News

Sinclair Pharma Plc and IS Pharma Plc, two specialist pharmaceutical companies listed in London, intend to merge through an exchange of shares, subject to certain conditions.

Researchers from Rockefeller University in New York City have shown that stem cells that leave a special niche environment to become hair follicles send signals back to the niche in order to prevent other stem cells from activating too early.

Shares of the Renovo Group Plc plunged by 75% on the London Stock Exchange on 11 February 2011 after the company announced that its first Phase 3 trial for Juvista (avotermin) for use in scare revision surgery failed to meet all clinical endpoints.

Shire Plc said sales of its pharmaceutical products exceeded $3 billion in 2010, driven by growth of its attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) franchise and demand for an orphan drug product where a competitor drug was in short supply.

Pronova BioPharma ASA, the Norwegian omega-3 specialist, reported a decline in revenue and a loss for the quarter ended 31 December 2010 mainly because of flagging shipments to the US where inventories of Lovaza were run down.

Eli Lilly and Company Inc is enlisting the support of venture capitalists in the US and Europe to support its virtual drug development network that manages promising new molecules from candidate stage to clinical proof of concept.

Philogen SpA, an Italian biotech company that is developing advanced antibodies for cancer treatments, has become the first European biotechnology company to offer its shares to the public in 2011. The company is developing products for the treatment of angiogenesis-related disorders.

Data from a Phase 3 study of the Novartis candidate drug for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours, everolimus, have been published in The New England Journal of Medicine.The data show that the drug extends progression-free survival, the company said.

Evotec AG has agreed to pay about €12 million for Kinaxo Biotechnologies GmbH, a Munich-based drug discovery company, which supports the development of targeted drugs.

Sanofi-Aventis SA lost more than €2 billion of sales due to generic competition in 2010. This, plus healthcare reform and government austerity, contributed to a 0.8% decline in group sales, at constant exchange rates, in 2010.