Responding to the growing need for new antibiotics, Merck & Co Inc has reached an agreement to acquire Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc for $9.5 billion. Cubist’s pipeline has new treatments for both Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile infections.
A medical device which is intended to treat congenital malformations of the heart using a regenerative medicine approach has been backed by a syndicate of leading European investors in a €27 million Series B financing round.
Switzerland-based Anergis SA has raised CHF 14.5 million (€12.1 million) from European and US-based investors in order to progress its lead vaccine against birch pollen allergy into a Phase 3 study. The vaccine consists of synthetic long peptides.
Evgen Pharma Plc, which is developing cancer and neurology products based on a naturally occurring chemical, has announced its intention to make an initial public offering of up to £20 million worth of its shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in mid-December.
BTG Plc is to pay up to $475 million to acquire privately-held PneumRx Inc of California which has a medical device approved in Europe to treat emphysema. The purchase price consists of an upfront payment of $230 million and up to $245 million in milestones.
Sanofi SA and Evotec AG are in negotiations for a collaboration under which Evotec would assume much of Sanofi’s drug discovery operations, including the management of the French company's global screening compound library in Toulouse.
Switzerland-based GeNeuro SA and Les Laboratoires Servier SAS of France have formed a partnership to develop an antibody that targets a protein expressed in the brain lesions of patients with multiple sclerosis thereby addressing a causal factor of the disease.
Ascendis Pharma A/S, a Denmark-based specialty pharmaceutical company with new prodrug technology, has raised $60 million from a syndicate co-led by US-based Sofinnova Ventures.
BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc of California has made an agreed bid to buy Prosensa Holding NV of the Netherlands for $680 million in cash.
London-based Cell Medica Ltd has raised £50 million from institutional investors to support development of its lead oncology product, CMD-003, for the treatment of patients with advanced lymphomas associated with the Epstein Barr virus.