Bluebird bio Inc has treated the first patient in a Phase 1/2 trial designed to establish the safety and efficacy of a gene therapy procedure in patients with sickle cell disease. This is reportedly the first ever gene therapy study in patients with this disorder.
Shire Plc said that it has agreed with AbbVie Inc to end their proposed merger, and that a break fee of $1.635 billion is now payable to it. The Dublin, Ireland-based company said it was well positioned to continue as an independent business.
Bicycle Therapeutics of the UK has raised £20 million in equity financing to bring its candidate peptide therapeutics into clinical development in cancer indications. The technology combines features of both antibodies and small-molecule drugs.
James Bowling, the interim chief financial officer of Shire Plc, has decided to step down from his position effective 31 March 2015. He is to join Severn Trent Plc as CFO. Shire said that it will start recruitment for a new CFO immediately.
Data showing that robust human pancreatic beta cells can be produced in vitro is being described as a breakthrough for modern science and specifically for the future treatment of Type 1 diabetes.
The Roche group reported sales of CHF 34.8 billion (€28.8 billion) for the first nine months of 2014, unchanged from a year earlier. At constant exchange rates sales increased by 5%. The main event of the period was its acquisition of InterMune Inc for $8.3 billion in the third quarter.
A project aimed at sequencing the genomes of patients in the UK with cancer and rare, genetic disorders has moved a step closer towards implementation with the selection of a group of potential commercial suppliers of gene analysis services.
AbbVie Inc said that its directors have decided to recommend to its shareholders that its £32 billion bid for Shire Plc be rejected. Shire had no immediate comment.
Shire Plc said that it would prefer to go ahead with its pending £32 billion merger with AbbVie Inc but if the US company decides not to proceed, a break fee of more than one billion pounds would become payable to it.
A newly formed German company, Rigontec GmbH, has found backers for a novel cancer treatment that makes a tumour seem like a viral infection, thereby prompting an attack by the immune system. The treatment involves neither live viruses, nor viral genes, nor particles common in oncolytic viruses, and therefore does not raise safety concerns common to the use of viruses, according to the developers.