Actelion Ltd, the Swiss specialist pharmaceutical company, reported a 26.1% increase to CHF 405.6 million in net revenues for the first quarter as a result of continuing strong sales of Tracleer (bosentan), a treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Tracleer sales rose by 22.5% to CHF 352.2 million and accounted for about 87% of first quarter revenue.
Renovo Group Plc’s lead product for wound-healing, avotermin, has been highlighted by an editorialist in The Lancet as having possible further applications for a range of fibrotic disorders. The drug recently entered a Phase 3 trial for use in scar revision surgery.
Galápagos NV has signed a new multi-year research deal with Merck & Co to discover small molecule candidate drugs with potential for treating inflammatory diseases. The deal is the company’s second alliance with Merck this year.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Pfizer Inc have announced plans to put their assets in the area of HIV medicine into a new company that will concentrate on research and development in this disease area
After refocusing its business on the therapeutic areas of oncology and immunology, MediGene now expects to conclude a development and marketing partnership in 2009 for its product for pancreatic cancer, EndoTAG-1.
Silence Therapeutics Plc has applied to the German regulator to bring its short-interfering RNA molecule (siRNA) for solid tumours into a first-in-man study. If approved, it would be the company’s first internal candidate in the clinic.
Pfizer Inc plans to reorganise its research business once its takeover of Wyeth is complete. Research into new small-molecule drugs will be carried out in one unit and research into biologics and vaccines in another, the company announced.
Wilex AG said its recent strategic alliance with UCB Pharma SA has expanded its oncology portfolio and strengthened its financial position. The deal was completed in the first quarter of 2009.
Ark Therapeutics Group Plc has issued the first update of the results of a Phase 3 trial of its gene therapy, Cerepro. The product is currently under review at the European Medicines Agency for the treatment of operable malignant glioma.
The French regulator, Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Produits de Santé (Afssaps), has become the fourth European authority to approve the sale of a muscle relaxant developed for aesthetic use. The product is manufactured by Ipsen SA.