DUBLIN – The Heptares unit of Sosei Group Corp. is spinning out two drug development programs for narcolepsy into two standalone companies, Orexia Ltd. and Inexia Ltd., which have received aggregate funding commitments of up to €40 million (US$45.8 million) from the London-based venture capital fund Medicxi.

DUBLIN – The Heptares unit of Sosei Group Corp. is spinning out two drug development programs for narcolepsy into two standalone companies, Orexia Ltd. and Inexia Ltd., which have received aggregate funding commitments of up to €40 million (US$45.8 million) from the London-based venture capital fund Medicxi.

DUBLIN – Sylentis SA remained upbeat on the potential of its candidate drug, tivanisiran, to make a meaningful difference to patients with dry eye disease (DED), despite the failure of the drug to hit either of two primary endpoints in a phase III trial.

DUBLIN – "Unexpected, early and bad" was how Andrea Pfeifer, CEO of AC Immune SA, characterized the news that its partner, Genentech Inc., was terminating two phase III trials of anti-amyloid beta (a-beta) antibody crenezumab in Alzheimer's disease, following an interim analysis, which suggested that neither study would reach its primary endpoint. The Lausanne, Switzerland-based company's stock (NASDAQ:ACIU) was off by 37 percent during premarket trading Wednesday but went into free fall once the market opened. It ended the day at $3.65, a drop of 66 percent on its previous close.

DUBLIN – Shares in Morphosys AG (NASDAQ:MOR) closed at $28 Monday, 6.6 percent below Friday's closing price, on news that it lost a long-running patent dispute over CD38-directed antibodies against Genmab A/S and Johnson & Johnson Co. Genmab A/S's stock (Copenhagen:GEN), in contrast, opened Monday 3.5 percent higher, and ended the day at DKK$974.20 (US$149.11). Investors on each side appear to have concluded that Morphosys' chances of getting a slice of Genmab's lucrative royalty payments have evaporated.

DUBLIN – Biontech AG is bolstering its antibody discovery capabilities by acquiring the antibody generation unit of its erstwhile partner, Mab Discovery GmbH, for an undisclosed sum. Mainz, Germany-based Biontech gains an 18-person unit, based in Munich, as well as the assets and know-how required to generate antibodies from Mab Discovery's rabbit-based antibody discovery platform.

DUBLIN – European biotechnology firms engaged in drug development scaled new heights in 2018, raising $7.715 billion in equity funding, a massive 37 percent increase in a like-for-like comparison with the 2017 total of $5.75 billion. Although the European sector, like its American counterpart, slowed significantly in the final quarter of the year, the momentum built up during the first three quarters enabled it to push up to a new high-water mark. 

DUBLIN – On the basis that 11 percent of something is better than 100 percent of nothing, Vital Therapies Inc., is throwing in its lot with privately held German drug development firm Immunic AG in a reverse merger that is being encouraged with an additional investment of €26 million (US$29.7 million) from Immunic's shareholders. The deal will transform Planegg-Martinsried-based Immunic into a Nasdaq-listed company, and it is embracing its new identity by moving its headquarters from the Munich region to Boston.