Evotec AG is pocketing €12 million (US$15.5 million) up front and could receive up to €580 million more in preclinical, clinical and commercial milestones from a drug discovery alliance focused on endometriosis with Bayer Pharma AG.

LONDON – The search for therapies that aim to harness the body's immune system to kill tumors, and for new vaccines that are more effective and long-lasting than those currently available, will be aided by the discovery of how a molecule regulates the robustness and duration of the immune response.

LONDON – A group of leading UK fund managers is aiming to raise £250 million (US$404 million) in the initial public offering of the Battle Against Cancer Investment Trust (BACIT), a new style of fund that intends to invest 1 percent of its net asset value (NAV) per year in drug development programs originating at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London.

LONDON – LEO Pharma A/S unveiled a new scientific collaboration strategy, announcing plans to forge partnerships with five academic groups in four countries to carry out discovery research and early clinical trials.

Biocitech, the biotechnology park located on the northeastern edge of Paris' periphery, has taken on three early stage tenants as part of a new incubation initiative that aims to boost the park's pipeline of residents.

• Amakem NV, of Diepenbeek, Belgium, initiated a Phase IIa proof-of-concept study of its Rho kinase (ROCK) inhibitor, AMA0076, in patients with glaucoma and ocular hypertension.

LONDON – Ablynx NV signed a €456.5 million (US$589.5 million) neuroscience deal with Merck & Co Inc., after demonstrating its nanobodies are able to modulate ion channels in a way that no other antibody constructs can manage.

BILBAO, Spain – The coming months will be a crucial period in the development of Zeltia Group, Spain's flagship biotechnology company, which is due to report data from several clinical trials, including a Phase IIb trial of Nypta (tideglusib) in Alzheimer's disease and a Phase III trial of Aplidin (ptilidepsin) in multiple myeloma.

LONDON – New therapies for conditions such as cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure could be developed as a result of a better understanding of the minute regulation of gene transcription in heart muscle cells.

LONDON – A new-look, 80-strong small-molecule drug discovery and development company has emerged from Abbott, following the management buyout of the former Solvay Pharmaceuticals R&D laboratory in Dijon, France.