PARIS – Despite managing to put together a star-studded lineup for a roundtable on innate immunity, which included two current Nobel prizewinners, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMS) and Innate Pharma SA found their best-laid plans were upstaged Tuesday by the French presidential inauguration at the Elysée Palace.
• China Shenghuo Pharmaceutical Holdings Inc., of Kunming, China, said it received a deficiency letter from the NYSE Amex LLC stating that the firm resolved the continued listing referenced in a Sept. 22, 2010, letter.
LONDON – A head-to-head study funded by the UK Department of Health has found Avastin and Lucentis are equally effective and safe in treating wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and that using Avastin off-label in this indication would save the National Health Service £84.5 million (US$136.9 million) per year.
Pharma giant Abbott plunked down $110 million in cash last week to acquire AP214, a first-in-class alpha-MSH peptide derivative designed to prevent acute kidney injury (AKI) during major cardiac surgery in patients at increased risk, from privately held Action Pharma A/S, of Aarhus, Denmark.
LONDON – Evotec AG landed its second out-licensing deal in China last week, taking a small up-front payment, with €60 million (US$78.8 million) to come in milestones, followed by double-digit royalties on sales if EVT 401 makes it through to Chinese marketing approval.
The steady maturation of several preclinical development programs has prompted Oxford BioTherapeutics Ltd. to establish a clinical development unit, which it is locating in Basel, Switzerland.
LONDON – What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago Actelion Ltd.'s management was under siege from activist investors, as hedge fund managers Elliott Advisors Ltd. tried to wrest control of the company from its founders and its board.
LONDON – Blocking human enzymes could provide a new strategy for treating microbial infections, a recent study suggested. Researchers have shown that inhibiting a mammalian protease can prevent Listeria bacteria from growing and spreading to other cells.
Last week, the FDA increased the options available in Type I Gaucher disease by approving Elelyso (taliglucerase alfa), a recombinant version of the hydrolytic human lysosomal enzyme glucocerebrosidase. The compound was discovered by Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc., which is partnered with Pfizer Inc. on development and commercialization outside Israel.
LONDON – Intercell AG is raising €40 million (US$52 million) in debt and equity as it continues work to repair the damage wreaked by the clinical failure of vaccines against traveler's diarrhea and Staphylococcus aureus.
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