Evolva Holding SA has become the latest European company to negotiate a standby equity facility with YA Global, a US-based investment group. The facility amounts to CHF 30 million (€27.1 million) and will extend the company’s cash runway by a year.
Evotec AG’s strategy of building alliances in drug discovery with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies continued to bear fruit in the first half of 2011 as revenues increased by 34% to €33.4 million and operating income rose 169% to €0.9 million.
H. Lundbeck A/S is forecasting higher revenue and profits in 2011. But to increase productivity, it plans to reduce its research and development headcount by between 125 to 175 persons or about 2-3% of its total workforce.
Paion AG finished the 2011 first half-year with an increase in revenue, a narrower loss and momentum towards a potential licensing deal for its short-acting sedative, remimazolam. The German drug developer hopes to conclude a deal by year-end.
Pharming Group NV has reached an agreement with the US Food and Drug Administration on the design of a Phase 3 trial for its prospective treatment for hereditary angioedema (HAE), Rhucin. Under the agreement, Pharming will amend the protocol of the study and introduce a new method for assessing its primary endpoint.
Novo Nordisk A/S had sales of diabetes products of DKK 23.9 billion (€3.2 billion) in the first half of 2011, up by 10% from a year earlier, raising its share of the global market for diabetes products to 24%. Victoza and modern insulins drove growth.
Genmab A/S has revised downward its expected operating loss in 2011. But losses are still forecast to exceed those of the previous year largely because milestones paid in 2010 will not be repeated this year.
Vectura Group Plc has given an undisclosed partner US rights to a generic version of a therapy for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that is being developed for delivery in a dry powder inhaler. The upfront payment is $10 million.
MediGene AG expects to report earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of €10 to €16 million in 2011, helped by milestone payments from Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd for the hormone therapy Eligard.
Transgene SA said that its in-licensed oncolytic virus therapy, JX-594, has shown a “mechanistic proof-of-concept” in an early clinical trial of patients with metastatic melanoma. The results of the trial have been reported in Molecular Therapy.