Finance, Grants, Deals

NsGene A/S announced on 20 May 2008 that it has raised 40 million Danish Krone (€5.36 million) from its current shareholders to continue clinical development of its biodelivery products.

Solvay Pharmaceuticals SA has made a friendly offer to acquire all of the shares of Innogenetics NV that it doesn’t already own in a cash transaction initially valued at €177.6 million.

Apogenix GmbH, a German company that is developing treatments that alter the programmed death of cells, has obtained second round financing of €27.5 million.

A life-science venture-capital firm spun out of Elan Corporation Plc, the Dublin-headquartered, neuroscience-based biotechnology company, is launching its first fund, which will invest mostly in European medical discovery companies with products that have defined exit plans.

GlaxoSmithKline said that it has entered into an alliance with the California-based Regulus Therapeutics LLC to discover and develop microRNA-targeted therapeutics to treat inflammatory diseases.

MTM Laboratories AG, a privately held Germany company that is developing diagnostic devices for detecting cervical cancer, has raised €9.6 million with a private placement of its shares.

Paion AG, a Frankfurt Stock Exchange-listed developer of treatments for stroke and other thrombotic diseases, made an agreed bid on 10 April 2008 for all the share capital of CeNeS Pharmaceuticals Plc, a developer of products for pain, anaesthesia and neurology. CeNeS is listed on the Alternative Investment Market in London.

ITI Life Sciences, a Scottish agency that finances medical research, is making £2 million to £5 million available for synthetic biology projects over a period of 18 to 36 months.

Oxford NanoLabs Ltd, a British developer of DNA sequencing technology, has raised £10 million through a private placement of shares.

Pieris AG, a closely-held German company that is developing proteins similar to monoclonal antibodies, has raised €25 million through a series B placement of new shares.