Index Ventures, the Geneva-based venture capital company, has closed its fifth fund devoted to early-stage and seed investment in companies involved in advanced technologies. The fund, Index Ventures V, has assets of €350 million.
IP Group Plc, which commercialises intellectual property from UK research institutions, reported a 25% decline in the estimated market value of its holdings in life-science therapeutic companies in 2008.
When is information about a pharmaceutical product neutral, and when does it cross the line to become promotional? This question is stimulating a debate in Brussels about a new legislative proposal that would give pharmaceutical companies more opportunity to communicate directly with consumers about their prescription-only medicines.
Intercell AG expects to see strong revenue growth in 2009 following the launch of its first-ever product on the market, a vaccine to prevent Japanese Encephalitis.
Epistem Plc, a UK-listed biotechnology company, has signed a multi-million dollar research and development agreement with Novartis to identify new drug targets and therapeutics across a range of disease areas.
The Belgian-listed biotechnology company, ThromboGenics NV, has received a grant of up to €3.2 million to support the development of an antibody that would increase the platelet count of cancer patients who have had chemotherapy.
Genmab A/S, the Danish producer of antibody therapeutics for cancer, expects its 2009 revenue to rise 61% to DKK 1.2 billion following a gain of 41% in 2008. The main reason is the company’s collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline which is producing a hefty stream of milestone payments.
MorphoSys AG is looking to double its expenditure on technology and product development in 2009 to between €18 million and €20 million following a strong performance in 2008 when turnover rose 16% to €71.6 million and net profit advanced 14.8% to €13.2 million.
Addex Pharmaceuticals Ltd said that its cash resources are sufficient to cover its operations until early 2012 without the need to raise additional capital. The forecast was made on 24 February 2009 with the release of its 2008 results.
Heptares Therapeutics Ltd, a 2007 spin-out of the UK Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology, has raised £21 million in a Series A financing round from three venture capital firms.