Sanofi-Aventis has agreed to pay up to $335 million for rights to a novel peptide that appears to stimulate the growth of new insulin-producing sites in the pancreas. The compound, for diabetes, was discovered by CureDM Inc of the US.
Crucell NV said that it has reached an agreement with GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals to combine their vaccine technologies to produce a second generation vaccine for people at risk of malaria. Financial terms were not disclosed.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc has agreed to pay $35 million upfront to Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc for access to its technology for RNA-targeted therapeutics. The companies will be developing new drugs for rare diseases.
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH has launched a €100 million venture capital fund to invest in advanced medical technology such as stems cells, RNA silencing and new generation protein and antibody technologies.
Silence Therapeutics Plc said that it has expanded its collaboration with Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Company of Japan in the area of small interfering RNA (siRNA) delivery to include additional disease targets. Financial details were not disclosed.
Neovacs SA, a privately-held company with a novel therapy for treating arthritis and several other diseases, is making an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares on the NYSE-Euronext in Paris.
Ablynx NV has raised €50 million in a secondary offering of its shares to support the development of its portfolio of therapeutic proteins based on single-domain antibody fragments. The company now has a market capitalisation of about €327 million.
Ipsen SA of France is out-licensing two of its peptide therapeutics programmes that target metabolic and gastrointestinal disorders and obesity to Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, a venture capital-backed company in Boston, Massachusetts.
Cellzome Inc said that it has secured a new drug discovery deal with GlaxoSmithKline under which the companies will seek to identify small-molecule drugs against epigenetic targets. Cellzome will receive €33 million upfront.
Novartis AG is raising $5 billion with a three-tranche bond issue to finance part of its pending acquisition of Alcon Inc, a large eye-care company with sales of approximately $6.5 billion in 2009.