A Phase 3 trial of the antibody therapeutic Cyramza (ramucirumab) has failed to reach its primary endpoint of overall survival in patients with liver cancer. The trial was comparing Cyramza plus best supportive care to placebo plus best supportive care as a second-line therapy.
MorphoSys AG and Merck Serono have become the latest companies to collaborate on potential treatments for cancer that modulate the immune system’s natural ability to fight tumours. Together they will discover and develop therapeutic antibodies against undisclosed immune checkpoints.
Synairgen Plc of the UK has outlicensed an experimental compound for severe asthma to AstraZeneca Plc for an upfront fee of $7.25 million and potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones of up to $225 million.
Autifony Therapeutics Ltd, a 2011 spin-out from GlaxoSmithKline Plc with technology to treat hearing disorders, has received £2.2 million in grant funding from UK Technology Strategy Board.
Christopher Viehbacher, the chief executive of Sanofi SA, has decided to move from Paris, France to Boston, Massachusetts, US, the home of the company’s biotechnology subsidiary Genzyme. The decision was first reported in Le Monde on 3 June and later confirmed by the company.
The European Medicines Agency has selected the first two of what may be several medicines to be reviewed under its ‘adaptive licensing’ pilot project. The agents, which haven’t been identified, will be examined by stakeholders, including HTA bodies, to determine their suitability for future marketing.
A UK-based service provider, BioSilta Ltd, has raised €2.5 million from its founding investor and the new investor Omega Funds in order to support the commercial expansion of its reagent-based growth systems for bacterial cultures.
ArGEN-X BV has announced its intention to make an initial public offering of shares on the Euronext exchange in Brussels in order to support the development of its therapeutic antibody portfolio. Further details were not yet available.
Merck & Co Inc has reached an agreement to acquire Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc for $3.85 billion in a move that will strengthen its portfolio of candidate drugs for hepatitis C infection, a disease that has only recently been treated with a new generation of direct-acting antiviral drugs.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new recombinant product for the treatment of Haemophilia A, an inherited, sex-linked blood clotting disorder that is caused by defects in the Factor VIII gene.