Belgium-based Cardio3 BioSciences SA has raised €32 million through a private placement of its shares with investors in the US and Europe. The funds will support its cell therapy for the treatment of heart failure as well as recently acquired chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) technology.
Prexton Therapeutics SA, a 2012 spin-out of Merck Serono, has raised €8.7 million in a Series A financing round to support development of new compounds for the treatment of central nervous system disorders. The candidate compounds are allosteric modulators.
Shire Plc, whose portfolio is split between treatments for rare diseases and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, has acquired Meritage Pharma Inc and its late-stage product for eosinophilic esophagitis, an inflammatory disorder of the esophagus.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company is to spend up to $1.25 billion to acquire Flexus Biosciences Inc and specifically, a preclinical small molecule compound and discovery programme, both directed at oncology indications. The assets complement BMS’s own immunotherapy products.
Merck & Co Inc is to partner with NGM Biopharmaceuticals Inc to build its capabilities in the area of therapies for metabolic diseases. The collaboration covers several preclinical candidate drugs including one for diabetes, obesity and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.
Innate Pharma SA made further progress in 2014 in developing antibodies that enable the innate immune system to kill cancer but the cost of clinical development pushed its losses sharply higher.
UK-based Heptares Therapeutics Ltd, which has drug discovery technology targeting G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), has agreed to be taken over by Sosei Group Corporation of Japan enabling it to develop and commercialise its pipeline within a larger, global group.
Denmark-based Genmab A/S and BioNovion BV of the Netherlands have upgraded a research agreement in oncology to a full co-development and commercialisation deal in order to progress work on candidate bispecific antibody products that inhibit immune checkpoints.
Lead Pharma Holding BV, a Dutch company with a novel approach to drug discovery, has entered into a research collaboration and licensing agreement with Sanofi SA to identify small molecule compounds that moderate pro-inflammatory proteins.
Switzerland-based GlycoVaxyn AG, a specialist vaccine developer, has been sold by its venture capital investors to GlaxoSmithKline Plc in a deal that values the company at $212 million. The company’s investors include Sofinnova Partners, Index Ventures and Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners.