A consortium led by Jeito Capital of France has raised €132 million in new funds for Azafaros BV of the Netherlands enabling it to advance an experimental compound for rare metabolic disorders into Phase 3. Co-leading the Series B round was Forbion, whose operating partner Carlo Incerti is chair of the company’s board of directors. Joining the board as a new member will be Audrey Cacaly, a principal at Forbion Growth, which is a fund supporting late-stage assets.
TILT Biotherapeutics Ltd has raised €22.6 million from the European Innovation Council and other investors to bring its oncolytic virus therapy for patients with ovarian cancer into Phase 2. The funding will also support earlier studies for the product, TILT-123, in other indications. TILT-123 is an oncolytic adenovirus encoding tumour necrosis factor alpha and interleukin 2. It is designed to work alongside T cell therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors to target and kill cancer cells.
Galapagos NV is to revisit its plan to separate into two companies by creating a spin-out focused on innovation, and leaving the parent company to develop cell therapies. The revaluation of the company’s strategy was announced on 13 May together with the appointment of a new chief executive officer who will succeed Paul Stoffels, a former Johnson & Johnson Inc manager who has led Galapagos since 1 April 2022. The new CEO is Henry Gosebruch, most recently head of Neumora Therapeutics Inc, a US-based neuroscience drug developer.
A new nonsteroidal treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) has been recommended in Europe for a conditional marketing authorisation to treat patients from the age of six. The drug, Duvyzat (givinostat), was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2024. It was given a positive opinion by the European Medicines Agency on 25 April. Duvyzat is an oral suspension to be taken at the same time as corticosteroid, the current standard of care. The EMA is recommending the drug for patients who can still walk.
Novartis achieved a double digit increase in operating profit during the first quarter as sales rose strongly and expenses declined. Even taking upcoming generic competition for three products later in the year, the company is forecasting a high single-digit rise in sales for 2025 and a low double-digit increase in core operating profit. The core operating profit excludes the amortisation and impairment of intangible assets.
Novartis is to pay up to $1.7 billion to buy Regulus Therapeutics Inc of San Diego, US, in a deal that will strengthen its portfolio of treatments for kidney disease. The deal also puts a spotlight on microRNA, a drug target that affects gene expression without coding for a protein. Regulus has an early clinical stage product for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, a serious genetic disorder that can lead to end-stage renal disease. The product, farabursen, is an oligonucleotide designed to inhibit a microRNA known as miR-17.
GSK Plc expects that turnover will increase by 3 to 5% at constant exchange rates this year, in line with the group’s performance in the first quarter. A more robust increase of 6 to 8% is expected for core operating profit following measures by the company to improve efficiency. The core operating figure excludes the amortisation and impairement of intangible assets.
AstraZeneca Plc expects revenue for the year to increase by a high single-digit percentage following a first quarter in which the figure reached $13.588 billion. This represented an increase of 7% on a reported basis, and 10% at constant exchange rates from the previous year. Core earnings per share are expected to rise by a low double-digit percentage, after increasing by 21% in the first three months. The core measure excludes amortisation and impairment charges for intangible assets.
Blenrep (belantamab mafodotine), an antibody-drug conjugate given speedy approvals in both the US and the EU in 2020, and later withdrawn for insufficient efficacy, has won approval for a new market entry in the UK on the basis of two combination studies. The drug was developed by GSK Plc to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, the third most common blood cancer globally.
The Alzheimer’s disease drug, Leqembi (lecanemab), has been approved by the European Commission following extra reviews of the product’s safety. The decision was announced on 16 April by the product’s co-developer BioArctic AB which will make the drug available to adults with a clinical diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. The patient group is specifically identified as people who have only one, or no copy, of the ApoE4 gene, a risk factor for the disease.