LONDON – The new £100 million (US$160 million) Wales Life Sciences Fund (WLSF) is poised to make its first investment after appointing biotech veteran Chris Evans to run the fund and pulling together a supporting cast of nine seasoned industry experts to manage its portfolio. The government in Wales is putting up half the money for WLSF, with the balance to be raised by Arthurian Life Sciences Ltd., the company formed by Evans to bid for the business. Alongside Evans in the chair, the board of
By Nuala Moran | BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 30, 2013
LONDON – A family that has 14 members affected by an aggressive form of malignant melanoma has helped researchers discover a new mutation that is common in melanoma tumors and could lead to new, targeted treatments for that type of cancer. Although researchers initially identified the mutation in the family members, they subsequently found two more mutations affecting the same gene in unrelated people with malignant melanoma. Rajiv Kumar, professor of molecular genetic epidemiology at the
By Sharon Kingman | BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 30, 2013
LONDON – Pharma's productivity woes have spawned a new UK company, Avillion LLP, which is offering to plug between $50 million and $100 million into the co-development of Phase III assets. Alongside the cash to fund Phase III studies and take products through approval, Avillion will offer its partners expertise in contract research organization (CRO) management, drug development and regulatory affairs. The London-based company said Monday it has received initial funding from life science
By Nuala Moran | BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Bone Therapeutics SA raised €7.7 million (US$10.4 million) in new financing as a prelude to a larger round, as it seeks to expand the indication range for its cell therapy product Preob. The funding comprises a €6. 1 million equity investment from its existing shareholders, plus another €1.6 million in grant funding from Belgium's Walloon Region. Gosselies, Belgium-based Bone Therapeutics is currently starting a second Phase III trial of Preob, in patients with non-union bone fractures, that
By Cormac Sheridan | BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 30, 2013
LONDON – Cytox Ltd. has been rescued from liquidation and raised £3.5 million (US$5.5 million) in new money to reinvigorate efforts to develop a simple, definitive blood test for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. That would both provide an advance in terms of the care of people with the disease and in enabling drugs to be tested in the earlier stages of the disease when there is a greater likelihood of showing a significant clinical effect. The recent Phase III failures of two
By Nuala Moran | BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 30, 2013
With data due from a pivotal Phase III trial of its lead drug candidate around midyear, Gene Signal International SA raised an undisclosed investment from its longstanding syndicate of private investors to keep its pipeline of antisense and peptide-based drugs moving forward. Although it has maintained a relatively low profile since its formation in 2000, the Lausanne, Switzerland-based biotechnology firm has a topical antisense compound, aganirsen (GS-101), undergoing a pivotal Phase III trial
By Cormac Sheridan | BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Algeta ASA, of Oslo, Norway, began studying a therapeutic combining its thorium-227 alpha-pharmaceutical agent with an anti-CD22 monoclonal antibody (epratuzumab) by Immunomedics Inc., of Morris Plains, N.J. The agreement between the two companies requires Immunomedics to provide clinical-grade antibody, and for Algeta to fund all preclinical and clinical development through the end of Phase I. At that time, the companies may negotiate for a license. Algeta will pay a signature fee, a milestone
BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Newly established Dutch start-up Dezima Pharma BV in-licensed what it considers a best-in-class cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor, DEZ-001 (formerly TA-8995), from Osaka, Japan-based Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp. and is planning to move the cholesterol-lowering drug into a Phase II trial involving more than 400 patients in the coming months. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Naarden, the Netherlands-based Dezima is now in sole control of the compound, which it is
By Cormac Sheridan | BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 23, 2013
With key regulatory and clinical events fast approaching, MolMed SpA is set to add about €5 million (US$6.5 million) to its balance sheet in a capital increase that is fully underwritten in all but name. The Milan, Italy-based biotech has received indications from its largest shareholders, which hold an aggregate of 32 percent of its stock, that they are available to participate fully in the transaction. Moreover, the largest of those, Fininvest SpA, a financial holding company controlled by
By Cormac Sheridan | BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 23, 2013
LONDON – For 60 years, the DNA double helix has provided an iconic image of how our genetic information is held and how it reproduces. Now scientists at the University of Cambridge in the UK – where Watson and Crick developed their ideas about the genetic code – have provided another pioneering insight into the workings of human genes. It turns out that the DNA of human cells can form not only a double helix but also a quadruple helix. The discovery is particularly exciting because the team
By Sharon Kingman | BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 23, 2013
ThromboGenics NV and its partner, the Alcon unit of Novartis AG, received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) for Jetrea (ocriplasmin) as a treatment for vitreous macular traction, paving the way for a European launch in the second quarter. That move would trigger a €90 million (US$120 million) milestone payment to Leuven, Belgium-based ThromboGenics and provide it with even greater financial muscle as it starts to
By Cormac Sheridan | BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 23, 2013
LONDON – The European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has had another Glybera moment, turning down the rare disease drug Raxone (idebenone) by a narrow majority, despite the rapporteurs on an expert committee recommending approval of the drug, which treats a hereditary cause of blindness. "We're not disclosing the size of the majority against, but we do know, and I can confirm it's very narrow," Thomas Meier, CEO of Raxone's developer Santhera
By Nuala Moran | BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 23, 2013
LONDON – The latest advance in antibody technology has arrived in the shape of the Crescendo mouse, a transgenic mouse that is engineered to generate fully human single domain VH fragments. As the smallest units of a full-scale antibody that are still able to bind antigens, therapeutics based on those fragments are expected to have superior properties, be straightforward to bolt together into bispecific or multivalent entities and be simple to manufacture in microbial systems. And because the
By Nuala Moran | BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Apeiron Biologics AG, of Vienna, Austria, closed its first transaction in its ongoing initiative to out-license APN311, an antibody-based immunotherapy in development for the treatment of children with high-risk neuroblastoma. Paladin Labs Inc., of Montreal, entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Apeiron, under the terms of which Paladin receives the exclusive rights to market and sell APN311 in Canada and sub-Saharan Africa (including South Africa). Further details were not
BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Although Galapagos NV is best known for its whopper of an alliance with AbbVie Inc. for its JAK inhibitor, GLPG0634, the company's rapidly growing drug discovery services business is set to expand further in 2013, following the acquisition of Cangenix Ltd., a UK-based specialist in structure-based discovery, and the establishment of its Fidelta unit in Croatia as an externally focused services arm. Mechelen, Belgium-based Galapagos is paying £1 million (US$1.6 million) up front for Canterbury
By Cormac Sheridan | BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 16, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO – With an established reputation for its generic drugs, Mumbai, India-based Lupin Ltd. has expanded into biosimilars in its quest to become a global biopharma powerhouse. But like the foggy view from the 32nd-floor penthouse location of the Asia track at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference last week, the firm's chief financial officer provided limited insight into the company's biosimilars strategy despite audience questions. The same held true for another biosimilars developer
BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Astellas Pharma Inc., of Tokyo, said it received European approval for Betmiga (mirabegron) for treating overactive bladder symptoms in adults. Mirabegron is a once-daily oral beta3-adrenoceptor agonist, and it's designed to work by stimulating the beta3 receptors in the muscle of the bladder, causing relaxation of the bladder muscle, improving the storage capacity of the bladder without impeding bladder voiding. Drug discovery company Biotica Technology Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, a specialist
BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 16, 2013
LONDON – Mesoblast Ltd. is preparing to discuss plans for Phase III development with regulators and weighing the partnering strategy after reporting positive Phase II results for its Neofuse cell therapy for treating degenerative disc disease by lumber spinal fusion. "We have scoped the Phase III and after multiple meetings with the FDA on other indications, we understand the general requirements for cell therapy trials," CEO Silviu Itescu told BioWorld International. He added he is "quite
By Nuala Moran | BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 16, 2013
LONDON – The plan to introduce value-based pricing of drugs in the UK in January 2014 lacks clarity, with the arrangements for the new system still not agreed on and companies that will have to work with the new arrangements uncertain about what they will mean in practice. A number of key decisions about the new system need to be taken before the end of March to ensure a smooth changeover from the current regime, in which drugs are priced on a cost-plus formula, to pricing based on an
By Nuala Moran | BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 16, 2013
LONDON – An unexpected finding about how tadpoles control the regeneration of a tail that has been lost will trigger new research into healing and regeneration of wounds and tissues in humans. The discovery challenges the perceived wisdom about the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) – chemically reactive molecules containing oxygen, such as hydrogen peroxide and oxygen ions – which is that they are damaging to cells. Yet from the latest study, it appears that ROS such as hydrogen peroxide
By Sharon Kingman | BioWorld International | Wednesday, January 16, 2013
LONDON – The new £100 million (US$160 million) Wales Life Sciences Fund (WLSF) is poised to make its first investment after appointing biotech veteran Chris Evans to run the fund and pulling together a supporting cast of nine seasoned industry experts to manage its portfolio. The government in Wales is putting up half the money for WLSF, with the balance to be raised by Arthurian Life Sciences Ltd., the company formed by Evans to bid for the business. Alongside Evans in the chair, the board of