DUBLIN – Shares in Evotec AG posted a 13.6 percent gain Thursday on news of another asset transfer deal with Sanofi SA, in which it is getting €60 million (US$73.8 million) up front plus undisclosed long-term funding for taking on a portfolio of 10 preclinical and research-stage anti-infective drug development programs.

DUBLIN – The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), an international public-private partnership raising $1 billion to incentivize the development of vaccines for neglected infectious diseases, has made its first big bet – a contract, worth up to $37.5 million, with Themis Bioscience GmbH to develop vaccines against Lassa virus and Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

DUBLIN – Shares in Verona Pharma plc rose as much as 21 percent Friday as the company reported that a single dose of its dual phosphodiesterase (PDE) 3 and 4 inhibitor, RPL-554, improved lung function in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients.

DUBLIN – The steady flow of capital into early stage biopharmaceutical innovation continues unabated, as evidenced by two separate transactions disclosed Wednesday. Astrazeneca plc's Medimmune arm is spinning out a series of pipeline assets into a new venture, Viela Bio Inc., which has secured funding commitments of up to $250 million from a syndicate of investors led by three funds with a strong Chinese orientation.

DUBLIN – Prokarium Ltd. secured $10 million in new funding to take forward an oral vaccine vector technology based on an attenuated strain of Salmonella enterica. The cash will fund the company for the next two years, enough to move two if not three programs into the clinic.

DUBLIN – The EMA has diverged sharply from the FDA in denying approval of Puma Biotechnology Ltd.'s breast cancer drug, Nerlynx (neratinib). The EMA's Committee on Human Medicinal Products (CHMP) formally issued a negative opinion on the Puma application last week, on the grounds that it was uncertain that the modest clinical benefit seen in clinical trials – 94 percent of patients on the drug remained relapse-free for two years vs. 92 percent of patients on placebo – would be repeated in clinical practice. The drug, moreover, has a high burden of gastrointestinal side effects, including severe diarrhea, which can be difficult to manage.

DUBLIN – U.S. protectionism, the looming specter of Brexit and the European Union's increasingly vocal stance on Ireland's corporate tax regime should all be weighing on Ireland's export-oriented biopharma sector at present, but the mood during the opening plenary of the Biopharma Ambition Conference Wednesday was upbeat, if not buoyant.

DUBLIN – Shares in Poxel SA rose as much as 32 percent Monday on the back of a partnering deal with Roivant Sciences GmbH, in which it is getting $35 million up front, $15 million in equity investment and potentially $600 million in development, regulatory and commercialization milestones for ex-Asia rights to its oral type 2 diabetes drug imeglimin.

DUBLIN – Shares in Pieris Pharmaceuticals Inc. rose 20 percent Friday on news of an immuno-oncology deal with Seattle Genetics Inc., which brings in $30 million up front and potentially up to $1.2 billion more in milestones spread across three programs. Boston-based Pieris would also receive tiered royalties that could reach a low double-digit percentage of product sales. It is also retaining a co-commercialization option covering the U.S. for the alliance's second program.