NicOx SA has decided not to exercise an option to fully acquire the specialist UK ophthalmic company, Altacor Ltd, but it will retain the 11.8% shareholding that it purchased in March. The decision was taken by the NicOx board on 31 May.
4SC AG said that its cancer therapy, resminostat, in combination with sorafenib, achieved a progression-free survival of 4.7 months after 12 weeks in patients with advanced liver cancer. Data will be presented at ASCO on 4 June.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company is mobilising researchers at 10 different institutes in the US and Europe to investigate the role of immunotherapies in treating cancer. The project has been launched under the name ‘immuno-oncology network’.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc has announced the start of two Phase 3 studies that will evaluate the effectiveness of a new combination therapy for the treatment of patients with BRAF-positive metastatic cutaneous melanoma. The studies will also look at safety.
H. Lundbeck A/S said that its experimental treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, Lu AE58054, met its primary endpoint in a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study of 278 patients with moderate disease already being treated with donepezil. Full data will be disclosed at upcoming medical meetings.
Ensemble Therapeutics Corporation and Genentech (Roche) have entered into a collaboration to discover new drug candidates using the US company’s macrocyclic technology platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
In line with an expansion of its US business, H. Lundbeck A/S is making its shares available in the US in the form of dollar-denominated American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). Deutsche Bank is acting as the depositary bank for the ADR programme.
A Phase 3 trial of Nexavar (sorafenib) in patients with advanced, relapsed non-small cell lung cancer has failed to meet its primary endpoint of improving overall survival, according to Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc.
BTG Plc has exceeded a forecast issued as recently as April and reported revenue of £197 million for the year ended 31 March, up by 77% a year earlier. Revenue was boosted by strong sales of the antibody- fragment treatments, CroFab and DigiFab.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc has told shareholders of Human Genome Sciences that its $13 per share cash offer represents “full and fair value” for the company. The tender will close on 7 June. The HGS board has recommended against the offer.