GlaxoSmithKline Plc is to pay €10 million to the Italian medical charity, Fondazione Telethon, for access to a new gene therapy that can be carried out on stem cells taken from a patient’s own bone marrow. GSK will investigate the therapy for rare diseases.
Cellectis SA of France has signed two separate non-exclusive agreements with iPS Academia Japan Inc giving it access to the induced pluripotent stem cell patent portfolio arising from the work of Shinya Yamanaka at the University of Kyoto.
Prosensa BV of the Netherlands has received a £7.5 million milestone payment from GlaxoSmithKline Plc in connection with early clinical data from an antisense oligonucleotide that is being investigated for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
Crucell NV has scheduled an informal meeting of shareholders for 10 December 2010 to discuss Johnson & Johnson’s offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares in the company that it does not already own, in a bid valued at about €1.75 billion.
Novartis has become the latest pharmaceutical company to invest in antibody-drug conjugates, a technology that is said to hold considerable promise for the treatment of cancer.
MorphoSys AG has reached out to synthetic biology in order to retain a lead in the fast-moving therapeutic antibody business.
The board of directors of Genzyme Corp has rejected Sanofi-Aventis’s unsolicited bid for the company at $69 per share saying that it undervalues the company and its late-stage pipeline which includes a promising new product for multiple sclerosis.
Novartis International AG is teaming up with a newly-created US company to investigate a method for producing influenza vaccines using synthetic biology and genome sequencing. The technology is being called ‘synthetic genomics.’
The Netherlands-based gene therapy company, Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics Holding NV (AMT), has raised a gross €14.3 million from a private placement of its shares with investors in order to support its gene therapy portfolio.
DiaGenic ASA of Norway has raised NOK 70 million (€8.7 million) in a private placement of its shares to existing and new investors in order to advance its portfolio of diagnostics. The placement was subscribed approximately 1.4 times.