News

Sanofi SA has stopped a Phase 3b trial of its antiarrhythmic, Multaq (dronedarone), in patients with permanent atrial fibrillation following a significant increase in cardiovascular events in those receiving the drug.

Addex Pharmaceuticals Ltd said that it will reduce its headcount by about 25% as part of a restructuring programme aimed at realising annual savings of about CHF 8 million (€6.6 million) and stretching its cash through the end of 2013.

Venture-capital-backed Vantia Ltd has raised £4 million in a Series B round to support the clinical development of two candidate small molecule drugs for the treatment of dysmenorrhoea and for nocturia.

Antisense Pharma GmbH has raised €8 million from a group of German investors to support the late-stage development of a DNA-oligonucleotide drug for the treatment of cancer. The drug inhibits transforming growth factor beta 2 (TGF-beta2).

Sanofi SA has agreed to pay $10 million upfront to a venture-capital-led company in New Haven, Connecticut for access to ribosome-based technology to develop antibiotics for multi-drug resistant Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria.

A study published in Nature Medicine has suggested that inhibiting a receptor called death receptor-6 may represent a novel approach for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The study was undertaken by researchers at Biogen Idec of the US.

Novartis AG said that its Phase 3 trial of Afinitor (everolimus) for women with advanced breast cancer has been stopped early after interim results showed that the primary endpoint of progression-free survival was met.

AstraZeneca Plc is to make an undisclosed up-front cash payment to PTC Therapeutics Inc for access to technology that regulates the rate and timing of protein production in the cell. The goal is to discover new small molecule drugs for cancer.

In separate announcements, Novartis AG said that its bronchodilator for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, indacaterol, has been approved by regulatory authorities in the US and Japan. The drug is a long-acting beta2-agonist.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new anticoagulant for the prevention of deep vein thrombosis in patients undergoing knee or hip replacement surgery, according to the drug’s manufacturer, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.