A public US share offering of Pieris Pharmaceuticals Inc (formerly Pieris AG) has been priced at $2.75 per share for the 9,090,909 shares on offer, giving net proceeds of $22.7 million, a figure that could rise if over-allotments are exercised.
Munich-based Medigene AG has secured €46.4 million in new capital through the placement of shares with existing shareholders and new institutional investors to support clinical development of its dendritic cell (DC) vaccines against cancer and other immunotherapy projects.
A second drug being developed by Roche for Alzheimer’s disease has failed an efficacy test – this time in a Phase 2b trial. The drug, sembragiline (RG1577, EVT302), is an inhibitor of an enzyme that contributes to the production of free radicals, which contribute to the disease’s pathology.
Celgene Corporation is set to pay $1 billion for access to engineered T cell technologies developed by Juno Therapeutics Inc in one of the year’s most significant oncology deals. The 10-year collaboration will focus on chimeric antigen receptor technology and T cell receptor technologies.
Transgene SA, a publicly-listed biotech whose majority shareholder is Institut Mérieux, has announced plans to terminate its pharmaceutical development and bio-manufacturing activities resulting in the loss of about 120 jobs, or about 41% of its workforce.
Eli Lilly and Company and Immunocore Ltd have agreed to test two potential combination therapies for the treatment of melanoma that involve Immunocore’s T cell receptor technology together with two of Lilly’s experimental kinase inhibitors.
Novartis is increasing its involvement in neurology with the acquisition of Spinifex Pharmaceuticals Inc, a privately held Australian-American company that is developing a potentially novel treatment for chronic pain and particularly neuropathic pain.
Allergy Therapeutics Plc has outlined plans for the resumption of US clinical trials of its short-course vaccine against grass allergy, Pollinex Quattro Grass, following the submission of trial protocols to the Food and Drug Administration, and new funding.
The European Medicines Agency has recommended the approval of the first histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor for the treatment of multiple myeloma, a rare cancer of the white blood cells. The drug, Farydak (panobinostat), was developed by Novartis.
A little more than three months after acquiring GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s marketed oncology drugs, Novartis has outlined a strategy for exploiting these assets, as well as developing its wider oncology portfolio.