MorphoSys AG has agreed to pay $13 million for rights to an anti-CD19 monoclonal antibody that is scheduled to start a Phase 1 study in cancer patients in the US shortly. It is the company’s first in-licensing deal for a clinical compound.
Gilead Sciences Inc has agreed to pay up to $120 million to acquire CGI Pharmaceuticals Inc, a privately-held US company with a library of small molecule kinase inhibitors. CGI’s lead preclinical compound may have application in RA.
Sanofi-Aventis SA has entered into a licensing agreement with Metabolex Inc of the US to develop a novel treatment for Type 2 diabetes that targets the G protein-coupled receptor 119. The deal could be valued at $375 million if a product is commercialised.
Crucell NV has announced the start of a project to discover a universal prophylactic vaccine against the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a cause of serious respiratory illnesses in infants and children. It will be working with a unit of Johnson & Johnson.
Diamyd Medical AB has partnered its lead antigen-based therapy for the treatment and prevention of Type1 diabetes with Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc (OMJPI), a unit of Johnson & Johnson.
Sanofi-Aventis SA and Regulus Therapeutics Inc have formed a global alliance to develop and commercialise medicines based on microRNA, a class of small ribonucleic acid molecules that regulate gene expression.
OncoMed Pharmaceuticals Inc of California and Bayer Schering Pharma AG of Berlin have entered into a global alliance to develop therapies that attack cancer stem cells.
A three-year-old French biopharmaceutical company, Pharnext SAS, has raised €4.8 million in a Series A round to take a new combination drug into the clinic to treat an inherited neurological disorder known as Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
UCB SA of Belgium has raised its stake in the German biopharmaceutical company, Wilex AG, to 18.05% from 11.4% following the purchase of a block of shares from a fund managed by Apax Partners. The transaction was reported on 10 June 2010.
Ipsen SA of France will be listed on the over-the-counter market in the US following its agreement with Deutsche Bank to implement a level 1 American Depositary Receipt (ADR) programme. The company’s shares are already listed in Paris.