CHICAGO – It was certainly an interesting week for Canada's biotechnology industry, with two big pharmas using the BIO 2013 International Convention to make announcements about their investments in the nation's research and development. Merck Canada Inc., of Kirkland, Quebec, revealed that it will be providing C$4 million (US$3.9 million) through two collaborative partnerships. Thomas Cannell, president and managing director of Merck Canada, said the first is an investment in a public-private

Financing Anterios Inc. closed an $8.5 million corporate financing. Esperion Therapeutics Inc. pulled down $33 million in a preferred stock financing. Genticel SA raised $23.6 million in a Series C round led by Wellington Partners. GW Pharmaceuticals plc set the terms for its proposed U.S. IPO aiming to raise about $40 million. iBio Inc. priced a public offering of 8.925 million units at 48 cents each, raising $4.28 million. Insys Therapeutics Inc. plans to raise $68 million in an IPO of 4

Company (Location) Company (Location) Value (M) Type/Product Area Terms/Details Date FEBRUARY Exelixis Inc. (South San Francisco) Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Stockholm, Sweden) ND Partnership to distribute and commercialize Cometriq (cabozantinib) for metastatic medullary thyroid cancer in the European Union and potentially other countries The agreement will last for three years, with Exelixis maintaining full commercial rights outside the covered territory and for all other indications 2/25

Company Company Deal Value Biogen Idec Inc. Elan Corp. plc $3.25B MacroGenics Inc. Gilead Sciences Inc. $1B bluebird bio Celgene Corp. $225M The Medicines Co. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. $205M Afraxis Inc. Genentech Inc. $187.5M BIND Biosciences Inc. Amgen Inc. $180.5M Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc. Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc $120M Genentech Inc. RQx Pharmaceuticals Inc. $111M

To spur innovation in biopharma and other industries, Congress must make it a national priority, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). In a review of the nation's commitment to innovation over the past three decades, CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf noted the decrease in federal spending on R&D, relative to GDP, and the decline of innovation as a priority in regulatory policy. The FDA is building its arsenal against counterfeit antimalarial drugs through a public-private partnership

Total Value in 2013: $5,960.77M* Number of Deals in 2013: 93 Company (Location) Company (Location) Value (M) Type/Product Area Terms/Details Date FEBRUARY Ablynx NV (Ghent, Belgium) Spirogen Ltd. (London) ND Research collaboration to evaluate the potential of a cancer drug conjugate combining Spirogen's cytotoxic drugs, pyrrolobenzodiazepines and associated linker technology, with Nanobodies generated Ablynx will provide access to Nanobodies against an undisclosed target, and Spirogen will

In the current fiscal environment, everything in the U.S. budget is open to scrutiny. Fortunately for the biodefense industry, protecting the nation from bioterrorism tends to have bipartisan support, especially when potential threats get extensive news coverage. This month alone, there have been ricin-laced letters sent to President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker and Mississippi judge Sadie Holland, and claims that the chemical weapon sarin was used during the Syrian civil war. Funding for

Company (Location) Company (Location) Value (M) Type/Product Area Terms/Details Date Modified Agreements FEBRUARY Selexis SA (Geneva) Amgen Inc. (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) ND Expanded R&D license deal to include an evaluation of Selexis' SURE CHO-M Cell Line for R&D Amgen will be able to evaluate the SURE CHO-M Cell Line in conjunction with the Selexis SUREtech Vectors for improved R&D 2/21/13 Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Henderson, Nev.) Allergan Inc. (Irvine, Calif.) $345.5 Deal under which

A quick scan through the drug pipelines of many biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies will reveal a significant number of drugs under development that have received "orphan drug status." Yet, it wasn't all that long ago that orphan drugs were considered too small to devote valuable R&D resources. As a consequence they did not feature prominently on the product development radar screens of either pharma or biotech companies. However, that situation has changed in a hurry. Small patient

Company (Location) Company (Location) Value (M) Type/Product Area Terms/Details Date DECEMBER Cevec Pharmaceuticals GmbH (Cologne, Germany) Yuhan Corp. (Seoul, South Korea) ND CAP-Technology licensing deal enabling Yuhan to use Cevec's CAP-T and CAP cell expression systems for the production and development of various therapeutic proteins Financial terms were not disclosed 12/21/12 GlaxoSmithKline plc (London) The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston) $335 Research

Company (Location) Company (Location) Value (M) Type/Product Area Terms/Details Date I. Modified Agreements DECEMBER Soligenix Inc. (Princeton, N.J.) Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Gaithersburg, Md.) ND Soligenix has regained the North American and European commercial rights to oral BDP through an amendment of its collaboration agreement The company is now free to commercialize or enter into commercialization agreements with other parties 12/28/12 JANUARY Adimab LLC (Lebanon, N.H.) Merck & Co

Company (Location) Company (Location) Value (M) Type/Product Area Terms/Details Date DECEMBER Alimera Sciences Inc. (Atlanta) Quintiles Commercial Europe Ltd. (Berkshire, UK) ND A master services agreement for the commercial launch of Iluvien in certain European countries, beginning with Germany and followed by the UK and France The product is designed to treat chronic diabetic macular edema considered insufficiently responsive to available therapies 12/6/12 Apexigen Inc. (Burlingame, Calif