Paion AG more than doubled its revenue in 2010 as a result of milestone payments from three partners relating to progress in the development of desmoteplase for stroke; remimazolam for sedation and glial growth factor 2 (GGF2) for heart failure.
Evotec AG reported both operating and net profits for 2010, the first time in the company’s 18-year history, as it started to reap the rewards of a strategic shift towards drug discovery alliances with other companies instead of solo development.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc said it is withdrawing its regulatory applications for dutasteride (Avodart) which was being investigated to reduce the risk of prostate cancer in men at an increased risk of the disease.
Sanofi-Aventis SA has fixed the terms of its offering of $7 billion of US dollar-denominated notes which will finance its acquisition of Genzyme Corp. The French multinational is acquiring the US company for about $20.1 billion.
Merck & Co Inc and Sanofi-Aventis SA have abruptly ended their agreement to create a joint animal health venture citing difficulties in getting approval from antitrust authorities in different jurisdictions in the world.
Novartis has announced the acquisition of 85% of a privately-held vaccine company in China, Zhejiang Tianyuan Bio-Pharmaceutical Co Ltd. Financial details were not disclosed. The company has an R&D and manufacturing site near Shanghai.
The Roche group said that its investigational hedgehog pathway inhibitor, vismodegib, which is being developed to treat advanced basal cell carcinoma, met its primary endpoint of overall response in a pivotal Phase 2 clinical study.
Novartis said that its Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor, ruxolitinib, has met its primary endpoint of significantly reducing spleen size in patients with myelofibrosis, a blood cancer characterised by bone marrow failure, in a second Phase 3 trial.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc said top-line results from the second of three Phase 3 trials of an investigational drug designed to improve the symptoms of patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease had shown an improvement in symptoms versus the control.
Chroma Therapeutics Ltd is set to receive $5 million upfront from Cell Therapeutics Inc of Seattle, Washington has part of a co-development and licensing agreement for the candidate cancer drug, tosedostat. The drug is being tested in AML.