Antisense Pharma GmbH has raised €8 million from a group of German investors to support the late-stage development of a DNA-oligonucleotide drug for the treatment of cancer. The drug inhibits transforming growth factor beta 2 (TGF-beta2).
Sanofi SA has agreed to pay $10 million upfront to a venture-capital-led company in New Haven, Connecticut for access to ribosome-based technology to develop antibiotics for multi-drug resistant Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria.
AstraZeneca Plc is to make an undisclosed up-front cash payment to PTC Therapeutics Inc for access to technology that regulates the rate and timing of protein production in the cell. The goal is to discover new small molecule drugs for cancer.
Ablynx NV is set to receive a €5 million milestone payment from Boehringer Ingelheim following the German company’s decision to progress an antibody-derived therapeutic protein for Alzheimer’s disease into late preclinical development.
Evotec AG and the Roche group have announced a three-year collaboration to discover biomarkers that could be used to predict the dosage and efficacy of targeted oncology drugs under development at the Swiss multinational.
AstraZeneca Plc is to sell its Swedish-based dental and healthcare businesses to Dentsply Ltd of the UK for about $1.8 billion in cash. The unit, Astra Tech, specialises in dental implants and medical devices for urology and surgery.
Privately-owned Axxam Spa of Milan, Italy has received funding from the US Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation to discover new small molecule drugs for Alzheimer’s disease that block the puringeric receptor, P2X7. The size of the grant was not disclosed.
A France-based medical imaging company, Mauna Kea Technologies, has announced plans to make an initial public offering of its shares on NYSE Euronext in Paris with the goal of raising about €38.9 million.
Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc is set to receive a $4 million milestone from GlaxoSmithKline Plc in connection with the selection of a lead HIV protease inhibitor for clinical development. The candidate drug will enter efficacy studies in 2012.
ReNeuron Group Plc has upgraded its collaboration with the Schepens Eye Research Institute in the US with the signing of a patent and licensing deal giving it rights to develop and commercialise human retinal precursor cells (hRPCs).