Spinifex Pharmaceuticals Pty, an Australian developer of chronic pain treatments, has raised US $45 million in a Series C financing round from venture capitalists led by Novo A/S of Denmark and the new investor, Canaan Partners of Menlo Park in California.
In keeping with its role in mapping the human genome more than a decade ago, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is helping organise another large data project – this time with the goal of identifying protein targets for new drugs. Together with the European Bioinformatics Institute and GlaxoSmithKline Plc, the Trust is setting up a new Centre for Therapeutic Target Validation in the UK to collect data relevant to disease.
Edinburgh-based NuCana BioMed Ltd has raised $57 million in a Series B financing round to support the development of cancer medicines that are chemically adapted nucleoside analogues, reportedly with an enhanced ability to trigger cancer cell death.
Newron Pharmaceuticals SpA, which has candidate products for pain and diseases of the central nervous system, has raised CHF 18.6 million (€15.2 million) in a share placement with institutional investors.
The US Food and Drug Administration has given the Novartis vaccine Bexsero, which is designed to protect against infection from meningococcal disease caused by serogroup B, a designation as a ‘breakthrough therapy’. This means it will receive an expedited review.
InDex Pharmaceuticals AB of Sweden has secured a licensing agreement with Almirall SA of Spain giving that company European marketing rights for its lead drug candidate for ulcerative colitis Kappaproct. The agreement comes ahead of the release of top-line data from a Phase 3 study of the therapy in patients experiencing a severe stage of the disease.
An aptamer drug developed by Noxxon Pharma AG has shown positive results in a Phase 2a study of patients with diabetic nephropathy, a complication of diabetes. The drug, emapticap pegol, had beneficial effects on patients even after the cessation of treatment.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the first sublingual allergen extract for the treatment of hay fever which is induced by certain grass pollens. The product, Oralair, was developed by Stallergenes SA of France.
Nicox SA continued to strengthen its ophthalmic business in 2013 with an acquisition and the expansion of its US sales force. But significant sales and an end to losses weren’t achieved during the year.
Evotec AG has signed a partnership agreement with the Debiopharm Group of Switzerland to discover and develop novel compounds for the treatment of multiple forms of solid tumours and leukaemias which have defined genetic alterations.