News

The European Medicines Agency has given positive opinions for two chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies to treat blood cancers – bringing these medicines closer to the market for patients in the EU.

Novartis is proposing to spin off its Alcon division into a separately listed eye care devices company leaving it to focus on pharmaceutical discovery and development. The transaction will be put to shareholders for a vote in February 2019 and if approved, would be completed by 30 June of that year.

A nanoparticle device designed to enhance the effect of radiation in the treatment of cancer has delivered positive Phase 2/3 results in patients with soft tissue sarcoma. The device, NBTXR3, has been developed by Nanobiotix SA of France.

UK-based NodThera Ltd has raised £28 million in Series A financing to develop small molecule drugs to treat diseases driven by chronic inflammation. The financing was co-led by Sofinnova Partners and 5AM Ventures with further participation by Epidarex Capital and F-Prime Capital Partners.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Epidiolex, a treatment for severe forms of epilepsy that is based on cannabidiol, a purified drug substance derived from marijuana. Epidiolex was developed by GW Pharmaceuticals Plc.

It has been approved to treat Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome in patients two years of age and older.

The drug is the first approved treatment containing cannabidiol, a chemical component of the Cannabis sativa plant. It is also the first drug approved for patients with Dravet syndrome.

Belgium-based iTeos Therapeutics SA has raised $75 million in an oversubscribed Series B financing round to advance two of its immunotherapy candidates into the clinic and open a new office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US.

The funding was led by MPM Capital with participation from the additional new investors HBM Partners, 6 Dimensions Capital and  Curative Ventures. All of the company’s existing investors also participated in the round.

In the wake of unexpectedly positive clinical results from a trial testing the folfirinox chemotherapy regimen in patients with pancreatic cancer, after surgery, Targovax ASA has decided to drop development of its therapeutic vaccine for this indication.

Emulate Inc, the developer of micro-engineered chips that mimic that activity of live human organs, has raised $36 million in a Series C financing round to finance the expansion of its organs-on-chips technology that is being used by the pharma industry to test candidate drugs for safety and predict efficacy.

Roche and Foundation Medicine Inc reached a definitive merger agreement on 19 June enabling the Swiss multinational to acquire shares of the US molecular information company that it does not already own.

Roche is to buy the shares at $137 per share in cash giving a total transaction value of $2.4 billion and a total company value of $5.3 billion. This represents a premium of 29% to Foundation Medicine’s closing stock market price on 18 June and a premium of 47% and 68% to the 30-day and 90-day volume weighted average share price on the same day.

Syncona Investment Management Ltd of the UK has launched two new gene therapy companies to complement its existing portfolio which includes Nightstar Therapeutics Plc and Freeline Therapeutics Ltd.

The new companies, in which Syncona is the sole institutional investor, are Orbit BioMedical Ltd, a surgical platform company and SwanBio Therapeutics Ltd, a gene therapy company focused on neurological disorders. Syncona, formerly part of the Wellcome Trust, has invested $12 million in Orbit for an 80% stake, and $23 million in SwanBio for a 72% stake.