Merck & Co. Inc has agreed to pay €110 million upfront to AiCuris GmbH & Co of Germany to gain access to its medicines targeting human cytomegalovirus, including a candidate antiviral which has been given ‘fast track’ designation by the FDA.
Addex Therapeutics Ltd of Switzerland has raised $10.3 million in a private placement of its shares with international, institutional investors to support the development of its pipeline of small molecule drugs based on allosteric modulation technology.
The non-profit drug developer, Aeras, has signed an agreement with GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines SA to advance the clinical development of a new vaccine against tuberculosis. A Phase 2b trial of the vaccine is scheduled to start in Kenya, India and South Africa.
UCB SA of Belgium is to provide up to $4.5 million over three years to fund a new research project at Harvard University to study the human microbiome and its impact on the immune system. This is the company’s third research alliance with the US university.
Two pioneers in cell biology, John Gurdon of the UK and Shinya Yamanaka of Japan, have been awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work in showing that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent.
AstraZeneca Plc is to pay $35 million upfront for exclusive rights to a Phase 2 compound designed to treat complications associated with end-stage renal disease and chronic kidney disease. Potential development milestones are valued at $237.5 million.
Affimed Therapeutics AG of Germany has raised €15.5 million in venture capital to finance the early clinical testing of two bispecific antibody products developed to treat lymphomas. The Series D funding is being lead by existing investors.
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd is to pay $60 million upfront to buy the privately-owned US developer of vaccine technology, LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals Inc. The acquisition will give Takeda a candidate product to prevent norovirus gastroenteritis.
ArGEN-X BV of the Netherlands has taken the unusual step of out-licensing its lead preclinical antibody compound to a Shanghai-based company which will take it into human studies in China and thereafter develop it.
Ablynx NV said that its antibody-fragment therapeutic, ALX-0061, has met the efficacy endpoint at week 12 in a Phase 1/2 trial of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The compound targets the interleukin-6 receptor.