Company News

ISA Pharmaceuticals secures €8 million

Country
Netherlands

ISA Pharmaceuticals BV of the Netherlands has secured €8 million in funding from the Aglaia Oncology Fund and private investors to finance a Phase 2 study of its lead therapeutic vaccine candidate in cervical cancer. This a follow-on to an earlier Series A round.

Second Big Pharma deal for GlycoVaxyn

Country
Switzerland

The Swiss vaccine developer, GlycoVaxyn AG, has announced its second collaboration within a month with a member of the Big Pharma fraternity – this time with Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc (Johnson & Johnson). The latest deal follows a collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline Plc.

 

AZ in iPS cell deal with Cellular Dynamics

Country
United States

AstraZeneca Plc has entered into a research agreement with Cellular Dynamics International Inc to use the US company’s human induced pluripotent stem cell lines for drug discovery. This is the latest in a series of iPS cell initiatives to be announced since early November 2012.

Abbott spin-out starts trading in New York

Country
United States

AbbVie Inc, a new biopharmaceutical company spun out of Abbott Laboratories, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on 2 January, marking the completion of a restructuring of the US multinational. AbbVie holds Abbott’s major research assets including those in immunology.

Evotec and Apeiron to investigate cancer

Country
Germany

Evotec AG has announced a research collaboration with privately-held Apeiron Biologics AG of Vienna, Austria to develop immunomodulatory lead compounds for cancer. Financial terms were not disclosed. The collaboration follows the successful outcome of a high throughput screen.

FDA approves botanical drug to treat diarrhoea in HIV patients

Country
United States

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a botanical drug to relieve the symptoms of diarrhoea in HIV/AIDS patients taking antiretroviral therapy. The drug, Fulyzaq (crofelemer), is only the second botanical drug product to be approved by the agency.

FDA approves first drug for resistant TB

Country
United States

The US Food and Drug Administration has authorised the first drug to treat multi-drug resistant tuberculosis involving the lungs in an accelerated approval based on a surrogate endpoint. The drug, Sirturo (bedaquiline), was discovered and developed by Johnson & Johnson Inc.

Safety review starts for Merck cardiovascular drug

Country
United Kingdom

The European Medicines Agency has announced the start of a safety and efficacy review of Tredaptive (laropiprant and nicotinic acid), a licensed drug that recently completed a trial in combination with statin therapy for patients at risk of cardiovascular events.

Biotest’s immunoglobulin approved in US

Country
Germany

Biotest AG of Germany has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to market its immunoglobulin product, Bivigam, in the US. The approval had been held up pending the completion of additional tests.