Bayer AG has appointed a professional from outside the company as its chief-executive-officer designate to replace Werner Wenning who is retiring. Marijn Dekkers, the new CEO, currently heads Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
Johnson & Johnson will pay less money for an equity stake in Elan Corporation Plc after a US court ruled that a proposed partnership between the two companies was in conflict with a separate collaboration between Elan and Biogen Idec.
Arpida Ltd and Evolva SA have announced plans to merge to create a larger, publicly-listed biotechnology company with a pipeline of drug candidates as well as revenue-generating discovery partnerships.
Elan Corporation Plc said that it will work quickly to resolve objections by a US court to its proposed strategic alliance with Johnson & Johnson that would recapitalise the company and give it the resources to commercialise its pipeline.
Shire Plc said that it has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to market its treatment for children and adolescents with attention-deficit, hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), strengthening its franchise in this area.
The Roche Group said its therapeutic antibody, MabThera ( rituximab), has been approved in Europe for the treatment of relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. The drug is already authorised for three other treatments.
Pharming Group NV said that it has submitted a new marketing authorisation application for its recombinant human C1 inhibitor, Rhucin, to the European Medicines Agency which addresses the agency’s concerns about the size of its database.
Affitech A/S has recruited two senior biopharmaceutical company executives from outside the company to lead its management team following the company’s merger in May 2009 with Pharmexa A/S.
The Food and Drug Administration has asked SkyePharma Plc to provide more clinical data for its asthma treatment, Flutiform, thereby extending its review of the Flutiform new drug application (NDA) into 2011, the UK company said.