Despite revenue and profit declines in the 2010 third quarter, AstraZeneca Plc has confirmed that core earnings per share for the year as a whole should show an increase from 2009. Restructuring and legal costs depressed the Q3 results.
The UK drug-device company, Biocompatibles International Plc, is in advanced talks with another party which may or may not lead to an offer being made for the company. The talks were disclosed on 28 October to the London Stock Exchange.
Index Ventures, the Geneva-based venture capital company, is providing the initial funding of €1.5 million for a company that has been set up to exploit a new technology for treating serious brain diseases.
Elan Plc said that it has developed an assay that appears to identify those multiple sclerosis patients on Tysabri (natalizumab) who are at risk of developing the rare brain disease, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).
Genmab A/S has announced further plans to reduce its headcount and generate savings for the ongoing development of its therapeutic antibody programmes. This follows the launch of a new strategy in September under new management.
H. Lundbeck A/S has signalled its confidence in the experimental stroke treatment, desmoteplase, by increasing the size of two ongoing Phase 3 trials of the drug and committing money to the development of possible second-generation compounds.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Herceptin (trastuzumab) in combination with chemotherapy for HER2-positive metastatic stomach and gastroesophageal junction cancers, the drug’s manufacturer, Roche, announced.
Cerenis Therapeutics SA has raised an additional €10 million in the second closing of a Series C round to support its portfolio of therapies to treat cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. This brings total funds raised in the C round to €50 million.
New safety information has been added to the label for the HIV therapy, Invirase (saquinavir), describing potentially life-threatening side effects on the heart when used with Novir (ritonavir), the US Food and Drug Administration announced.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc reported a sales decline of 2% in the third quarter of 2010 to £6.8 billion. However, excluding events such as the suspension of Avandia (rosiglitazone) in Europe and restrictions in the US, sales rose by an underlying 6%.