The UK cancer vaccine company Scancell Holdings Plc has raised £8.7 million from existing and new shareholders in order to advance its portfolio of early clinical stage vaccines for melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer and other solid tumours.
Fresh from a successful initial public share offering (IPO) on Nasdaq, MorphoSys AG is progressing plans for the potential commercialisation in the US of its first wholly-owned product – an antibody therapeutic for aggressive lymphoma.
Novartis has received a new cancer indication for its chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) enabling the gene therapy to be administered to a broader group of patients. The new indication is for large B cell lymphoma, including diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL).
e-Therapeutics Plc aims to identify intervention strategies for the potential treatment of Parkinson’s disease under a new collaboration with the drug discovery company C4X Discovery Holdings Plc.
Crescendo Biologics Ltd has secured $70 million in a Series B financing round to advance its lead product into the clinic for a cancer indication and further develop its pipeline of biologics that are based on a variable domain of the human antibody.
The Wellcome Trust has awarded £4.3 million to PredictImmune of Cambridge UK to finance a clinical trial of the company’s prognostic biomarker test for Crohn’s disease. The assay was developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge.
Faced with declining sales for its diabetes products, Sanofi SA shifted course in the first quarter to strengthen its specialty pharmaceutical business by acquiring the haemophilia product developer Bioverativ Inc and the antibody company Ablynx NV.
Roche expects to further increase its dividend in 2018 after first-quarter sales grew for the seventh consecutive year, led by new oncology products and Ocrevus for multiple sclerosis. The company is forecasting a low single-digit rise in sales for 2018 at constant exchange rates.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc ended the first quarter with a decline in sales and operating profit and a portfolio that focuses investment in three areas: pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer healthcare. The big event of the quarter was the company’s move to take full control of a joint consumer products venture from Novartis.
Shire Plc has secured additional time from the UK competition authority to review a proposed bid from Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd that values the Dublin-based company at £46 billion. The parties have until 8 May to reach a decision.