Roche and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company have announced plans to investigate a combination of vemurafenib and ipilimumab in patients with BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma. The two agents target the disease in different ways.
A spin-out of NV Philips Electronics that is developing brain stimulation technology has raised €13 million in a Series A financing round from Wellington Partners, Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners and Life Sciences Partners.
Evotec AG is paying €10.25 million in cash upfront to acquire the US compound management business of Galápagos NV in a move that will substantially increase its ability to help third parties develop and manage their compound libraries.
TiGenix NV of Belgium has raised €15.2 million in a rights issue, putting the finishing touches on a merger with Cellerix SA of Spain to create a new, larger company focused on cell-based therapeutics. The issue was fully subscribed.
Shield Therapeutics, a Switzerland-based speciality pharmaceutical company, has raised €8.2 million in a Series A financing round from Inventages Venture Capital in order to help fund the late-stage development of a product for anaemia.
Heptares Therapeutics Ltd has reached an agreement with AstraZeneca Plc to explore a number of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) as possible targets for new drugs – its third discovery partnership since April.
Paion AG is set to receive $3 million from Ono Pharmaceutical Co Ltd of Japan for the start of a Japanese Phase 2 study of its short-acting sedative, remimazolam. The payment brings total milestones for the project up to $4 million.
MediGene AG has entered into a collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, US to test candidate vaccines against the human papillomaviruses using an adeno-associated virus platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
BioAlliance Pharma SA has announced a change in leadership with the appointment of Judith Greciet as chief executive officer. She will succeed the company’s co-founder and chief executive, Dominique Costantini, from 29 June 2011.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new antibacterial for the treatment of diarrhoea associated with Clostridium difficile in adults 18 years and older, according to the drug’s manufacturer, Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc.