The strong dollar had a negative impact on Novartis’ financial results for the first quarter offsetting strong volume growth and productivity gains. Net sales were $11.9 billion, down by 7% from a year earlier and the operating profit was $2.8 billion, down by 1%. The company reported a net income of $2.3 billion for the period, down by 6%.
The Roche Group has issued its first quarter report showing that global sales rose by 3% to CHF 11.8 billion (€11.3 billion) from a year earlier. However, the underlying performance was affected by a 6.8% rise of the dollar against the Swiss franc and a 12.1% decline of the euro against the franc.
Actelion AG, a specialist Swiss pharmaceutical company with a franchise in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), reported a 10% gain in revenue for the first 2015 quarter to CHF 515 million (€502 million) and a 24% rise in operating profits to CHF 190 million.
Thrombogenics NV has teamed up with the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) to create a new oncology company, Oncurious NV, which will re-start development of an antibody that was once licensed to Roche. Called TB-403, the antibody targets placental growth factor.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a special role in drug development particularly in the field of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs). With small numbers of staff, many of whom are scientists, they are in a unique position to drive medical innovation.
An initial public offering for Biocartis Group NV is under way on Euronext Brussels stock exchange in a book-building process that will determine the offering price. The Belgian company’s main product is a portable machine for the molecular diagnosis of cancer and other diseases.
Autifony Therapeutics Ltd has received funding to progress a second compound into clinical development that targets voltage-gated potassium channels in the brain. The indication is schizophrenia. It is already investigating a compound against the same target for hearing loss and tinnitus.
Horizon Discovery Group Plc, which provides services and products to the life science industry, reported a 79% increase in revenue to £11.9 million in 2014, a figure that includes income from two recent acquisitions.
Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute in London have discovered that all cancers share common genetic faults in the early stages of development, leading to the possibility that a new treatment could force tumours down ‘an evolutionary dead end.’
A spin-out from the University of Oxford has developed a new way of preserving livers for transplant. Instead of cooling the organs and storing them on ice, researchers have developed a device that maintains the liver in an environment that mimics that of the body.