MorphoSys AG said that it has received a commitment from Novartis to complete a ten-year alliance which aims to discover and develop antibodies against several molecular targets in a wide range of diseases.
Elan Corporation Plc has reached an agreement with Johnson & Johnson that will give the US multinational an 18.4% stake in the company as well as controlling interest in a new unit that will hold many of Elan’s assets in Alzheimer’s disease.
Sanofi-aventis has become the latest multinational pharmaceutical company to decentralise its research and development business in order to generate more ideas for new drugs from contact with scientists and entrepreneurs outside the company.
Intercytex Group Plc said that it does not expect to receive an offer for the company as a whole, and therefore is further winding down its activities and reducing staff. Discussions over the sale of certain parts of the business are ongoing.
ReNeuron Group Plc, which cut its total expenses by about a third in the most recent financial year, has pinned its future on making the company’s neural stem cell therapy for stroke a success.
The UK government plans to invest £150 million in a small number of specialist technology funds, including those in the life sciences, in order to stimulate private venture capital funding of small businesses with a high-growth potential.
The Wellcome Trust has awarded £4.3 million to researchers at St George’s, University of London to investigate a new class of drugs for asthma and allergies.
Alizyme Plc has told investors that there is a “material uncertainty” about whether it will receive milestone payments for one of its drug development programmes. Barring additional funding, it would therefore be unable to continue as a going concern.
Five new medicines, including a cell-based treatment for cartilage defects, have received positive opinions from the European Medicines Agency, paving the way for the issuing of marketing authorisations by the European Commission.
The European Medicines Agency has recommended that a marketing authorisation be given to a cell-based, cartilage-repair treatment under the European Union’s Advanced Therapies Regulation, which came into effect at the end of 2008.