News

GlaxoSmithKline said that it has entered into an alliance with the California-based Regulus Therapeutics LLC to discover and develop microRNA-targeted therapeutics to treat inflammatory diseases.

Santo Holding (Deutschland) GmbH, the financing vehicle of the Strüngmann brothers, will have two seats on the supervisory board of 4SC AG, whose shareholders rejected an unsolicited takeover bid from Santo in January 2008.

MTM Laboratories AG, a privately held Germany company that is developing diagnostic devices for detecting cervical cancer, has raised €9.6 million with a private placement of its shares.

Intercytex Group Plc said that it has been asked to participate in a US government-funded institute that will investigate the use of regenerative medicine to develop treatments for injuries sustained by soldiers in battlefields around the world. The London-Stock-Exchange listed company is the only non-US participant in the institute.

In a quarterly business update, Pharming Group NV has confirmed that it plans to re-submit its application for the recombinant C1 inhibitor, Rhucin, to the European Medicines Agency with additional clinical data. In parallel, it will pursue registration for the product in markets outside the European Union.

Eight new investigational medicines have been recommended for orphan designation by a committee of the European Medicines Agency. Sponsors of orphan-designated products may be eligible for grants and regulatory fee reductions.

A closely-held UK company with an early-stage oncology programme has reached agreement to be acquired by Roche for up to $175 million. The deal, which was announced on 15 April 2008, includes an upfront cash payment of $160 million plus a milestone payment of $15 million which is due upon the start of Phase 2 trials of its  oncology programme.

Paion AG, a Frankfurt Stock Exchange-listed developer of treatments for stroke and other thrombotic diseases, made an agreed bid on 10 April 2008 for all the share capital of CeNeS Pharmaceuticals Plc, a developer of products for pain, anaesthesia and neurology. CeNeS is listed on the Alternative Investment Market in London.

In another step to require prompt reporting of clinical trial data, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent a letter to GlaxoSmithKline demanding that the company supply a full report on the results of postmarketing studies conducted for the diabetes drug, Avandia (rosiglitazone maleate). The demands are contained in a Warning Letter dated 25 March 2008 to Jean-Pierre Garnier, GSK’s chief executive officer. The letter has been posted on the FDA’s website, www.fda.gov.

A US District Court has permanently enjoined the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) from putting into effect new rules that would have limited the number of times an inventor could amend claims in a patent application.