LONDON – Nanobiotix SA presented positive safety data from the first clinical study of NBTXR3, a nanoparticle drug that enhances the effects of radiotherapy on tumor cells without damaging healthy tissue, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago on Saturday.

GHENT, Belgium – The pharmaceutical industry has enjoyed 60 years of stability and is now – whether it likes it or not – ripe for disruption. That was the main message Bernard Munos, of InnoThink Center for Research in Biomedical Innovation in Indianapolis, delivered to delegates at a heavily attended keynote at the Knowledge for Growth meeting at the International Convention Center last week.

• Sinovac Biotech Ltd., of Beijing, said its new drug application for its EV71 vaccine was filed and accepted by the Beijing Drug Administration. Sinovac completed Phase III studies in March showing a 95 percent efficacy rate for the vaccine against hand, foot and mouth disease caused by enterovirus 71.

German biotech received a badly needed boost this week with the news that GlaxoSmithKline plc was in-licensing MOR103, an antibody in clinical development in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and multiple sclerosis (MS) at veteran antibody developer Morphosys AG, in return for an up-front payment of €22.5 million (US$29 million), plus another potential €423 million in milestones linked to its progress through clinical development, regulatory approval and sales.

DUBLIN, Ireland – Trino Therapeutics Ltd., a spinout from Trinity College Dublin (TCD), raised €9 million (US$11.6 million) in a Series A round to move PH46A, an oral, first-in-class indane dimer, into clinical trials in ulcerative colitis.

LONDON – Two of Europe's longest-standing public biotechs are leaving the stage following clinical trial failures, with Agennix AG going into liquidation and Phytopharm plc announcing a reverse merger.

LONDON – The publicly funded UK center set up to accelerate the commercialization of cell therapies has signed its first deal with big pharma, agreeing to work with GlaxoSmithKline plc on a range of research projects and technical and regulatory strategies for getting products to market.

• Flamel Technologies Inc., of Lyon, France, said it exercised its right to regain control of two drugs that use its Trigger lock delivery technology that formerly were being developed in partnership with an undisclosed partner. Trigger Lock is an abuse-resistant technology for long-acting opioid analgesics.

BTG plc grossed £106.3 million (US$160.2 million) in an accelerated book build last week in order to fund the acquisition of two businesses: the targeted therapies division of Nordion Inc. and Ekos Corp.

LONDON – A molecule that is released by breast cancer cells and yet stops the cells from growing appears to have its effect by stimulating an inflammatory immune response.