Finance, Grants, Deals

Pharmexa A/S is testing the stock market’s appetite for risk at a time when risk-taking has become unfashionable.

Ark Therapeutics Plc of Britain, which specialises in developing orphan drugs in the areas of vascular disease, cancer and wound-care, is acquiring Lymphatix Oy, a closely held Finnish company that develops therapies for modulating the growth and function of lymphatic vessels.

Lifeline Scientific Inc., a U.S. manufacturer of kidney transporters, has finally been able to complete its initial public offering on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange after at least two postponements because of adverse market conditions.

The management and supervisory boards of 4SC, a German drug discovery and development company, are recommending that shareholders reject a takeover bid from Santo Holding (Deutschland) GmbH, an investment company owned by one of Germany’s wealthiest families. Santos Holding had 31.28% of 4SC on 3 December 2007.

The founders of Celtic Pharma, a specialised private equity firm, are launching two new funds to invest in products and companies that show promise of addressing unmet medical needs.

e-Therapeutics, which uses informatics for discovering the safety and efficacy of new combinations or applications of existing medical compounds, has received a listing on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange.

Hybrigenics SA, a French proteomics specialist with a drug candidate in Phase 2 development for treating prostate cancer, is raising between €24.2 million and €28.1 million in an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares on the Alternext section of the Euronext Paris stock exchange.

Olympus Corp of Japan has made an agreed cash offer of £935 million to buy all the shares of the Gyrus Group Plc, a British manufacturer of medical devices, including systems for laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures.

Cryo-Save Group NV, a Dutch company that preserves cord-blood stem cells for 20 years or more after the sample is taken at birth, has successfully floated its shares on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange.

Shares of Ablynx NV were trading at €7.15 per share on 9 November 2007, a slight premium above its issue price at its initial public offering (IPO) on the Euronext Brussels stock exchange two days earlier.