News

PolyTherics relaunches as Abzena

Country
United Kingdom

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 confirms effect of candidate DMD drug

Country
Switzerland

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.

FDA approves gene-based blood test

Country
United States

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.

BTG revenue boosted by acquisitions

Country
United Kingdom

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.

Skyepharma repays debt

Country
United Kingdom

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 to float spin-off in London

Country
United States

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 rejects final Pfizer proposal

Country
United Kingdom

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 raises $40 mln for antibody development

Country
United Kingdom

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.

Horizon Discovery acquires screening business

Country
United Kingdom

Horizon Discovery Group Plc, a UK service company, has agreed to acquire the combination high throughput screening business of Zalicus Inc of Cambridge, Massachusetts, bolstering its portfolio of research tools for the pharmaceutical industry.

Shire acquisition strengthens its rare disease portfolio

Country
Ireland

Shire Plc has made its third move this year to strengthen its portfolio of rare disease medicines with the acquisition of San Diego-based Lumena Pharmaceuticals Inc which has two candidate compounds in clinical development for rare liver diseases.