News

Uniqure BV of the Netherlands, which is the first company with a licensed gene therapy, expects to raise about $81.9 million from an initial public offering of its shares on the Nasdaq over-the-counter market in the US.

BerGenBio AS has raised NOK 75 million ($12.5 million) with a private equity placement to finance development of its lead drug candidate, BGB324, which is in Phase 1b studies. The compound is said to interfere with cancer drug resistance and metastases.

GW Pharmaceuticals Plc, which has an expanding portfolio of cannabinoid medicines, has raised $94 million in a follow-on offering of an earlier initial public offering on Nasdaq. The funds will be used to support development of an epilepsy compound.

Anergis SA of Switzerland has raised CHF 8 million (€6.5 million) from its venture capital backers in order to advance its lead vaccine product, AllerT, for birch pollen allergy into Phase 3 development.

Amgen Inc and Merck & Co Inc have announced plans to collaborate on the development of a new combination therapy for advanced melanoma. This will combine Amgen’s oncolytic virus product with Merck’s PD-1 inhibitor.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc achieved its financial targets of a 1% increase in group sales and a 4% rise in core earnings per share at constant exchange rates in 2013.

Pfizer Inc said that its kinase inhibitor, palbociclib, significantly improved progression-free survival in a Phase 2 study of women with advanced breast cancer. A global Phase 3 trial of the drug is currently enrolling patients.

Smith & Nephew Plc of the UK is acquiring ArthroCare Corp of the US in a move that will strengthen its position in sports medicine. The value of the deal is $1.7 billion, or about $1.5 billion when ArthroCare’s cash reserves are taken into account.

Crossject SA, a French company with a needle-free pharmaceutical injection system designed for self-administration, is issuing 1,538,462 shares in an initial public offering on the NYSE Alternext exchange in Paris.

Ablynx NV has secured a new research collaboration with Merck & Co based on its technology for antibody-derived therapeutic proteins – this time to discover and develop candidate drugs th