Abzena Ltd, which provides services to companies developing biopharmaceuticals, said it intends to make an initial public offering of its shares on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. Financial details have not yet been disclosed.
MorphoSys AG and Merck Serono have become the latest companies to collaborate on potential treatments for cancer that modulate the immune system’s natural ability to fight tumours. Together they will discover and develop therapeutic antibodies against undisclosed immune checkpoints.
Synairgen Plc of the UK has outlicensed an experimental compound for severe asthma to AstraZeneca Plc for an upfront fee of $7.25 million and potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones of up to $225 million.
Autifony Therapeutics Ltd, a 2011 spin-out from GlaxoSmithKline Plc with technology to treat hearing disorders, has received £2.2 million in grant funding from UK Technology Strategy Board.
A UK-based service provider, BioSilta Ltd, has raised €2.5 million from its founding investor and the new investor Omega Funds in order to support the commercial expansion of its reagent-based growth systems for bacterial cultures.
ArGEN-X BV has announced its intention to make an initial public offering of shares on the Euronext exchange in Brussels in order to support the development of its therapeutic antibody portfolio. Further details were not yet available.
Merck & Co Inc has reached an agreement to acquire Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc for $3.85 billion in a move that will strengthen its portfolio of candidate drugs for hepatitis C infection, a disease that has only recently been treated with a new generation of direct-acting antiviral drugs.
Taking advantage of an improved outlook for gene therapy, Oxford BioMedica Plc is proposing to raise up to £25.7 million in a private share placement and open offer to investors to finance development of its gene-based ophthalmology portfolio and manufacturing activities.
ArGEN-X BV has entered into a strategic antibody alliance with Shire Plc aimed at helping that company discover new therapeutics aligned with its focus on rare diseases. The new alliance follows a successful discovery collaboration between the two companies that started in 2012.
The UK cell-therapy company Adaptimmune Ltd has entered a collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline Plc to advance the development of an autologous T-cell receptor product for patients with a variety of cancers.