News

Researchers from the UK and Canada have reported a method for reprogramming human skin cells to act like embryonic stem cells without the use of viral vectors.

Stem Cell Sciences Plc, a UK stem-cell engineering company that has been seeking a buyer for some months, has agreed to sell its operating assets and substantially all of its intellectual property to StemCells Inc of the US in a share and debt transaction valued at $4.85 million.

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.