San Diego-based Prometheus Laboratories Inc., a specialty pharma and diagnostics company that has spent nearly four years in the initial public offering (IPO) queue, will become the latest acquisition of Nestle Health Sciences SA, as the Swiss firm expands its efforts in the new area of science-based nutrition.
In an industry riddled with disappointing data, regulatory setbacks and a depressing 90 percent-plus failure rate, biotech companies have learned to be resilient, raising money whenever possible – and sometimes when it almost isn't – and often reinventing themselves in the wake of disastrous pipeline flops.
About two weeks after AstraZeneca plc passed on an option for TC-5619, Targacept Inc. priced a $75 million public offering to move forward with the alpha7 neuronic nicotinic receptor-targeting drug on its own, with plans to launch a Phase IIb study in cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia (CDS).
The annual abstract release ahead of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting – an event simultaneously heralded and dreaded by Wall Street analysts – landed quietly this year, signaling few surprises ahead of Chicago.
Finalizing the design for its planned pivotal trial of cancer vaccine rindopepimut (CDX-110) in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), slated to start in the second half of this year, Celldex Therapeutics Inc. padded its balance sheet with a $31.5 million public offering.
The latest firm to opt for a reverse merger rather than the more traditional initial public offering, VistaGen Therapeutics Inc. inked a deal to merge with Excaliber Enterprises Ltd., a public shell listed on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board.
A diabetes drug agreement inked earlier this year between Eli Lilly and Co. and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH has become a source of dispute in Lilly's so-far-lucrative nine-year partnership with Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. for glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist Byetta (exenatide).
The story of Australian firm Bionomics Ltd.'s recent A$14.25 million (US$15.1 million) fundraising offers a good example of how a company can capitalize on strong – even if early stage – data.
The licensing deal that spurred a hostile takeover attempt by disgruntled shareholders at Cypress Bioscience Inc. – and eventually led to this year's buyout of the San Diego-based firm by Ramius LLC and Royalty Partners – has come to an end.
A mere four and a half years after launching clinical development, Plexxikon Inc. filed marketing applications in the U.S. and Europe for its targeted melanoma drug PLX4032, now known as vemurafenib.
