News

GlaxoSmithKline Plc reported a 3% increase in turnover at constant exchange rates in the 2009 third quarter as it shifted its marketing efforts towards the developing world, Japan and consumer healthcare.

Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc, a contract research organisation based in Wilmington, North Carolina, is to invest $100 million in Celtic Therapeutics Holdings LP, itself an investor in mid-stage drug candidates.

MorphoSys AG expects that outlays for product development and technology in 2009 will amount to between €18 million to €20 million, more than double the level a year earlier. Revenue at the German antibody company is forecast at €80 to €85 million.

Genmab A/S is set to receive DKK 116 million ($23 million) from GlaxoSmithKline following the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of its monoclonal antibody for cancer, Arzerra (ofatumumab).

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the Rega Institute for Medical Research, both in Belgium, have announced the receipt of a €2.8 million from the Wellcome Trust to research a treatment for dengue fever.

There has been a recent surge in new confirmed cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) associated with the multiple sclerosis drug, Tysabri (natalizumab), with the 24^th case reported to the EMEA on 25 October.

  The European Medicines Agency is recommending that two new medicines, one of which is a radiopharmaceutical, be granted marketing authorisations. It has also given the go-ahead for new indications for four currently licensed treatments.

The European Medicines Agency has announced a review of the multiple sclerosis drug, Tysabri (natalizumab), in light of reports of 23 cases where patients taking the drug have developed a rare brain infection known as progressive multifocal leukoencaphalopathy (PML).

The German drug discovery and development company, 4SC AG, has announced plans to raise €25 to €30 million in a rights issue to existing shareholders. The new shares are being offered at €3 per share, or at about the current market price.

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.