Solvay SA has become the latest European company to alter its business strategy with a decision to sell its pharmaceutical business to Abbott Laboratories for €4.5 billion. It will reinvest the proceeds in chemicals and plastics.
Crucell NV said that it has entered a strategic collaboration with a Johnson & Johnson unit to develop a universal monoclonal antibody for the treatment and prevention of influenza. J&J has also paid €301.8 million for an 18% stake in Crucell.
Qiagen NV, a Dutch provider of sample and assay technologies, has acquired DxS Ltd, of Britain in a transaction that will expand Qiagen’s market position in molecular diagnostics for personalised medicine.
The European Commission’s research partnership with industry aimed at finding new ways of making drug development more efficient is preparing to launch a new series of projects valued at €156.3 million
Cell Medica Ltd, an early-stage cellular therapeutics company, has received £1.95 million in new funding in order to commercialise its lead product, a cell therapy technique which protects patients from infection following a bone marrow transplant.
The Wellcome Trust and Merck & Co have created a social business to develop affordable vaccines for diseases prevalent in low-income countries.
A venture capital-backed antibody company called Argen-x BV has raised €9.5 million in a Series A financing round from a syndicate of investors, co-led by Forbion Capital Partners and Life Sciences Partners, both of the Netherlands.
Arpida Ltd and Evolva SA have announced plans to merge to create a larger, publicly-listed biotechnology company with a pipeline of drug candidates as well as revenue-generating discovery partnerships.
ProFibrix BV of the Netherlands has raised €8 million in a Series B round enabling it to carry forward plans to seek FDA authorisation for a combined Phase 2/3 trial in the US of its candidate tissue sealant for use in surgery or trauma injury, Fibrocaps.
An investor in Celsis International Plc is on the verge of success in acquiring the drug toxicity detection company whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange. The investor is North Atlantic Value LLP (NAVLLP), part of the JO Hambro Capital Management Group.