DUBLIN – After receiving a second rebuff, Novo Nordisk A/S has gone public on its bid to acquire nanobody pioneer Ablynx NV for almost €2.6 billion (US$3.1 billion).

DUBLIN – The European biotechnology sector enjoyed a period of sustained investor appetite in 2017, reflecting its ongoing ability to tap into global equity markets in order to fund development of its pipeline. Total investment reached $6.85 billion in disclosed transactions involving drug development firms.

DUBLIN – Biontech AG raised $270 million in a series A round that further adds to the sense of excitement and momentum building up around one of the global biotech industry's key innovators in immuno-oncology.

DUBLIN – Enterome SA raised €32 million (US$38.6 million) in a series D financing round and secured access to another €40 million through a loan facility with the European Investment Bank (EIB), which gives it more than enough firepower to complete proof-of-concept trials of its lead drug candidates in Crohn's disease and in cancer.

DUBLIN – 2017 marks the year that the connection between European biotech and Nasdaq solidified into what now looks to be an unbreakable bond. As of Dec. 22, European biotechs engaged in drug development raised a record $2.75 billion in IPOs and follow-on offerings on the U.S. exchange, dwarfing the previous record total of $1.79 billion raised in 2015. European firms raised $949 million in eight IPOs and another $1.8 billion in 16 secondary offerings in the past year.

DUBLIN and PERTH, Australia – Sensorion SA is teaming up with Cochlear Ltd. to explore the potential for combining drug therapy with cochlear implant surgery to improve patient outcomes.

DUBLIN and PERTH, Australia – Sensorion SA is teaming up with Cochlear Ltd. to explore the potential for combining drug therapy with cochlear implant surgery to improve patient outcomes. The two companies will spend next year evaluating Sensorion's clinical-stage drug candidate, SENS-401, with Cochlear's implantable devices in a number of preclinical models. If that work is successful, clinical trials could follow in 2019.

DUBLIN – ISA Pharmaceuticals BV could earn well in excess of $500 million from a strategic collaboration in immuno-oncology with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., which marries its peptide-based therapeutic cancer vaccine, ISA-101, with Regeneron’s PD-1 inhibitor, cemiplimab (REGN-2810).