News

Sanofi SA has entered a collaboration with Selecta Biosciences Inc in the US to develop immunotherapies for up to three different allergies.

MorphoSys AG has negotiated rights to exclusively license new peptide technology from privately-owned Lanthio Pharma BV in the Netherlands. MorphoSys will also make an equity investment in Lanthio as part of a Series A round. Figures weren’t disclosed.

TxCell SA of France, which is developing cell-based immunotherapies for chronic inflammatory diseases, has raised €12.4 million from existing shareholders and a new investor to finance a proof-of-concept study of its lead product for Crohn’s disease.

Pharming Group NV has received a $10 million milestone payment from its partner Santarus Inc following the successful Phase 3 trial of Ruconest, its lead drug for hereditary angioedema (HAE). The trial result was reported on 7 November.

A new vaccine technology based on messenger RNA is reported to be effective in animals with influenza A. Data from the studies has been published online in Nature Biotechnology. The vaccines were developed by CureVac GmbH.

The Belgian drug regulator has approved the start of a Phase 3 trial of an autologous cell therapy for patients with chronic heart failure – understood to be the first such trial ever. The therapy was developed by Cardio3 BioSciences SA and the US Mayo Clinic.

Leading institutions in the UK, including the Wellcome Trust, have announced plans to create a repository of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) in order to study how genetic variation and defects impact cell behaviour and disease.

Medivir AB of Sweden expects to start a Phase 2 study early next year of a new combination treatment for hepatitis C, as part of its ongoing efforts to build a franchise around its protease inhibitor, simeprevir (TMC435).

Ablynx NV of Belgium and Algeta ASA of Norway have announced plans to investigate synergies between their technologies to find out whether there is scope to develop new therapies for cancer.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new seasonal influenza vaccine from Novartis – the first vaccine of its kind to be produced using cultured animal cells instead of fertilized chicken eggs.