round

Country
Italy

The Italian gene therapy company, Genenta Science srl, has raised €7 million in a Series B financing round to support development of a second tumor indication for its technology platform in addition to multiple myeloma. The funding was announced on 13 September.