Shire Plc has announced an agreement to acquire the privately-held US regenerative medicines company, Advanced BioHealing Inc, for $750 million in cash. The US company has a marketed product for diabetic foot ulcers.
Researchers from the Schepens Eye Research Institute in the US have reported regenerating retinal tissue in mice using induced pluripotent stem cells derived from mouse skin. The institute is an affiliate of the Harvard Medical School.
Takeda Ventures Inc, the corporate venture arm of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, is the latest venture fund to invest in Fate Therapeutics Inc which is developing compounds that modulate stem-cell pathways. Financial details were not disclosed.
Dendreon Corporation is seeking authorisation to open manufacturing sites at two new locations in the US for its prostate cancer vaccine, Provenge (sipuleucel-T), to meet demand for the treatment, David Urdal, CSO, told a London conference.
Geron Corp. is set to receive $25 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to support the clinical work on its stem-cell therapy for spinal cord injury. The money is a loan with repayment contingent on product success.
Juventas Therapeutics, a 2007 spin-out of the Cleveland Clinic in the US, has reported the completion of a Phase 1 study of its regenerative medicine product for heart failure. No adverse events related to the treatment were reported.
The Stanford University School of Medicine, together with privately-held SanBio Inc, have started a Phase 1/2a trial of an allogeneic cell therapy on patients with stable deficits resulting from a stroke.
Cellectis SA of France has arranged financing for an ambitious project to produce induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) on an industrial scale so that they can be used for a range of commercial applications, including the production of red blood cells.
Patients who received tissue-engineered implants to correct for defects in their urethras reported normal functioning of their urethras for up to six years after surgery, according to an observational study in The Lancet.
Evotec AG has announced the establishment of a research collaboration with Harvard University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the US to discover and develop new treatments for diabetes. Financial terms were not disclosed.