The Roche group has reached an agreement to acquire Anadys Pharmaceuticals Inc for $230 million in order to expand its franchise in treatments for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. Anadys is located in San Diego, California.
Wilex AG was boosted in the first nine months of 2011 by income from a licensing agreement for its lead cancer antibody with Prometheus Laboratories Inc (Nestle SA). Nine-month income was €5.6 million compared with €1.2 million a year earlier.
The Roche group has confirmed its earnings forecast for 2011 of core earnings per share growth of about 10% at constant exchange rates. Sales for the first nine months declined in Swiss francs and were flat at constant exchange rates.
Phase 2 data from the immunotherapy, talactoferrin, for non-small cell lung cancer have been published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The data showed an improvement in overall survival of patients who were treated with the drug.
Affiris AG of Austria has received $1.5 million from the Michael J. Fox Foundation in the US to start a Phase 1 study of a new vaccine for Parkinson’s disease. The therapeutic vaccine candidate targets the protein, alpha-synuclein.
Pevion Biotech AG said that data from an ongoing first-in-human trial of a therapeutic vaccine against Candida in healthy volunteers elicited high levels of specific antibodies and a 100% mucosal immune response rate.
The European Court of Justice is scheduled to issue a judgment on 18 October 2011 in a case concerning the patentability of technology based on the use of human embryonic stem cells. The case involves a German researcher, Oliver Brüstle.
AstraZeneca Plc has announced plans to invest $200 million in a new manufacturing facility in China Medical City, Taizhou, Jiangsu province. The site will produce both intravenous and oral solid medicines for the company’s business in China.
A team of US scientists has used cloning technology to create embryos from the skin cells of diabetic patients, and then derived stem cells from these embryos. This is thought to be the first such procedure using patient-specific cells.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Juvisync (sitagliptin and simvastatin) from Merck & Co, the first combination drug for Type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol to be put on the market as a single tablet.