LONDON – Genmab A/S signed up a "dream partner" last week for its anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody daratumumab, agreeing a worldwide commercialization deal with Janssen Biotech Inc., with a total potential value of more than $1.1 billion, of which $135 million is to be paid up front.

LONDON – Spinifex Pharmaceuticals announced positive Phase II results of EMA401 in controlling neuropathic pain following herpes zoster (shingles) infection, and the company is now weighing the commercialization strategy for the product.

LONDON – After marathon negotiations, SkyePharma plc reached agreement on restructuring £83 million (US$131.2 million) of bond debt, avoiding the obligation to make payments – that it could not possibly have afforded – of £68.4 million in 2013 and £21.6 million in 2014.

Agennix AG is cutting more than half of its work force and shutting down a small drug development facility in Houston, in the wake of the recent failure of its lead drug talactoferrin in a Phase III trial in non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC).

Although multiple treatment options are currently available for people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA), there will always remain room for effective new therapies.

Sanofi SA is withdrawing the leukemia drug Campath (alemtuzumab), a major bone of contention during the fractious negotiations preceding its 2011 acquisition of Genzyme Corp., in favor of rebranding the CD52-targeting antibody as Lemtrada in the planned indication of multiple sclerosis (MS).

• Debiopharm Group, of Lausanne, Switzerland, treated its first patient in an open-label, Phase III trial of triptorelin pamoate 22.5 mg 6-month formulation in children with central precocious puberty.

Shares of TopoTarget A/S gained 10 percent Tuesday following an additional analysis of data from a Phase II trial of belinostat in 89 patients with cancer of unknown primary (CUP) origin, which raises hopes that the drug, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, could have potential in solid tumors.

LONDON – A hitch at Algeta ASA's new facility for manufacturing commercial supplies of Alpharadin has pushed back the filing date for the alpha radiation treatment for bone metastases from midyear to the end of 2012.

By using a forward genetics approach, two separate teams of researchers have identified related genes as potential oncogenes and mediators of receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Their findings were published back-to-back in the Aug. 13, 2012, online issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.