Ablynx NV has raised €41.7 million in a private share placement to support development of its portfolio of therapeutic proteins, including products targeting immune checkpoint proteins. Called Nanobodies, the company’s compounds are derived from natural antibodies in the llama.
A Dutch company specialising in drug delivery has raised €10 million in a Series C financing round to advance its early-stage portfolio of treatments for brain tumours and neuroinflammatory conditions. The company is called to-BBB technologies BV.
The German antibody company, Affimed Therapeutics AG, is proposing to launch an initial public offering of its shares in the US, taking advantage of the favourable climate for biopharmaceutical companies which are developing immunotherapies for cancer.
Desmoteplase, one of the few new therapies under development for patients suffering from stroke, has failed to show efficacy in the first of two Phase 3 clinical trials. The developer, H. Lundbeck A/S, said it will seek advice on the way forward.
A monoclonal antibody being developed by GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Genmab A/S for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) has failed to meet its primary endpoint of progression-free survival in a small subset of patients with the disease.
Eisai Co Ltd said that real-world data for its epilepsy drug Fycompa (perampanel) show that the treatment is “generally effective and well tolerated” in a variety of patient populations including those with highly refractory epilepsy and comorbidities.
The European Medicines Agency’s main scientific committee is recommending approval of a second new treatment for hepatitis C virus infection that doesn’t require co-administration with interferon. Daklinza (daclatasvir) is the latest in a new class of direct-acting antivirals.
ThromboGenics NV of Belgium has announced a decision to continue as a stand-alone company and pursue discussions over a potential partnership for its ophthalmic medicine Jetrea in the US. This follows a strategic review that included the option of selling the company.
Roche has announced plans to create a second start-up company with the venture capital firm Versant Ventures – this time focused on the development of potential small molecule drugs for patients with multiple sclerosis.
A Phase 3 study of the checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab in patients with advanced melanoma has been stopped early because of evidence that the antibody treatment was achieving superior overall survival compared with the control arm which was chemotherapy.