News

Elan Corporation PLC has begun to repair its debt-laden balance sheet and produce operating profits before interest charges.

After paring costs and redirecting its research activities, Sanofi-Aventis ended 2009 with a net income of €8.5 billion, up by 12.8% at constant exchange rates on net sales of €29.3 billion, up by 5.3%. It sees further earnings growth in 2010.

Small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) in the European Union are getting more products approved by the European drug regulator than ever before. But their success rate is still far behind that of Europe’s larger and better capitalised companies.

Glide Pharmaceutical Technologies Ltd has raised £2.7 million in a new investment round bringing total funds raised for its needle-free delivery technology up to £10 million. The funds will be used to take its second drug product into the clinic.

The ReNeuron Group Plc has received final regulatory clearance to start its ground-breaking first-in-man study of a stem cell therapy for stroke. The therapy will be administered to patients who have been left disabled by an ischaemic stroke.

Crucell NV, the Dutch antibody and vaccine developer, produced strong results for 2009 but its fourth quarter figures suggested that it is losing some momentum.

Novartis AG has in-licensed a new compound for the treatment of hepatitis C that is described as the first in a new class of drugs called cyclophilin inhibitors. The deal was announced on 9 February, 2010 but no financial details were disclosed.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd said that it will use the proceeds of a new funding round amounting to £17.4 million to support its technology platform and in particular, its lead project in DNA sequencing.

The Netherlands-based diagnostics company, Qiagen NV, has reached an agreement with Pfizer Inc to develop a companion diagnostic for its immunotherapy vaccine, which is currently in Phase 2 development.

Cancer Research Technology (CRT) has entered into a three-year drug discovery and development alliance with AstraZeneca Plc that is expected to lead to the identification of new small molecule drugs targeting changes in a cell’s metabolism.