Genmab A/S has raised DKK 998 million (€134 million) following the pricing of a previously-announced private share placement to support development of its therapeutic antibody portfolio. The company announced the results on 24 January.
IP Group Plc, which invests in intellectual property generated by universities primarily in the UK, has decided to raise new capital with a share issue. Funds from the issue will enable the company to expand its portfolio of life science investments.
Seventure Partners, an indirect subsidiary of the French financial conglomerate, Natixis SA, has launched a new fund called Health for Life Capital that will invest in companies focused on nutrition and the science relating to the human microbiome.
Roche has announced the failure of two studies in a large Phase 3 programme which is investigating the efficacy of bitopertin, a glycine reuptake inhibitor, in schizophrenia. The company said it will wait for data from the remaining studies before deciding its next steps.
Shire Plc is to divest Dermagraft, a bio-engineered skin substitute, as part of a strategic review set in motion by the company’s chief executive Flemming Ornskov. The Dermagraft assets are being sold to Organogenesis Inc in exchange for future milestone payments.
JLL/Delta Dutch Newco BV, a company set up to combine the assets of Canada’s Patheon Inc and the pharmaceutical division of Royal DSM of the Netherlands, is raising $500 million with a private placement of eight-year notes in New York.
Further data from a previously-reported Phase 1/2 study of ProSavin, a gene therapy for patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease, confirms the treatment’s favourable safety profile. Developed by Oxford BioMedica Plc, ProSavin is delivered in a lentiviral vector.
Sanofi SA is initiating a new approach to antibiotic development with a decision to team up with the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in Germany to research naturally occurring chemical and biological compounds for their potential as medicines.
Venture capital-backed 4-Antibody AG of Switzerland is to be acquired by Agenus Inc of the US in a deal intended to exploit the Swiss company’s technology for producing antibodies that target checkpoint molecules, key regulators of the immune system.
Alkermes Plc is raising $250 million from a placement of its shares with the Invesco Perpetual Income Fund and the Invesco Perpetual High Income Fund. The placement comes three months after the company’s product for depression received ‘fast-track’ designation from the FDA.