News

MediGene AG said its revenue should increase significantly in 2008 while its loss should narrow.

Oxford BioMedica Plc narrowed its loss and increased its cash position in 2007 while progressing its cancer products through the clinic.

ProStrakan Group Plc expects to break even in 2009 on the back of continued revenue growth for its four marketed products and the expected US launch in the second half of 2008 of Sancuso, a treatment to prevent the side effects of chemotherapy.

Innate Pharma SA, which develops drugs that target the innate immune system, reported that its revenues rose 68.6% to €14.3 million in 2007 from €8.5 million a year earlier while its net loss for 2007 widened to €8.9 million from €6 million.

Wyeth Europa Ltd has withdrawn its marketing authorisation application for Pristiqs (desvenlafaxine) from the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) in order to conduct additional clinical studies that will address the agency’s questions about the benefit/risk profile of the product.

Alizyme Plc said that it has raised approximately £10 million before expenses following the placement of 20 million new ordinary shares with institutions.

Galapagos NV, the Belgian company that develops genomics-based drugs, is delisting its shares on Britain’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and offering a facility for trading the shares in the US over-the-counter market through the issuance of American Depository Receipts (ADRs). The company’s shares will continue to trade on the Euronext in Amsterdam and Brussels.

PanGenetics Bv has raised €23 million in a Series C financing from six institutional investors led by Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners.

Regulatory agencies in both the UK and Belgium have started to review applications from pharmaceutical companies for exploratory clinical trials which are designed to generate information on the safety in man of new compounds before the traditional Phase 1 studies begin, according to speakers at a meeting of the Drug Information Association in Barcelona, Spain on 5 March 2008.

Advanced therapy medicinal products will be evaluated by a new scientific committee at the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) starting January 2009, according to Patrick Celis, scientific administrator of the agency.