Cosmo Pharmaceuticals SpA, the Italian developer of gastro-intestinal (GI) drugs, said its revenue rose 44.5% in 2007 to €21.9 million, helping it to generate a net profit of €0.1 million compared with a loss of €0.3 million in 2006.
The European system for regulating medicines may need to be fundamentally altered in the future in order to cope with the expected rise in marketing authorization applications for advanced therapies as well as applications for generic medicines, according to a panel of experts.
The European Commission expects to issue the first call for proposals to do research under the new Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) in April 2008, with decisions on funding announced by the end of the year, according to Irene Norstedt, deputy head of the Commission’s biotechnology unit.
Pharming Group NV of the Netherlands said that it has negotiated an exclusive, global licence for certain patents in the field of transgenic technology from Advanced Cell Technology, Inc of the US.
Ablynx NV, the Belgian pharmaceutical company that derives therapeutic proteins from antibodies, said its revenues rose 150% in 2007 to €9.9 million from €3.9 million a year earlier. But the company’s loss narrowed only slightly to €12.5 million from €13.2 million.
Phytopharm Plc, which develops medicinal products from plants, is to raise £8.6 million through a placing and open offer of shares on the London Stock Exchange.
MorphoSys AG said that it expects revenue to grow to between €73 and €77 million this year from €62 million in 2007 on continued demand for antibodies from its proprietary Human Combinatorial Antibody Library (HuCAL). Operating profit is expected to be in a range of €9 to €11 million, compared with €7 million in 2007.
Addex Pharmaceuticals Ltd said that it has achieved its first preclinical milestone in a licensing agreement with the Merck & Co affiliate, Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Ltd (MSD), for a candidate drug for Parkinson’s disease and other undisclosed indications, triggering a payment of $250,000.
MorphoSys AG has reached a licensing agreement with the St Louis Missouri-based life science company, Sigma-Aldrich under which the German company will develop and qualify antibodies from its proprietary antibody library against targets supplied by Sigma-Aldrich. Financial details were not disclosed.
Stem Cell Sciences Plc (SCS), which provides researchers with stem cell culture media, said its revenue from ordinary activities declined by 20% to £593,000 in 2007 from £742,000 in 2006 while its operating loss from ordinary activities rose to £3,572,000 from £2,608,000.