Biotech Pharmacon ASA of Norway has announced the successful placement of 9.5 million new shares with private investors thereby raising NOK 40 million (€5.45 million) in gross proceeds for product launch and development.
Shire Plc has taken further steps to strengthen its franchise in rare diseases with an agreement to acquire privately-owned Lotus Tissue Repair Inc which has a preclinical product for the treatment of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB). Financial terms were not disclosed.
ArGEN-X BV has announced the initiation of a Phase 1b clinical study in cancer patients of a new antibody targeting CD70, a member of the tumour necrosis factor superfamily. The company also announced an expansion of its discovery alliance with Shire Plc.
ISA Pharmaceuticals BV of the Netherlands has secured €8 million in funding from the Aglaia Oncology Fund and private investors to finance a Phase 2 study of its lead therapeutic vaccine candidate in cervical cancer. This a follow-on to an earlier Series A round.
The Swiss vaccine developer, GlycoVaxyn AG, has announced its second collaboration within a month with a member of the Big Pharma fraternity – this time with Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc (Johnson & Johnson). The latest deal follows a collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline Plc.
AstraZeneca Plc has entered into a research agreement with Cellular Dynamics International Inc to use the US company’s human induced pluripotent stem cell lines for drug discovery. This is the latest in a series of iPS cell initiatives to be announced since early November 2012.
Evotec AG has announced a research collaboration with privately-held Apeiron Biologics AG of Vienna, Austria to develop immunomodulatory lead compounds for cancer. Financial terms were not disclosed. The collaboration follows the successful outcome of a high throughput screen.
A new UK company has been launched with £11.5 million in venture capital funding to exploit a portfolio of preclinical and clinical neurokinin receptor antagonists divested from GlaxoSmithKline Plc. Novo A/S and Advent Venture Partners are investors.
The Swiss vaccine developer, GlycoVaxyn AG, is set to receive an upfront payment and equity investment from GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals as part of a collaboration to develop new anti-bacterial vaccines against an undisclosed set of pathogen targets.
Researchers at the Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven, Belgium have joined forces with two French pharmaceutical companies to discover new compounds targeting the LRRK2 gene in Parkinson’s disease.