Shire Plc has announced a tender offer for the recently-listed Belgian company, Movetis NV, which has a product for chronic constipation on markets in the European Union. Shire is offering €19 per share in cash for Movetis, representing a premium of 74% to Movetis’s closing price on NYSE Euronext Brussels on 2 August 2010.
The antibody business of MorphoSys AG generated a substantial increase in sales and profits for the quarter and half year ended June 2010, giving it an unusual problem of how best to deploy its large cash holdings.
At a time of intense competition in the antibody field, venture capital-backed NovImmune SA of Switzerland has secured an exclusive licensing deal with Genentech Inc for a pre-clinical compound targeting two forms of the Interleukin-17 (IL-17) family of cytokines.
A potential treatment for heart disease that uses a natural process to drain fatty material from clogged arteries is being backed by a €40 million investment from the French government and venture capitalists.
Actelion AG of Switzerland has paid €10 million for an option to acquire privately-owned Trophos SA of France which is developing drugs for neurodegenerative diseases. Trophos’s drug for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is in Phase 3.
A novel approach to antibody development has received the backing of the global medical charity, the Wellcome Trust. Kymab Ltd of Cambridge UK has received £20 million in a Series A round to develop its technology platform.
The technology transfer arm of the UK Medical Research Council has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Genentech Inc for access to a series of small molecule drug candidates for neurological disease. Financial terms were not given.
Carmat SAS has raised €15.5 million in an initial public offering on the Alternext section of the NYSE-Euronext exchange in Paris to continue development of an artificial heart for patients with heart failure.
The Lyon-based company, Poxel SA, has raised €16 million in a Series A round, enabling it to advance the Phase 2 programme for its lead compound against Type 2 diabetes. The round was led by Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners.
The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development has reached an agreement with the Geneva-based Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) under which it will grant royalty-free rights to DNDi to develop drugs against neglected diseases.