Ablynx nearly doubles revenues in 2009 first half
Ablynx NV nearly doubled its revenues to €11.9 million in the first half of 2009 following milestone payments from its research collaborators, Novartis, Wyeth, Boehringer Ingelheim and Merck Serono.
News
Santaris to receive $6.5 million for access to its locked nucleic acid drug platform
Santaris Pharma A/S is to receive $6.5 million upfront from Shire Plc for giving the UK company access to its locked nucleic acid (LNA) drug platform for identifying drug candidates against certain targets to treat rare genetic disorders.
ProStrakan to receive $10 million upfront for testosterone product
The UK specialty pharmaceutical company, ProStrakan Group Plc, is to receive $10 million upfront in an exclusive licensing and distribution deal with Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc for its testosterone replacement therapy, Fortesta.
Newly merged Affitech plans to raise capital
Affitech A/S, a therapeutic antibody company that was created in May 2009 by the merger of a privately-owned Norwegian company and Pharmexa A/S of Denmark, plans to raise new equity capital this year to finance its antibody programme.
Ark expects EMEA opinion on gene therapy by the end of 2009
Ark Therapeutics Group Plc said that it expects a regulatory decision on its application to market a novel gene therapy in Europe for patients with malignant glioma, a type of brain cancer, by the end of 2009.
Geron submits further data while the FDA puts embryonic stem cell trial on hold
Geron Corporation of Menlo Park, California, has submitted further animal data to the US Food and Drug Administration on its first-in-man study of a stem cell treatment for spinal cord injury and the agency has put a clinical hold on the study.
Applications for new medicines rise at the EMEA
The European Medicines Agency gave a record number of positive opinions for new medicines in 2008. However the number of applications that were rejected by the agency, or withdrawn by the applicant, also increased significantly, according to the EMEA’s 2008 annual report.
FDA approves Lundbeck’s new anti-epileptic drug
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved H. Lundbeck A/S’s anti-epileptic drug, Sabril (vigabatrin), to treat spasms in infants and seizures in adults. Lundbeck acquired Sabril when it bought Ovation Pharmaceuticals Inc in March.
French research agency to grant €2.2 million to TcL Pharma
The French national research agency, ANR (L'Agence nationale de la recherche), is to award €2.2 million to TcL Pharma, a biotechnology company which is developing drugs for organ and tissue transplantation and auto-immune disease.
Intercell’s revenue increases following its first product launch
Intercell AG reported revenue of €14.9 million in the second quarter of 2009, helped by the launch of its first product, a vaccine to protect against Japanese Encephalitis, on markets in Europe, the US and Australia.