News

Shire acquires rights to experimental anti-scarring treatment

Shire Plc has agreed to pay up to $825 million for an experimental drug for the prevention and reduction of scarring in connection with surgery. The licensing agreement, with Renovo Group Plc, would give Shire exclusive rights to market the drug, called Juvista, in every country except the member states of the European Union.

Charities can fund businesses, says Wellcome Trust officer

There are a growing number of instances where charitable organisations can provide money to profit-making companies and still demonstrate that they are working in the public interest, according Richard Seabrook, head of business development at the Wellcome Trust.

AMT's IPO sells well

Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics AMT Holding NV, which develops gene-based therapies for orphan diseases, raised €50 million in an initial public offering on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange.

Swedish biotech pipeline getting bigger

Swedish biotech companies increased their pipeline of drug candidates substantially in 2007 compared with a year earlier, according to a survey conducted by SwedenBio, an industry association, and two government agencies, Invest in Sweden Agency (ISA) and Vinnova.

EMEA guideline on first-in-man trials due out in July

A guideline outlining how companies should prepare to conduct first-in-man studies of novel medicinal products in Europe, should be completed in July, 2007, according to Patrick Le Courtois, head of the Unit for Pre-Authorisation of Medicines for Human Use at the European Medicines Agency (EMEA).

Santaris presents data on new RNA antagonist

Santaris Pharma A/S of Denmark announced at the June 2007 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago that its RNA antagonist for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) showed promising results in an initial Phase I/II clinical trial.