UK-listed Ark Therapeutics Plc has reported revenue of £0.4 million for the first half of 2011, unchanged from a year as it shifted its business strategy to bio-manufacturing and early-stage research and sold its wound-care business.
Novo A/S and SV Life Sciences have committed £8 million in a Series A round to a new UK ophthalmology company that has a portfolio of preclinical assets which are expected to be developed for diabetic macular edema.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc has spun out technology for the treatment of hearing disorders into a new company called Autifony Therapeutics Ltd. The company is receiving £10 million in Series A funding from Imperial Innovations and SV Life Sciences.
Galápagos NV has extended for the third time a drug discovery agreement with Genentech (Roche) that involves the use of a number of technologies to discover new chemical entities against targets defined by the Roche group subsidiary.
Evolva Holding SA has become the latest European company to negotiate a standby equity facility with YA Global, a US-based investment group. The facility amounts to CHF 30 million (€27.1 million) and will extend the company’s cash runway by a year.
Vectura Group Plc has given an undisclosed partner US rights to a generic version of a therapy for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that is being developed for delivery in a dry powder inhaler. The upfront payment is $10 million.
Shire Plc reported revenue of $1.1 billion in the second quarter of 2011, up by 25% from a year earlier on increased sales of products for rare diseases and for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). GAAP operating income was $283 million.
SkyePharma Plc has initialed a licensing agreement with Sanofi SA under which the French multinational will pursue marketing authorisation applications for the asthma drug, Flutiform, in Mexico, and Central and South America.
Elan Corporation Plc has started to reap the benefits of a multi-year reorganisation which has transformed it from a diversified, but indebted enterprise into a leaner company specializing in neurology.
Pharming Group NV of the Netherlands has raised €3.2 million in a private placement of its shares with US specialist investors, extending its cash runway into the second quarter of 2012. The company’s lead product is a treatment for angioedema.