Stock-price weakness that has beset Chemocentryx Inc. since early March – likely based on jitters ahead of the FDA advisory panel for avacopan slated for May 6 – became an outright tumble when Wall Street got a gander at briefing documents related to the meeting. Shares of the San Carlos, Calif-based firm (NASDAQ:CCXI) closed at $22.19, down $26.63, or 45%, as company backers sifted paperwork on the complement C5a receptor inhibitor for anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis. The compound has been assigned a PDUFA date of July 7.

LONDON – C4X Discovery Holdings plc has out-licensed its preclinical oral interleukin-17 (IL-17) inhibitor to Sanofi SA in a potential €414 million (US$493.4 million) deal. Under the terms of the agreement, Sanofi is paying €7 million up front and a further €11 in short-term preclinical milestones, with the balance to follow on reaching development, regulatory and commercialization milestones.

HONG KONG – Seikagaku Corp. and Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. have cleared the final hurdle for Joyclu (diclofenac etalhyaluronate sodium), with Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare granting manufacturing and marketing approval for the osteoarthritis (OA) therapy, the first agent to be approved in Japan for improving hip joint function in OA. The intra-articular injection was also approved for the treatment of knee joint OA.

Marking its second acquisition this year after snapping up cancer-focused Five Prime Therapeutics Inc., Amgen Inc. is adding to its inflammatory disease portfolio through the purchase of Seattle-based Rodeo Therapeutics Corp. The deal includes $55 million up front for the private company's shareholders, plus contingent milestone payments worth up to an additional $666 million. Rodeo's lead preclinical program targets 15-prostaglandin dehydrogenase to increase tissue levels of prostaglandin PGE2.