In a further streamlining move, UCB SA of Belgium said it has agreed to sell some 50 of its businesses and affiliates in the Far East, Middle East, Latin America and Africa to GlaxoSmithKline PLC of Britain for €515 million in cash.
Novozymes A/S, the Danish enzyme company, said its 2008 sales rose 10% from a year earlier to DKK 8.15 billion and it forecast growth of 8-13% in 2009.
Following the appointment of Per-Oluf Olsen as chief executive officer in November 2008, Pronova BioPharma of Norway has reduced the size of its top management team.
Pfizer Inc has announced plans to cut its global research staff by 5% to 8% following an earlier decision to refocus its research on six therapeutic areas. The staff reductions are expected to be carried out over the next several months, the company said in a statement issued on 14 January, 2009.
Elan Corporation Plc said that it has hired Citigroup Global Markets Inc to help it review its strategic options, including a possible alliance, merger or a sale. The review follows a decline in the company’s share price since July 2008 amid concerns about adverse events related to its multiple sclerosis drug, Tysabri (natalizumab).
Apitope Technology of Bristol UK has entered into a licensing agreement with Merck Serono that gives the Geneva-based company exclusive global rights to develop and commercialise Apitope’s candidate product for multiple sclerosis, a therapeutic peptide vaccine.
Galapagos NV of Belgium has entered into a multi-year global alliance with Merck & Co. Inc valued at more than €170 million to develop new therapies in obesity and diabetes. The deal was announced on 9 January 2009.
Pfizer has decided to exercise its options under a previously-announced research and licensing agreement with Cytos Biotechnology AG of Switzerland, giving it exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialise a group of novel vaccines. The decision has triggered an undisclosed payment to Cytos. The total value of the agreement, including milestones and technology transfer fees, is estimated at CHF 150 million.
Arpida AG has announced plans to reduce its workforce by three-quarters and stop two clinical-stage drug programmes following an unexpected negative opinion on its candidate antibiotic for skin infections by an advisory committee of the US Food and Drug Administration. The restructuring measures were announced on 16 December 2008.
Antisoma Plc said that a randomised Phase 2 trial of its small-molecule drug, ASA404, in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has shown that patients in the treatment group had a median survival of 14 months.