News

MediGene AG expects to see a significant increase in revenue in 2008 on sales of   speciality products for the treatment of prostate cancer (Eligard), genital warts (Veregen), and rosacea (Oracea).

Evotec AG is refocusing its business on drug discovery and development following its acquisition of Renovis, Inc, of South San Francisco, California.

Solvay Pharmaceuticals SA has made a friendly offer to acquire all of the shares of Innogenetics NV that it doesn’t already own in a cash transaction initially valued at €177.6 million.

The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) has launched its first call to researchers to submit proposals to work with the pharmaceutical industry to investigate ways of speeding up the drug development process.

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.