CureVac GmbH, which is developing therapeutic vaccines against cancer, has raised €27.6 million from dievini Hopp BioTech holding GmbH, the investment company of Dietmar Hopp. The company has a compound for prostate cancer in Phase 2a.
More embryonic stem cell lines approved for US funding
Algeta ASA is expanding the clinical development programme for its radiopharmaceutical, Alpharadin (radium 223 chloride), to see if the product can be used for bone metastases from breast cancer as well as those from prostate cancer.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new combination hormonal tablet for use as an oral contraceptive. The drug, Natazia (estradiol valerate and estradiol valerate/dienogest), is manufactured by the US division of Bayer AG.
Ark Therapeutics Group Plc and SkyePharma Plc have announced the resignations of their chief executive officers. The departures come after both companies encountered regulatory obstacles for their lead drugs.
The US National Institutes of Health have awarded $3.4 million to GlycoVaxyn AG of Switzerland and a researcher at the Harvard Medical School to carry out preclinical work on a new S. aureus vaccine for hospital-acquired infections.
The US Food and Drug Administration has issued its first-ever approval of a cellular immunotherapy. The product, Provenge (sipuleucel-T), is a therapeutic vaccine developed by Dendreon Corp of Seattle, Washington.
Affimed Therapeutics AG of Germany has raised €20 million in a Series C round to bring it antibody candidate for Hodgkin’s lymphoma into the clinic and develop its pipeline. The round was led by existing investors including Novo Nordisk A/S.
Bicycle Therapeutics Ltd, which is developing a new peptide technology, has completed its seed funding round having raised new money from SR One, the venture capital arm of GlaxoSmithKline, and SV Life Sciences. The sums were not disclosed.
AstraZeneca has revised upward its per-share earnings forecast for 2010 even though revenue growth may be constrained by expected generic competition for the breast cancer drug, Arimidex, and lower pandemic flu vaccine sales.