Amgen Inc has reach agreement to take over Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc for $10.4 billion in cash thereby strengthening its oncology portfolio and acquiring a marketed product for multiple myeloma. The agreement was announced on Sunday.
Addex Therapeutics Ltd has raised gross proceeds of CHF 3.2 million ($3.5 million) in a private placement of shares enabling it continue operations beyond its next important clinical event – the reporting of data from a study in anxious depression.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc has launched a new $50 million venture capital fund in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US that will invest in companies working in the field of bioelectronic medicine. The term ‘bioelectronic medicine’ refers to non-pharmaceutical interventions that seek to treat disease by changing or directing electrical signals in the body.
The Medicines Company of the US has completed the acquisition of ProFibrix BV following the successful completion of a Phase 3 trial of the Dutch company’s hospital product – a sealant to stop bleeding during and after surgery.
Bayer Healthcare has announced a new oncology collaboration and licensing agreement with Compugen Ltd to research and develop antibody-based therapeutics in oncology against two novel targets. The deal is valued at more than $500 million.
Actelion Ltd is set to acquire Ceptaris Therapeutics Inc of the US pending Food and Drug Administration approval of that company’s product for mycosis fungoides, a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The upfront payment is $25 million.
Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc has taken steps to expand its portfolio of marketed and investigational antibiotics with the acquisitions of Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc and Trius Therapeutics Inc. The deals were announced simultaneously on 30 July.
The Belgian university, KU Leuven, has joined forces with a small company in Finland to develop new immunotherapies using a proprietary gene expression technology. The Finnish partner is FIT Biotech of Tampere.
The science of epigenetics received a boost on 29 July with the announcement by Celgene Corporation of plans to invest in HDAC inhibitors under development by Acetylon Pharmaceuticals Inc of the US, with an option to buy the company.
The Board of Directors of Elan Corporation Plc has accepted a takeover bid by Perrigo Company, a large US wholesaler of healthcare products and generic prescription drugs, for $8.6 billion in cash and shares.