News

The Riverside Company, a private equity group with offices in Brussels, Belgium, has acquired Crioestaminal SA of Portugal which collects stem cells from umbilical cord blood.

Pronova BioPharma ASA of Norway has doubled the production capacity for omega-3-acid ethyl esters, the active pharmaceutical ingredient of Omacor, its prescription medicine for heart disease, with the opening of a new plant in Denmark.

Sanofi-aventis said it has reached an agreement to buy the privately-owned French opthalmology company, Fovea Pharmaceuticals SA, for up to €370 million. This includes €90 million upfront as well as future milestone payments.

Neuropharm Group Plc said that it seeking a collaborator to help carry out a second Phase 3 study of its treatment for autism, NPL-2008. In the meantime it has put a hold on further outlays for the project, its lead compound.

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.