News

Less than a month after entering a collaboration with Genentech, Sosei Heptares has concluded a new G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-directed partnership with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. The companies said they will initially discover targets for new gastrointestinal medicines, but this could expand to other therapeutic areas in the future.

Takeda already has a discovery collaboration with Sosei Heptares in the gastrointestinal area.

Roche said that its checkpoint antibody Tecentriq (atezolizumab) plus chemotherapy has shown positive results in a Phase 3 study of patients with previously untreated metastatic urothelial carcinoma compared with chemotherapy alone. The study, IMvigor130, is said to be the first positive outcome of an immunotherapy combination in this patient population.

France-based Transgene SA and its South Korean partner SillaJen Inc have stopped a Phase 3 study of the candidate oncolytic virus therapy Pexa-Vec for liver cancer early because it was considered unlikely to meet its primary endpoint of overall survival. There were no reported safety concerns, the companies said.

Germany-based Wellington Partners has closed its fifth life sciences fund with a capital raise of €210 million for investments in companies developing medicines, devices, diagnostics and digital technologies. The new fund will primarily target opportunities in Europe.

It expects to invest in approximately 15 to 20 companies with a particular focus on German-speaking geographies. It will however also consider opportunities in North America and Asia.

The French company, Alizé Pharma 3, has raised €67 million in a Series A financing round to advance two preclinical products for rare endocrine and metabolic diseases into clinical development. The funding round was led by Life Sciences Partners of the Netherlands and included Novo Ventures, Kurma Partners, Orbimed, Pontifax, Partners Innovation Fund and Innobio 2, which is managed by Bpifrance.

Zambon Company SA has extended its presence in respiratory medicines with the acquisition of Breath Therapeutics Holding BV, a clinical-stage company with a product for treating patients with lung transplants who are at risk of dying because of a condition known as bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS).

Sanofi SA reported a 5.5% increase in sales to €8.6 billion in the second quarter but its operating result was negative after the company wrote down intangible assets of €1.8 billion when sales of the recently acquired haemophilia A drug, Eloctate, failed to meet expectations.

AstraZeneca Plc secured an increase in product sales of 12% to $11.2 billion in the first half, confirming the strength of its new portfolio of medicines which are heavily weighted by drugs for cancer. After several years of restructuring, the company revised its guidance upward for 2019. Product sales are now expected to increase by a low double-digit percentage instead of the previously forecast high single-digit increase.

The Roche group has raised its guidance for 2019 after sales of its new multiple sclerosis, haemophilia and cancer medicines more than offset a drop in income from the legacy breast cancer drug Herceptin and the autoimmune and cancer medicine Rituxan. Group sales are expected to show a mid to high-single-digit percentage increase this year, measured at constant exchange rates.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc reported higher sales in the second quarter and first half year, along with a better operating profit, despite price pressure on its respiratory division where the asthma medicine Advair faced generic competition for the first time. Sales in the second quarter were £7.8 billion, up by 7%, and in the first half they were £15.5 billion, up by 6%. Meanwhile operating profit, adjusted to exclude amortisation and restructuring costs, was £2.2 billion in the second quarter, up by 3% and £4.3 billion in the first half, up by 8%.