Novartis International AG has warned that foreign exchange losses could significantly reduce the growth in its reported results in 2009 even as the underlying performance of its pharmaceutical business remains strong.
Evolva SA, a Swiss biotech company with a genetic chemistry platform, is raising CHF 28 million in the first closing of a Series B financing that will support its planned takeover of Arpida Ltd, another Swiss biotech company.
Evotec AG has received a €2.5 million milestone payment from Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) for the identification of a candidate compound in a joint research programme on cardiometabolic risk. This is BI’s seventh milestone payment to Evotec.
Pfizer Inc has raised its revenue forecast for 2009 following the completion of its acquisition of Wyeth. Revenue for the year is now expected to be $49 to $50 billion compared with an earlier forecast of $45 to $46 billion, the company said.
Elan Corporation Plc said that its recent strategic alliance with Johnson & Johnson, under which it divested assets under development for Alzheimer’s disease, helped drive the company into profit for the 2009 third quarter after a loss a year earlier.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded $115 million to the non-profit partnership, Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), to help it develop its portfolio of anti-malarial medicines. This is the MMV’s fifth grant from the foundation.
BioCeramic Therapeutics, a privately-owned company that is developing bioactive materials for orthopaedic and dental applications has received £1.2 million to support its operations ahead of the commercialisation of its lead product in 2010.
MorphoSys AG said that it has reached an agreement with Daiichi Sankyo Company Ltd of Japan to discover and develop therapeutic antibodies to treat hospital-acquired infections. The financial terms were not disclosed.
Sygnis Pharma AG has established a €10 million, three-year standby equity facility with YA Global Master SPV Ltd, the Cayman Islands investment vehicle of Yorkville Advisors LLC of the US.
Following strong nine-month sales of the influenza treatment, Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and the cancer drug, Avastin (bevacizumab), the Roche Group has raised its guidance for sales growth in 2009 and confirmed its estimates for profit growth.