Vernalis Plc has conditionally raised £40 million with a share placement that will enable it to get a series of cough-cold drugs onto the US market and advance its plans to become a sustainably profitable specialty pharmaceutical company in the future.
Sanofi SA said it would solicit Medivation Inc’s shareholders directly after the US biotech’s board of directors unanimously rejected the French company’s unsolicited takeover bid of $52.50 per share as substantially undervaluing the company.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc has increased its exposure to bi-specific antibodies through the signing of a second research collaboration with Zymeworks Inc of Canada under which it will have an option to develop and commercialise multiple drugs across different therapeutic areas.
Sanofi SA has disclosed that it is making a $9.3 billion, non-binding bid for Medivation Inc of California, US which has at least two cancer products in mid-to-late stage development and a product for prostate cancer that it is marketing jointly with Astellas Pharma Inc of Japan.
The discovery of an antibody targeting a protein on regulatory T cells with a potentially stronger side-effect profile than existing immuno-oncology compounds, has led to a multi-million dollar collaboration between Netherlands-based Argenx NV and AbbVie Inc.
Enterome Biosciences SA of France has raised €14.5 million in a Series C equity financing from existing investors plus Nestlé Health Science SA to help bring its lead product into the clinic. The compound is a small molecule in-licensed from Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.
GeNeuro SA of Geneva, Switzerland has made an initial public offering of €33 million on the Euronext stock exchange in Paris. Part of the proceeds will be used to finance a Phase 2b proof-of-concept trial of an antibody for multiple sclerosis (MS).
A neuro-stimulation device developed by G-Therapeutics BV of the Netherlands has received €26 million in Series A equity finance to fund a clinical trial in patients with spinal cord injuries ahead of a regulatory submission.
In another strategy directed at immuno-oncology, Kymab Ltd has teamed up with Heptares to discover potential antibody therapeutics that target G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) with a view to strengthening the ability of the immune system to fight cancer. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Netherlands-based Forbion Capital Partners has closed its third life science fund at €183 million, enabling it to step up its investment into companies developing new drugs and medical technologies primarily located in Europe.