News

UCB SA, which develops and sells treatments for diseases of the central nervous system and the immune system, has successfully floated a €500 million convertible eurobond issue.

Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG of Switzerland has completed an all-share acquisition of Oy Juvantia Pharma Ltd of Finland thereby giving it control of a compound for the treatment of dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease.

Antisoma Plc said it is gearing up towards the regulatory filing and eventual commercialisation of its most advanced cancer product. Meanwhile, the UK company said its cash resources should fund all of its priority programmes until mid-2011.

Ablynx NV is set to receive payments totalling €5.72 million from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Boehringer Ingelheim following the achievement of milestones in separate collaborations with the two companies

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.