Artios Pharma Ltd, which is developing a novel approach for destroying cancer by acting on DNA repair mechanisms, has raised £65 million from venture capital companies in a “highly oversubscribed” series B round. Among its investors were four large pharmaceutical companies.
H. Lundbeck A/S, the Danish specialist in brain diseases, reported a 9.8% rise in second quarter revenue to DKK 4.7 billion (€631 million) while its operating profit rose by 21.7% in the period to DKK 1.66 billion. The buoyant results were attributed to large increases in sales of the company’s schizophrenia, major depression and hypotension drugs. However the effect of price rises, if any, was not disclosed.
For the first half year, Lundbeck’s revenue rose by 9.3% to nearly DKK 9.3 billion while its operating profit increased by 34% to DKK 3.5 billion.
Evotec AG reported double-digit increases in revenue for its drug discovery and service businesses for the 2018 first-half year, driven by new business from Aptuit, its recently acquired contract research unit. Revenue for the year is expected to grow by more than 30%.
Group revenue was €173.8 million for the first half, up by 67%. Drug discovery revenue was €32 million, up by 52%, while revenue from services to pharmaceutical partners was €163.3 million, up by 61%. There was an overlap of €21.5 million between the two units.
Allergan Pharmaceuticals International Ltd has exercised an option to develop and commercialise a pre-clinical drug candidate that uses the CRISPR gene editing tool to potentially correct mutations in Leber Congenital amaurosis (LCA), a serious eye disorder.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing a €40 million long-term loan to the Belfast-based agricultural company, Devenish Nutrition, enabling it to conduct research on animal nutrition and the production of foods using environmentally friendly processes.
Devenish has also secured commercial loans of €78 million from Ulster Bank in the Republic of Ireland and Danske Bank of Denmark bringing the total amount of capital raised to €118 million.
The EIB is the European Union’s long-term lending institution established in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome.
Bluebird bio Inc, which is developing gene therapies for cancer and rare diseases, is partnering with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc to discover, develop and commercialise new therapies for cancer. The deal includes a $100 million investment by Regeneron in bluebird stock.
Oxford BioMedica Plc has teamed up with two UK partners to produce a gene therapy for cystic fibrosis that could be administered to patients through repeat dosing. Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH has an option to commercialise the product.
A candidate treatment for Huntington’s disease has been selected by the European Medicines Agency for PRIME, a programme of regulatory support for developers of medicines that meet a major public health need. The drug, RG6042, is an antisense oligonucleotide.
It is being developed jointly by Roche and Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc to slow or stop the progress of Huntington’s disease, a rare genetic disorder that causes nerve cells in the brain to break down. Over time, people with the disease can develop personality changes and have difficulty walking and swallowing.
Darzalex (daratumumab) is being proposed as a first-line treatment for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma in combination with three other cancer drugs for patients who are ineligible for an autologous stem cell transplant.
MorphoSys AG has raised its financial guidance for 2018 following a new cash-generating agreement with Novartis which gives the Swiss company exclusive rights to a monoclonal antibody for atopic dermatitis that MorphoSys is developing jointly with Galapagos NV. The antibody, MOR106, targets interleukin-17C, a cytokine that plays an important role in inflammatory skin disorders.