News

FDA approves Nexium for infants

Country
United States

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the proton pump inhibitor, Nexium (esomeprazole sodium), for use in children one month and older for the short-term treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease, AstraZeneca announced.

FDA approves BI and Lilly diabetes drug

Country
United States

The US Food and Drug Administration has announced the approval of a new drug for Type 2 diabetes, Tradjenta (linagliptin). The drug was developed by Boehringer Ingelheim which has a commercialisation deal for the drug with Eli Lilly.

Wilex grants US commercialisation rights for Rencarex

Country
Germany

Wilex AG is to receive $19 million upfront as part of a licensing deal with Prometheus Laboratories Inc giving the San Diego-based company exclusive US commercialisation rights to its cancer antibody, Rencarex (girentuximab).

MorphoSys reports €18.8 million Q1 net profit

Country
Germany

MorphoSys AG had a €18.8 million net profit in the 2011 first quarter on revenues that more than doubled as a consequence of a double-digit million Euro milestone payment from Novartis which installed Morphosys’s antibody library at its headquarters.

TB consortium adds new industry members

Country
United States

Four multinational pharmaceutical companies are among 10 new members of a consortium that has been formed to reach consensus on standards and tools for developing new drugs to treat tuberculosis that might then be adopted by drug regulators.

Modern insulins drive up Q1 sales at Novo Nordisk

Country
Denmark

Novo Nordisk A/S continued to enjoy strong revenue from its diabetes franchise in the 2011 first quarter with sales up by 15% in Danish kroner and 11% in local currencies. The operating profit rose by 24%, giving an operating margin of 34.5%.

FDA approves Zytiga for prostate cancer

Country
United States

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Zytiga (abiraterone acetate), in combination with prednisone, for the treatment of patients with late-stage castration-resistant prostate cancer. The developer is the J&J company, Centocor Ortho Biotech.

Sanofi’s net income fall sharply on modest dip in sales

Country
France

Sanofi-Aventis SA reported a 1.5% decline in net sales to €7,779 million in the first 2011quarter while its net income fell by 28.9% to €1,218 million.The results were influenced by an absence of orders for the H1N1 flu vaccine and generic competition.

Conference Report: SR One investment lifts Bio-Trinity

Country
United Kingdom

It was an auspicious moment to start a conference. Deborah Harland, partner of SR One, announced at the start of the UK BioTrinity conference on 13 April 2011, that the corporate venture arm of GlaxoSmithKline Plc, had just led a €15 million fundraising for the Austrian antibody company, F-Star GmbH.