News

Apogenix GmbH, a German company that is developing treatments that alter the programmed death of cells, has obtained second round financing of €27.5 million.

A life-science venture-capital firm spun out of Elan Corporation Plc, the Dublin-headquartered, neuroscience-based biotechnology company, is launching its first fund, which will invest mostly in European medical discovery companies with products that have defined exit plans.

The European Medicines Agency has recommended that five new medicines be given marketing authorisations. 

Vernalis Plc said that a restructuring of its business in the wake of a regulatory setback for its migraine product, Frova (frovatriptan succinate), is well underway and should produce results during the course of 2008.

A restructuring of its business has put Acambis Plc in a position to raise a net £40 million with a fully underwritten share offering, despite the turbulence of world stock markets. 

GlaxoSmithKline said that it has entered into an alliance with the California-based Regulus Therapeutics LLC to discover and develop microRNA-targeted therapeutics to treat inflammatory diseases.

Santo Holding (Deutschland) GmbH, the financing vehicle of the Strüngmann brothers, will have two seats on the supervisory board of 4SC AG, whose shareholders rejected an unsolicited takeover bid from Santo in January 2008.

MTM Laboratories AG, a privately held Germany company that is developing diagnostic devices for detecting cervical cancer, has raised €9.6 million with a private placement of its shares.

Intercytex Group Plc said that it has been asked to participate in a US government-funded institute that will investigate the use of regenerative medicine to develop treatments for injuries sustained by soldiers in battlefields around the world. The London-Stock-Exchange listed company is the only non-US participant in the institute.

In a quarterly business update, Pharming Group NV has confirmed that it plans to re-submit its application for the recombinant C1 inhibitor, Rhucin, to the European Medicines Agency with additional clinical data. In parallel, it will pursue registration for the product in markets outside the European Union.