Shire Plc has announced an agreement to acquire the privately-held US regenerative medicines company, Advanced BioHealing Inc, for $750 million in cash. The US company has a marketed product for diabetic foot ulcers.
The Roche group and Merck & Co have announced a number of non-exclusive agreements under which they will explore new combinations of investigational and marketed medicines for hepatitis C. This follows FDA approval of the Merck HCV drug, Victrelis.
ArGEN-X NV, a young Dutch antibody company whose technology is based on the llama, has progressed a candidate antibody into preclinical development, its second therapeutic candidate. The compound targets an undisclosed cancer cell receptor.
A monoclonal antibody that targets placental growth factor (PIGF) has been taken to the next stage of clinical development with the start of a Phase 1b/2 study in patients with glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive type of brain cancer.
The US Food and Drug Administration has announced the approval of Victrelis (boceprevir) to treat certain adults with chronic hepatitis C. It has been authorised for use in combination with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin.
Researchers from the Schepens Eye Research Institute in the US have reported regenerating retinal tissue in mice using induced pluripotent stem cells derived from mouse skin. The institute is an affiliate of the Harvard Medical School.
The Roche group has made regulatory submissions in the US and Europe for vemurafenib, a new drug to treat metastatic melanoma, together with a diagnostic test that would identify people with tumours carrying a specific genetic mutation.
Evotec AG reported a 54% increase in its first 2011 quarter revenues to €15.1 million as its discovery alliances continued to generate increased income. Its operating loss for the quarter narrowed to €800,000 from €1.5 million a year earlier.
Takeda Ventures Inc, the corporate venture arm of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, is the latest venture fund to invest in Fate Therapeutics Inc which is developing compounds that modulate stem-cell pathways. Financial details were not disclosed.
4SC AG ended the 2011 first quarter with an operating loss of €4.8 million and cash and equivalents of €5.5 million. The German small-molecule developer said it is expecting final Phase 2 data this year from three important studies.