In what is being described as the largest initiative of its kind, 10 large pharmaceutical companies have announced the setting up a non-profit organisation through which they will collaborate to accelerate and improve clinical research.
CureVac GmbH, developer of a novel messenger RNA vaccine technology, has obtained €80 million in new financing from its principal shareholder, dievini Hopp Biotech Holding, enabling it to advance the clinical development of its lead product – a therapeutic vaccine for prostate cancer.
Evotec AG has secured a multi-year contract with the US National Institutes of Health to manage the institute’s small molecule repository, a library of small-molecule compounds. The agreement, which may last for up to 10 years, is valued at €60 million.
London has been selected as one of four new regional innovation centres by Johnson & Johnson Inc which is in the process of reorganising its early-stage life science investments. The other centres will be in the US and China.
New research published in the EMBO Journal suggests that a specific type of neuron in the brain can influence the way the body breaks down and stores nutrients, providing further insight into obesity and other metabolic diseases.
Venture-capital backed Immune Targeting Systems Ltd has reported the results of its first clinical test of a new synthetic peptide vaccine for influenza A. It has also announced changes in top management ahead of a new funding round.
Up to 9,000 small-molecule compounds with potential as future drugs are being made available free of charge to academic researchers around the world by MRC Technology, the technology transfer arm of the UK’s Medical Research Council.
UCB SA has signalled its commitment to biologic drugs with the construction of a new manufacturing plant in Belgium that will produce cell culture-based therapeutic proteins. The plant will supply product for UCB research and trials.
Sweden has announced plans to invest $320 million over four years in the life sciences of which one third will support new infrastructure for projects in translational medicine. The investment will be concentrated in the Stockholm-Uppsala region.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc has invested $5.5 million in Response Genetics Inc through a private share placement giving it 15.2% of the expanded share capital of the US diagnostics company. GSK in-licenses genetic testing services from the company.