News

France-based Nicox SA said it anticipates a regulatory review of its glaucoma drug latanoprostene bunod to take place soon, and if the result is positive, the treatment could be on the US market by mid-2017.

AstraZeneca Plc is accelerating development of its oncology portfolio and tightening its therapeutic focus with an eye to returning to growth by 2018, or possibly earlier. The company’s third quarter results, released on 10 November, showed group revenue down by 4% to $5.7 billion, but new therapies in oncology and diabetes posted stronger sales.

Syncona LLP, the evergreen investment fund of the Wellcome Trust, is poised to increase its investment in UK life science through a merger with the Guernsey-based investment fund BACIT Ltd. The new group will keep the Syncona name and be listed on the London Stock Exchange.

MorphoSys AG has confirmed that its revenue this year is expected to be in a range of €47 million to €52 million and that its operating loss will amount to between €58 million and €68 million. The forecast was issued with the publication of the company’s third and nine-month results.

If the cell therapy industry were a housing project, then arguably it would be at the construction stage – deciding what materials are needed to make a safe and durable product. Manufacture is a key issue for the industry, but one that is just now being confronted, according to participants at a meeting of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine that took place in London on 3 November.

Genmab A/S has raised its guidance for 2016 while announcing strong nine-month revenue, raising expectations that its partnered anticancer drug, Darzalex (daratumumab), will generate serious income in the future. The drug has received two breakthrough designations from the FDA.. 

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new device for closing small holes in the heart called patent foramen ovales (PFO), which in some patients can be a cause of recurrent strokes. The non-surgical device can be inserted through a catheter in a vein in the leg.

H. Lundbeck A/S, the Danish pharmaceutical company specialising in psychiatric and neurological disorders, has raised its guidance for 2016 following a larger-than-expected increases in sales and earnings so far this year. 

Third-quarter results from Shire Plc give a further insight into the financial impact of its acquisition of Baxalta Inc – the company’s biggest acquisition to date. The $32 billion deal, completed on 3 June, comes on the heels of two other multi-billion dollar deals in 2015.

Belgium-based Promethera Biosciences SA, which is developing cell-based treatments for in-born errors of metabolism and acquired liver disease, has raised €10 million in a Series C-extension financing to expand its portfolio.