Finance, Grants, Deals

In separate statements, Santhera Pharmaceuticals of Switzerland and Newron Pharmaceuticals SpA of Italy have announced that discussions are taking place between them, the outcome of which cannot be predicted.

In yet another example of the fast pace of cancer research, Sanofi-Aventis has signed an exclusive licensing deal with Oxford BioTherapeutics Ltd to gain access to a preclinical antibody programme that can be used to develop antibody-drug conjugate products.

Amgen Inc has made an agreed bid for privately-owned BioVex Group Inc of the US of which has a therapeutic cancer vaccine in late clinical development against metastatic melanoma and head and neck cancer.

Sanofi-Aventis SA is extending its offer for Genzyme Corp until 15 February 2011 at an unchanged price of $69 per share. The all-cash offer was previously scheduled to expire on 21 January. In share trading, Genzyme was quoted at $71.48 on 24 January.

Merck Serono has entered into an exclusive development and licensing agreement with Domain Therapeutics SA of France to develop drugs that target a member of the GPCR family of proteins for neurodegenerative diseases.

Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH of Germany and Eli Lilly and Company have agreed to jointly develop and commercialise four of their diabetes assets in a deal that will bring several technologies under one roof.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc has agreed to pay $20 million upfront to Epizyme Inc of Cambridge, Massachusetts for access to technology that targets histone methyltransferases (HMT), a class of epigenetic enzymes. The goal is to develop small molecule drugs against cancer and other diseases.

The Netherlands-based diagnostics company, Qiagen NV, has acquired a minority stake in a German start-up company, Alacris Theranostics GmbH, which has a genome sequencing technology that can be used to generate biomarkers.

DBV Technologies SA has secured $25.5 million in a Series C round to support clinical development of a skin patch to treat peanut allergies. The round was co-led by new investors InnoBio Fund and Lundbeckfond Ventures.

Dublin, Ireland-based Amarin Corporation Plc has raised a net $100.2 million in a secondary offering of its American Depositary Shares, the proceeds of which will be used to support the commercialisation of its lead cardiovascular product, AMR101.