The French biopharmaceutical company, Transgene SA, is set to acquire a second diagnostic for use with its therapeutic vaccine candidate for non-small cell lung cancer, following an agreement with Beckman Coulter Inc of the US.
Kiadis Pharma BV of the Netherlands has entered into a licensing deal with Hospira Inc of the US to develop and commercialise its haematology product for blood cancer patients who need a bone marrow transplant but can’t find a matched donor.
Sanofi-Aventis has announced plans to commit up to $800 million to a new chemistry platform that promises to deliver a class of small molecule drugs against cancer that silence disease-causing proteins. Most conventional drugs bind to their protein targets rather than silence, or shut them down entirely.
Eli Lilly and Co has completed the acquisition of Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc, a privately-held company in which its venture capital unit has had an equity stake since 2005. Avid has an imaging agent for detecting amyloid plaque that is poised for review by the FDA.
Merck Serono and the US unit of Sanofi-Aventis SA have signed an agreement to jointly explore new combination therapies against cancer. They will look at combinations of agents that could block specific pathways in cancer cells.
Privately-owned NovImmune SA of Geneva, Switzerland has raised an additional CHF 20 million (€15.7 million) from a syndicate led by BZ Bank Aktiengesellschaft to advance its monoclonal antibody development programmes.
The following is an update of recent alliance and deal activity among biopharmaceutical companies and research institutions.
H. Lundbeck A/S of Denmark has signed agreements with Zenobia Therapeutics Inc of La Jolla, California and Vernalis Plc of the UK to research inhibitors for a family of kinases relevant to diseases of the central nervous system. Specifically, the Danish company is investigating the Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) as a target for a potential treatment for Parkinson’s disease. Lundbeck will collaborate with Zenobia to explore the structure and chemistry of the target using Zenobia’s protein expression and x-ray crystallography technology. In a separate agreement with Vernalis, the two companies will identify candidate compounds that can inhibit LRRK2. Financial terms were not disclosed. LRRK2 is an enzyme that is encoded by the LRRK2 gene. Mutations in this gene represent a risk for Parkinson’s disease. LRRK2 inhibition is potentially neuroprotective as it appears the gene is expressed at high levels in dopamine-producing neurons, Lundbeck said.
Evotec AG has entered into a licensing agreement with the AstraZeneca Plc subsidiary, MedImmune, to generate biological factors that play a role in beta cell regeneration. The deal includes a €5 million upfront payment to Evotec.
The management of Genzyme Corp has again asked shareholders to reject an all-cash $69 per-share-offer from Sanofi-Aventis SA saying that it substantially undervalues the company. Sanofi has extended its offer for Genzyme until 21 January 2011.
Merck & Co Inc is making a public offering of $2 billion in senior unsecured notes in order to support general corporate operations. The offering consists of $850 million of 2.25% notes due in 2016 and $1.15 billion of 3.875% notes due in 2021.