Shire Plc has announced a reorganisation of its marketing and research activities following the recent appointment of a new chief executive, Flemming Ornskov. Dr Ornskov joined Shire at the start of the year and officially became chief executive in April.
Symphogen A/S of Denmark has raised an additional €41 million from private investors towards the development of its portfolio of compounds in oncology which are antibody mixture products addressing multiple targets in a single product.
Sanofi continued to suffer from generic competition as sales declined 5.3% to €8.1 billion in the first quarter and operating income plunged by 33.5% to €1.5 billion. Business net income, a non-GAAP financial measure, fell by 33.5% to €1.61 billion.
Novo Nordisk reported a 13% rise in sales in the first quarter of 2013 to DKK 20 billion (€2.7 billion) and an 18% increase in operating profit to DKK 7.6 billion as a result of continuing strong sales of diabetes products in the US.
Oxford BioMedica Plc has signed a contract with Novartis to supply the Swiss company with lentiviral vector material for clinical trials involving a new immunotherapy. The contract is valued at up to £4 million.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug from CSL Behring in Germany to reverse anticoagulation in adults with acute major bleeding. To date, plasma has been the only other approved treatment in the US for this condition.
In another example of Big Pharma collaboration in the area of diabetes, Merck & Co Inc has announced plans to collaborate with Pfizer in the development and commercialisation of ertugliflozin, a Phase 3-ready diabetes drug in the SGLT2 class.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc has ended a collaboration with Impax Pharmaceuticals on a late-stage Parkinson’s disease drug, citing delays in the drug’s anticipated regulatory review and launch dates in countries where GSK has commercialisation rights.
The European Medicines Agency is recommending approval of a new advanced therapy medicinal product which is intended for the repair of cartilage defects. The product had been available in some EU countries, but now it will be widely traded.
MorphoSys AG has initiated a Phase 2 study of its proprietary antibody, MOR208, for patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. The antibody is one of three in the clinic from the company’s internal portfolio. The study is taking place in the US.