Company News

Ablynx NV, a developer of antibody fragments originating in llamas, reported a 57% increase in revenue to €77.5 million for 2015 but its operating loss was 5% higher at €17 million

Privately-owned Akarna Therapeutics Ltd has raised $15 million in a Series B financing round to advance a preclinical drug for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a fatty-liver disease that is associated with both diabetes and obesity.

Sweden-based Redwood Pharma AB has raised SEK 6.6 million (€710,000) in a private equity placement to fund the development of a new hydrogel product for chronic dry eye disease in post-menopausal women.

UK-based Oxford BioMedica Plc is raising £8.1 million with a fully underwritten share placement to finance the expansion of its lentiviral vector manufacturing capacity and advance the clinical development of its gene therapy portfolio.

A new once daily formulation of the HIV-1 medicine Isentress (raltegravir) has shown statistical non-inferiority to the marketed version of the same drug, paving the way for possible registration in both the US and Europe, according to Merck & Co. Inc.

Romosozumab, a monoclonal antibody that targets the protein sclerostin, has reduced the incidence of new spinal fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, according to results from a new Phase 3 study. The data were reported by UCB SA and Amgen Inc on 22 February.

Briviact (brivaracetam), a new medicine for patients with epilepsy, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. The drug was developed by UCB SA of Belgium.

Ipsen SA, the French specialty pharmaceutical company, is separating the function of chief executive from that of chairman. Until now, both positions were held by Marc de Garidel.

Shield Therapeutics Plc has raised £32.5 million in an initial public offering of shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in the wake of a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency for its drug for iron deficiency anaemia.

Shire Plc, the acquisition-oriented specialty pharma company, reported a 6.6% rise in revenue to $6.4 billion for 2015 and a 16.4% decline in operating profit to $1.4 billion using US GAAP. On a non-GAAP basis it reported an 11% rise in both revenue and operating income.