GlaxoSmithKline Plc reported higher revenue across its three main businesses in the third quarter, including a rise in sales for new respiratory products. This more than offset declines for Advair, the company’s off-patent asthma medicine.
Evotec AG, which operates a global drug discovery business, is proposing to acquire Cyprotex Plc, a London-listed contract research organisation, which has developed a service for measuring the performance of drugs under development called ADME-Tox.
Roche Holding AG said that its sales rose 4.0% in the first nine months to CHF 37.5 billion (€34.59 billion), measured at constant exchange rates, compared with a 6% gain in the previous nine month period.
A new medicine that is expected to protect against a rare liver disease known as primary biliary cholangitis, has been recommended for approval in the European Union following a Phase 3 study in which the treatment showed a clear benefit over placebo.
The Helsinn Group has joined the growing number of pharmaceutical companies that have decided to support early stage life science with a dedicated investment fund – the Helsinn Investment Fund SA.
UK-based Crescendo Biologics Ltd has secured its first commercial deal since its founding in 2007 with the signing of a collaboration and license option agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. The deal concerns several preclinical drug candidates that have been derived from the VH antibody domains of transgenic mice.
Patients with head and neck cancer who were treated with nivolumab experienced a better quality of life than those treated with chemotherapy, according to an outcomes study released on 9 October at the European Society for Medical Oncology congress in Copenhagen.
France-based Innate Pharma SA said data from a Phase 1 study of its antibody lirilumab administered with nivolumab to patients with refractory solid tumours, showed a similar safety profile to that of nivolumab alone. The data were presented on 9 October at ESMO.
Sanofi SA has received a second multi-million dollar contract from the US government’s biomedical advanced research and development authority (BARDA) for research into new medicinal products – this time for a product to treat acute radiation syndrome in the event of a public health emergency.
Newron Pharmaceuticals SpA, an Italian biotech with a Zurich listing, has raised CHF 26.1 million (€23.8 million) with a private equity placement, which will help cover marketing and research and development costs through 2018.