The new management of Affitech A/S has made two senior appointments, closed two offices and sharpened its therapeutic focus to concentrate on the development of antibodies to cell-surface targets. It has also revised upward its loss for 2009.
Silence Therapeutics Plc, which is working in the field of ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi), said that it is in talks that could lead to a reverse takeover of the company. Trading in the company’s London-listed shares has been suspended.
The Pharming Group NV has metaphorically pulled a transgenic rabbit out of a hat by submitting an expanded marketing authorisation application to the European Medicines Agency for Rhucin, a treatment for hereditary angioedema, and by persuading 70% of its convertible bondholders to forego receiving €50,000 per bond in three years and instead accept €7,500 plus shares now.
MediGene AG has announced plans to stop early-stage research in order to focus on more advanced drug development projects. This includes continuing work on its liposome technology and finding a partner for the drug candidate, EndoTAG-1.
Solvay SA has become the latest European company to alter its business strategy with a decision to sell its pharmaceutical business to Abbott Laboratories for €4.5 billion. It will reinvest the proceeds in chemicals and plastics.
Crucell NV said that it has entered a strategic collaboration with a Johnson & Johnson unit to develop a universal monoclonal antibody for the treatment and prevention of influenza. J&J has also paid €301.8 million for an 18% stake in Crucell.
The European Medicines Agency is recommending that four new drugs be allowed onto the market in Europe including a new therapy from Sanofi-Aventis for the treatment of atrial fibrillation.
The European Medicines Agency has recommended that two vaccines for influenza A (H1N1), known as swine flu, be granted a European Union-wide marketing authorisation. The vaccines are Focetria from Novartis and Pandemrix from GlaxoSmithKline.
NicOx SA said it has filed a new drug application (NDA) with the US Food and Drug Administration for naproxcinod for the treatment of osteoarthritic pain.
The pharmaceutical industry must move quickly to change its business model in order to be able to deliver new products in the future, Jean-Claude Muller of sanofi-aventis told a meeting of industry executives.