News

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.

AstraZeneca’s Q1 revenue and operating profit decline

Country
United Kingdom

Generic competition and government austerity measures contributed to a 4% decline in 2011 first-quarter revenue at AstraZeneca Plc while core operating profit fell by 5% . But earnings per share rose by 10% helped by a recent tax settlement.

GSK raises dividend by 7% as sales decline

Country
United Kingdom

GlaxoSmithKline Plc is proposing to raise its interim dividend by 7% and continue its programme of share buybacks despite a 10% decline in sales in the 2011 first quarter. Share buybacks for the year will be at the top end of the predicted £1-£2 billion range.

Silence Therapeutics to raise up to £5.5 million in share issue

Country
United Kingdom

Silence Therapeutics Plc is proposing to raise up to £5.5 million through the issue of new shares to institutional investors and directors, and a possible additional £1 million in an open offer, which together would support its RNAi drug development platform.

Oxford Nanopore raises £25 mln in private placement

Country
United Kingdom

Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd announced that it has raised £25 million through a share placement with new and existing investors to support the further development of its DNA sequencing and other technologies.