GlaxoSmithKline Plc has decided is to stop a Phase 3 trial of a MAGE-A3 cancer vaccine for patients with non-small cell lung cancer because it has been unable to identify a sub-population that might benefit from the treatment.
SkyePharma Plc is poised to pay off years of fixed-income debt following commitments from institutional investors to buy shares in the company. This is expected to raise gross proceeds of £112 million, sufficient to pay off debt while leaving a residual £8.4 million for future investment. The company announced the capital-raising measures on 31 March, together with the release of its 2013 financial results.
AstraZeneca Plc has agreed to give the Medical Research Council access to its proprietary compound library under a collaboration aimed at identifying promising new candidate drugs. Under the deal, the MRC will fund up to 15 screening projects per year.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new medicine for haemophilia B – the first treatment for the disorder to require less frequent injections. The drug, Alprolix, was developed by Biogen Idec Inc and Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB.
Evotec AG has entered 2014 with a simplified structure that will highlight revenue from projects generated from the company’s own internal research. Going forward, the company will also use the financial metric, EBITA, as its main indicator for productivity.
More than six months into new management, Kymab Ltd is taking steps to build a pipeline of therapeutics that is based on a proprietary transgenic mouse platform.
A novel gene therapy developed by bluebird bio Inc of Cambridge, Massachusetts has been administered to a patient with beta-thalassemia, a rare blood disorder. The treatment involves an autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Daratumumab, a candidate antibody therapeutic developed by Genmab A/S, has reached a second milestone under a collaboration with Janssen Biotech Inc triggering a $22 million payment to the Danish company. Daratumumab targets CD38.
Medigene AG has reported a sharply lower loss on higher revenue for 2013, a period during which it shifted its cancer focus to immunotherapies. During the year the company also expanded an out-licensing agreement to advance the development of EndoTAG-1.
Transgene SA, a developer of oncolytic virus therapies and an indirect subsidiary of the Institut Mérieux Group, has raised €65.5 million in a two-part share offering enabling it to carry forward an ambitious clinical trial programme for its portfolio of immunotherapies.