News

The European Medicines Agency has given positive opinions to four new medicines, but it has turned back applications for two, one of which was a proposed treatment for cystic fibrosis.

French researchers have started screening for compounds and RNA interference molecules that could eventually treat myotonic dystrophy, a chronic, slowly progressing disease characterised by wasting of the muscles.

Karolinska Development AB has agreed to take control of a preclinical leukaemia project from Biovitrum AB of Stockholm. The project aims to develop new compounds for leukaemia by inhibiting the activity of the tyrosine kinase receptor, FLT3.

Cytos Biotechnology AG said it will sharply reduce its headcount and development programs because its hypertension vaccine, CYT006-AngQb, failed to show a significant reduction in blood pressure in a Phase 2a trial.

Paion AG, which has six drugs under clinical development following its 2008 acquisition of CeNes Pharmaceuticals Plc, has decided to concentrate on one drug while actively seeking to licence some of the others.

Roche said it is acquiring Innovatis AG, a German cell analysis company, for €15 million. The sellers are two private equity funds operated by Ventizz Capital Partners Advisory AG.

ThromboGenics NV, the Belgian company that is developing products related to the vascular system, reported a net profit of €12.1 million in 2008 compared with a net loss of €16 million in 2007, but it left doubts as to whether it would be able to operate profitably in 2009.

The Roche Group has reached a “friendly” agreement to acquire all the outstanding shares of Genentech Inc that it doesn’t own for $95 per share or $46.8 billion in cash.

The ReNeuron Group Plc, which has received permission for a first-in-man trial of a neural stem cell treatment for stroke, has lined up financing for the year ahead.

The price of GW Pharmaceuticals Plc rose by 41.8% in London following the UK company’s announcement of positive Phase 3 results for its lead drug, Sativex, a cannabinoid compound for treating multiple sclerosis (MS).