Cytos Biotechnology Ltd has received approval from a court in the canton of Zurich to restructure a convertible bond valued at about $44.8 million. This follows a move to cut its workforce last August from 82 to10 and to reduce the size of its executive.
Wilex AG is set to receive up to €2.6 million from the German government to support the preclinical and clinical development of a small molecule cancer compound that targets the P13K signalling pathway.
A Norwegian start-up company,Targovax AS, has raised NOK 13 million (€1.7 million) in a Series A financing round to support the clinical development of a therapeutic vaccine against pancreatic cancer. The candidate product is a peptide vaccine that targets mutations on ras genes.
Wilex AG, which has an antibody treatment for renal cell cancer in a pivotal Stage 3 trial along with a companion diagnostic, has successfully completed a €9.93 million rights issue. Wilex is based in Munich, Germany.
Venture-capital backed Domain Therapeutics SA of France has received a grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation to develop allosteric modulators for Parkinson’s disease. This follows a year-earlier licensing deal with Merck Serono, also for PD.
Amgen Inc has agreed to pay $1.16 billion in cash to acquire Micromet Inc, a developer of bispecific antibodies. Micromet’s key asset is blinatumomab, an antibody in early clinical development against acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
Celgene Corp said it has reached agreement to acquire venture-capital backed Avila Therapeutics Inc for $350 million in cash, plus milestones, thereby strengthening its position in the area of haematologic cancers.
A UK start-up, CN Creative Ltd, which has developed an electronic smoking cessation device, has raised £2 million in a Series A round led by Advent Life Sciences. The money will support final development of its novel inhaler product.
The Roche group has stepped up its commitment to personalised medicine with the announcement of a hostile $5.7 billion bid for Illumina Inc of the US, a leading provider of molecular diagnostics. The all-cash offer values each share at $44.50.
Privately-owned Prosensa Therapeutics BV of the Netherlands has raised €23 million to support its pipeline which includes a Phase 3 RNA-modulating therapeutic for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. New Enterprise Associates Inc led the financing.