Eight new medicines, including a new treatment for lung cancer from Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH and a new therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from Novartis, have received positive opinions from the EMA’s main scientific committee.
Glucagon-like peptide-1 based drugs for Type 2 diabetes do not pose new safety concerns, specifically in relation to an increased risk of pancreatic adverse events, the European Medicines Agency announced on 26 July 2013.
The first results of a reorganisation and change in management at Shire Plc were in evidence on 25 July when the company reported a 7% rise in product sales to $1.23 billion for the second quarter and forecast double-digit earnings growth for 2013.
Cellular Dynamics International Inc, which is a producer of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), has priced its previously-announced initial public offering of shares at $12 per share. The shares will begin trading today on Nasdaq.
Noxxon Pharma AG has finished recruitment for its Phase 2a study in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus at risk of diabetic nephropathy. The oligonucleotide therapy is intended to neutralise the pro-inflammatory chemokine CCL2.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s chief executive Andrew Witty said that it is “too early” to quantify the impact on its financial results of an ongoing investigation by the Chinese authorities into allegations of misconduct by certain individuals in the company – an investigation that has widened in recent days to include other large pharmaceutical companies.
The ReNeuron Group Plc has secured new funding commitments of £33 million, enabling it to advance its three allogeneic stem cell programmes through Phase 2 development. The funding includes a large grant from the Welsh government.
Heptares Therapeutics Ltd has generated a stabilised form of a GPCR target under a research collaboration with Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc enabling the start of a drug discovery programme. Cubist works in acute care and is developing antibiotics.
TiGenix NV has raised €6.5 million in a private placement of its shares to finance the continued roll-out of its cell therapy for knee injuries ChondroCelect. A total of 26 million new shares were placed via an accelerated bookbuilding procedure.
Novartis expects to see sales grow by a low-single digit figure this year, an upward revision from its forecast in April for a flat turnover. This is largely due to a delay in generic competition in the US for its high blood pressure drug Diovan (valsartan).