Finance, Grants, Deals

Nordic Nanovector raises NOK 575 million

Country
Norway

Nordic Nanovector ASA, which is developing a radio-immunotherapy for non-Hodgkin lymphomas, has raised a NOK 575 million (€68.4 million) in an initial public offering of its shares on the Oslo Stock Exchange. ABG Sundal Collier Norge ASA and DBN ASA led the syndicate.

BioInvent rights issue is underway

Country
Sweden

BioInvent International AB plans to raise SEK 75 million (€8 million) in a rights issue to investors to further develop its anti-cancer antibodies. Shareholders of record on 24 April will receive rights to purchase four new shares for every nine held.

Commentary: Teva’s bid for Mylan seen influencing bid for Perrigo

Country
Ireland

Perrigo Company plc, the Ireland-based pharmaceutical conglomerate, has rejected a takeover bid from the global generics manufacturer Mylan NV (formerly Mylan Inc) while Mylan itself has spurned a takeover approach from Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals Industry Ltd.

ThromboGenics revives drug programme

Country
Belgium

Thrombogenics NV has teamed up with the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) to create a new oncology company, Oncurious NV, which will re-start development of an antibody that was once licensed to Roche. Called TB-403, the antibody targets placental growth factor.

Biocartis in initial public offering

Country
Belgium

An initial public offering for Biocartis Group NV is under way on Euronext Brussels stock exchange in a book-building process that will determine the offering price. The Belgian company’s main product is a portable machine for the molecular diagnosis of cancer and other diseases. 

Schizophrenia compound progressed

Country
United Kingdom

Autifony Therapeutics Ltd has received funding to progress a second compound into clinical development that targets voltage-gated potassium channels in the brain. The indication is schizophrenia. It is already investigating a compound against the same target for hearing loss and tinnitus.

Series B funding for Nabriva

Country
Austria

Austria-based Nabriva Therapeutics AG has secured up to $120 million in new funding to develop a class of antibiotics that target Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens that are resistant to current treatments. The Series B financing was led by Vivo Capital and OrbiMed.

Japan follow-through on iPS

Country
Japan

One of Japan’s biggest industrial concerns, Fujifilm Holdings Corp, has expanded further into regenerative medicine with the acquisition of Cellular Dynamics International Inc, a developer of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). CDI was founded by the stem-cell pioneer James Thomson.

UniQure in gene therapy deal with BMS

Country
Netherlands

UniQure NV has secured a gene therapy agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company in cardiovascular disease, its first major commercial deal since winning regulatory approval in 2012 for Glybera, a gene therapy for lipoprotein lipase deficiency.