Company News

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a third tablet therapy to treat a respiratory allergy in less than a month – Ragwitek developed by ALK-Abelló A/S of Denmark and partnered with Merck & Co Inc.

A new paradigm for testing experimental medicines is being launched in the UK under the leadership of Cancer Research UK and with the participation of AstraZeneca Plc, Pfizer Inc and the National Health Service (NHS). The project involves testing up to 14 experimental medicines in patients with late-stage non-small cell lung cancer who have been ‘stratified’ according to the genetic characteristics of their disease.

Actelion Ltd of Switzerland continued to expand its franchise for treating pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in the first quarter with the introduction of a new PAH product in North America and parts of Europe.

OxThera AB, a privately-held Stockholm-based biotechnology company, has raised SEK 70 million (€7.5 million) to finance clinical development of Oxabact, a treatment for primary hyperoxaluria (PH), a genetic disorder that can lead to kidney failure.

BioAlliance Pharma SA of France has reached an agreement with Topotarget A/S of Denmark to merge, enabling the companies to jointly exploit their oncology portfolios. Shareholders of BioAlliance will hold about two-thirds of the merged company.

Wilson Therapeutics AB, a one-product company created by a Swedish venture capital company, has raised $40 million in a Series B round led by an international syndicate of venture funds.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the second tablet therapy to treat hay fever in less than a month – this time an immunotherapy developed by ALK-Abelló A/S of Denmark, in partnership with Merck & Co Inc.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Tanzeum (albiglutide), a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist from GlaxoSmithKline Plc for Type 2 diabetes. The approval comes with a requirement for post-marketing studies.

The Roche group expects that core earnings per share will grow faster than sales this year as management continues to drive efficiency across the company. In the first quarter group sales increased by 5% at constant exchange rates, but were down by 1% in Swiss francs.

AAVLife SA, a French start-up company that is using an adeno-associated virus vector to deliver a new gene therapy, has raised $12 million in a series A equity placement led by Versant Ventures Management LLC of Menlo Park, California.