Geron Corporation of Menlo Park, California, has announced that its application to test an embryonic stem cell therapy for spinal cord injury in humans has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. It is the first regulatory approval of a human trial involving embryonic stem cells, which have the ability to differentiate into any of the more than 200 specialised cells in the human body.
In a further streamlining move, UCB SA of Belgium said it has agreed to sell some 50 of its businesses and affiliates in the Far East, Middle East, Latin America and Africa to GlaxoSmithKline PLC of Britain for €515 million in cash.
Novozymes A/S, the Danish enzyme company, said its 2008 sales rose 10% from a year earlier to DKK 8.15 billion and it forecast growth of 8-13% in 2009.
Geneart receives European protein patent
Geneart AG has been granted a European patent describing a method for carrying out the selective identification of proteins in vitro. The patent, EP 1913140, underpins the company’s proprietary technology platform relating to the generation and screening of proteins. According to the company, these proteins could become the basis for new therapeutics, vaccines and industrial enzymes. Geneart said its procedure makes it possible to identify optimal variants of a protein from a considerably larger pool more quickly than with conventional methods. This increases the probability of identifying an ideal protein variant such as a strong-binding antibody for a cancer therapy. The European Patent Office granted the patent on 24 December 2008.
BioMedPartners, a Basel-based venture capital firm, has launched a new fund to invest in private, early to mid-stage medical companies called BioMedInvest II LP.
ReNeuron Group Plc has received approval from the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to conduct a first-in-man trial of a stem cell therapy to treat stroke.
Cardio3 BioSciences SA, a privately-owned Belgian company, has raised €13.7 million to finance the clinical development of its second-generation cell therapy for the treatment of heart failure, C-Cure.
Oxford BioMedica Plc said that a patent infringement suit brought against it by Bavarian Nordic A/S of Denmark has been dismissed. The suit alleged that the UK company had infringed three of Bavarian Nordic’s US patents for a viral vector used in the Danish company’s smallpox, HIV and cancer programmes.
The European Medicines Agency has installed a new specialist committee which will review for the first time, applications from companies developing gene therapies, cell-based products and therapies that are engineered from human and/or animal tissue.
Following the appointment of Per-Oluf Olsen as chief executive officer in November 2008, Pronova BioPharma of Norway has reduced the size of its top management team.