News

ArGEN-X raises €27.5 million for antibody development

Country
Netherlands

ArGEN-X BV of the Netherlands, which is developing monoclonal antibodies against human disease, has raised €27.5 million in a Series B round to support the development of its preclinical portfolio of products which are based on natural antibodies from the llama.

AZ commits $100 million to venture arm

Country
United Kingdom

AstraZeneca Plc has announced the allocation of an additional $100 million to its venture capital arm, MedImmune Ventures, increasing the total capital under management to $400 million. The fund invests in private life science companies.

Sapiens raises €10 million in extra funding

Country
Germany

Sapiens Steering Brain Stimulation GmbH of Munich, Germany and Eindhoven, the Netherlands has raised €10 million in additional funding to support development of its brain stimulation technology for Parkinson’s disease and other neurological disorders.

Ipsen raises its holdings in Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals to 40.7%

Country
France

Ipsen SA, the French specialist pharmaceutical company, has purchased a newly issued, $25 million convertible bond issue of Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals Inc of California to fulfill a milestone payment under a partnership agreement with the privately held US company.

Guido Rasi takes over at the EMA

Country
United Kingdom

Guido Rasi, the new executive director of the European Medicines Agency, said the agency needs to take a fresh look at how patients gain access to the medicines that it regulates. This means further strengthening the network of European drug regulators and taking account of the role that government payers play in making it possible for patients to gain access to new drugs.

Galapagos reports data on JAK inhibitor

Country
Belgium

Galapagos NV has become the latest company to report positive clinical data for an oral Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor in rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that is estimated to affect about 1% of the world’s population. Current treatments include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; methotrexate, and biologic medicines.

UCB licenses ion channel technology

Country
Belgium

UCB SA of Belgium has acquired, for an undisclosed sum, research assets from  venture-capital backed Lectus Therapeutics Ltd of the UK as well as rights to the company’s technology platform for ion channel discovery.

CHMP gives positive opinion for AZ’s Caprelsa

Country
United Kingdom

The European Medicines Agency’s main scientific committee, the CHMP, has recommended that Caprelsa (vandetanib), a treatment for aggressive and symptomatic medullary thyroid cancer, be granted a conditional marketing authorisation.

FDA approves new treatment for a form of leukaemia

Country
United States

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer. The drug, Erwinaze (asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi), is from EUSA Pharma Inc.

Gilead to acquire Pharmasset for $11 billion

Country
United States

Gilead Sciences Inc said it has reached an agreement to acquire the Princeton, New Jersey-based Pharmasset Inc in order to accelerate the development of an all-oral compound for the treatment of HCV. The transaction is valued at $11 billion.