Actelion Ltd is set to acquire Ceptaris Therapeutics Inc of the US pending Food and Drug Administration approval of that company’s product for mycosis fungoides, a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The upfront payment is $25 million.
Nicox SA is preparing to launch four, as yet undisclosed, eye care products in the first quarter of 2014 marking a transition to ophthalmology from its previous focus on osteoarthritis. The update was issued with the company’s first-half results.
Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc has taken steps to expand its portfolio of marketed and investigational antibiotics with the acquisitions of Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc and Trius Therapeutics Inc. The deals were announced simultaneously on 30 July.
MorphoSys AG nearly doubled its revenue in the first half of 2013 after licensing a prospective antibody drug for rheumatoid arthritis to GlaxoSmithKline Plc, and completing the sale of its service division.
The Belgian university, KU Leuven, has joined forces with a small company in Finland to develop new immunotherapies using a proprietary gene expression technology. The Finnish partner is FIT Biotech of Tampere.
The science of epigenetics received a boost on 29 July with the announcement by Celgene Corporation of plans to invest in HDAC inhibitors under development by Acetylon Pharmaceuticals Inc of the US, with an option to buy the company.
The Board of Directors of Elan Corporation Plc has accepted a takeover bid by Perrigo Company, a large US wholesaler of healthcare products and generic prescription drugs, for $8.6 billion in cash and shares.
Roche expects earnings growth this year to outpace that for sales on the strength of its oncology franchise and continued attention to costs. Oncology product sales in the first half were led by Avastin for the treatment of ovarian and colorectal cancers.
PolyTherics Ltd has strengthened its technology platform with the acquisition of Antitope Ltd, a provider of antibody engineering and immunogenicity screening services. It is issuing £13.5 million in new shares to finance the deal.
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.