Company News

Two Russian oligarchs are making a second bid to buy the Danish antibody developer, Affitech A/S, after their first bid failed to give them the 90% ownership required to take the company private.

Venture-capital backed ArGEN-X BV of the Netherlands has entered into an antibody discovery and development agreement with Shire Plc that will use its technology to isolate and characterise antibodies against targets related to rare, genetic diseases.

Wilex AG produced substantial partnering income in 2011 from its lead drug candidate which has led to an improved outlook for 2012.

Angiochem Inc of Canada has secured a new global collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline Plc to develop a new enzyme replacement therapy for a lysosomal storage disease. The deal features an upfront payment of up to $31.5 million.

Ablynx NV suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in 2011 as it achieved clinical proof of concept for the first time for one of its platform products, only to find subsequently that the programme was being returned to it by its partner, Pfizer Inc. The US company cited a change in its strategic priorities.

Addex Pharmaceuticals Ltd expects to report top-line data at the end of March for its lead allosteric modulator that is being developed to treat patients with Parkinson’s disease who experience dyskinesia induced by levodopa. The drug is in Phase 2a.

Novartis has agreed to pay privately-owned Enanta Pharmaceuticals Inc $34 million upfront, plus potential milestones of $406 million, for exclusive rights to a compound to treat hepatitis C. The compound is poised to enter clinical development.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC has decided to exercise an option giving it the right to exclusively license from Galápagos NV two compounds against immuno-inflammatory diseases. The compounds are part of an alliance dating from 2006.

Algeta ASA of Norway has successfully raised more than $45 million in a private share placement which will support the registration and commercialisation of its lead product, Alpharadin, for the treatment of cancer patients with bone metastases.

A meningococcal vaccine and a new treatment for non-Hodgkin’s B-cell lymphoma were among four new medicines to receive positive opinions from the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use on 17 February.