News

Shire raises guidance after banner third quarter

Country
Ireland

Shire Plc has raised its guidance for 2014 following a strong third-quarter and nine-month financial performance. The results don’t include a $1.6 billion break fee due it from AbbVie Inc which walked away from a proposed takeover earlier this month.

Erytech raises €30 million in capital increase

Country
France

Erytech Pharma SA, which publically offered its shares for the first time in April 2013, has returned to the Paris Euronext exchange for €30 million in an offering that was 68% subscribed by US institutions.

Probiodrug raises €22.5 million in IPO

Country
Germany

Probiodrug AG, a German specialist in Alzheimer’s disease, has raised €22.5 million with an initial public offering of its shares on the Amsterdam Euronext exchange. The offering of 1,524,205 shares was priced at €15.25 per share. Kempen & Co acted as the bookrunner.

Bavarian Nordic gets major boost from J&J

Country
Denmark

Bavarian Nordic A/S, which for years has supplied the US government with smallpox vaccine for its emergency stockpile, has secured a major new deal with Johnson & Johnson Inc to develop a vaccine against the Ebola and Marburg viruses and explore additional disease targets.

Meeting Report: investors look for novelty

Country
Switzerland

Life science investors say they look for novel products that will meet an unfulfilled patient need. The proposition sounds straightforward. But how can you ever know in advance if you’re picking the best asset?

French biotech completes global offering

Country
France

DBV Technologies SA, which is developing a patch for peanut allergies, has raised about €104.5 million in an international share offering most of which was in American depositary shares on Nasdaq in the US.

Forendo gets €12 million in Series A round

Country
Finland

Forendo Pharma OY of Finland has secured €12 million from a syndicate of investors including Novartis Venture Fund and MS Ventures to bring a candidate drug for endometriosis into the clinic. The drug inhibits the enzyme 17-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1.

EMA ready for Ebola vaccine assessment

Country
United Kingdom

The European Medicines Agency said that it now has procedures in place to review data on candidate vaccines or therapies aimed at protecting or treating patients infected with the Ebola virus with a view to making these medicines available as quickly as possible.

Actelion reports higher sales, earnings

Country
Switzerland

Switzerland’s Actelion Ltd, which has a portfolio of treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), reported significantly higher sales and earnings for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2014.

GSK to restructure as respiratory sales slump

GlaxoSmithKline Plc is to seek £1 billion in new annual cost savings over three years as a 25% decline in sales of the respiratory product Advair continued to put pressure on the group’s financial performance.