The European Medicines Agency is recommending conditional approval of a new treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a genetic disease that can lead to loss of muscle function. The drug, Translarna (ataluren), acts by stimulating dystrophin production.
BioAlliance Pharma SA of France and Topotarget A/S of Denmark have signed a definitive agreement for their all-share merger which will combine the portfolios of the two companies into a new orphan oncology company called Onxeo. The final agreement was announced on 21 May.
Privately-owned PolyTherics Ltd of the UK has reorganized its pharmaceutical service business under a new holding company that includes the assets of Antitope Ltd, a company it acquired in July 2013 to expand its offering of antibody-related technologies.
Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG of Switzerland has reported further positive data from a Phase 3 trial of a new treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a genetic disease that causes severe degeneration of the muscle.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the first gene-based test to identify certain antigens in red blood cells that could prevent the successful transfusion of blood from a donor to a patient. By using the test, physicians can determine the compatibility of donor and patient cell types.
The UK specialty pharmaceutical company BTG Plc reported a 24.3% increase in revenue for the fiscal year ended 31 March to £290.5 million with slightly more than 88% of this figure generated in the US.
In an interim management statement, Skyepharma Plc said its financial position has improved after it recently paid off £95.6 million pounds of bond debt thereby cutting its debt service payments by £8.1 million in 2014 and £13.3 million in 2015. Its remaining debt is only £4.8 million.
Alere Inc of the US, a provider of point-of-care diagnostics for chronic disease, is shedding some of its non-core assets by spinning them off into a newly formed company that is to be listed on the London Stock Exchange.
AstraZeneca Plc has rejected a sweetened takeover proposal from Pfizer Inc that values the company at £55 per share saying that the offer falls short of the company’s value as an “independent science-led company.”
Kymab Ltd of Cambridge UK has raised $40 million in a Series B financing round from its existing investor the Wellcome Trust and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Both institutions are investing $20 million each.