Prosensa Holding BV, a Dutch company that is developing antisense technology for therapies to treat rare diseases, has priced its previously-announced US initial public offering of shares at $13 per share. The offering comprises 6 million ordinary shares, giving a gross value of $78 million.
MorphoSys AG has secured its second antibody licencing agreement in less than a month – this time with Celgene Corp for the development of a new therapeutic for multiple myeloma. The deal is valued at up to $818 million before royalties.
A new company, Rodin Therapeutics, that will apply epigenetics to the search for new therapies for neurological disorders is being launched by Atlas Venture LP of Cambridge, Massachusetts, US and Proteros biostructures GmbH of Germany.
Heptares Therapeutics Ltd has announced the results of a Series B financing round in which it raised more than $21 million to advance a candidate product for Alzheimer’s dementia and disorders of cognitive impairment into the clinic.
AmpliPhi BioSciences Corp has placed $7 million of convertible preferred stock with a group of life science investors in order to finance the development of therapeutics for infectious diseases including bacterial infections.
Roche and AstraZeneca Plc have entered into a deal to share certain know-how in the area of medicinal chemistry in order to accelerate the discovery of new pharmaceutical compounds. Financial details were not disclosed.
Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd said its has signed a contract with the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to co-develop a monosulfactam antibiotic for multidrug-resistant Gram negative bacteria.
Cardio3 BioSciences SA of Belgium said that its previously announced initial public offering of shares will commence on 21 June and end on 3 July. The indicative price range of the shares is between €16.65 per share and €19.00 per share.
Johnson & Johnson Inc is set to pay up to $1 billion to acquire privately-held Aragon Pharmaceuticals Inc of the US which has a product in Phase 2 development for castration resistant prostate cancer. The upfront payment is $650 million.
Index Ventures is launching a virtual, single-product company that is developing a monoclonal antibody with the potential, it says, to prevent heart attack and stroke without causing bleeding. The antibody targets the clotting enzyme thrombin. The funding was announced on 17 June.