Their first collaborative effort in the hepatitis C virus space has spawned a promising Phase IIa-stage protease inhibitor, so Medivir AB and Tibotec BVBA are joining forces again in a potential €277 million (US$430 million) HCV deal aimed at developing polymerase inhibitors targeting NS5B. (BioWorld Today)
Amarin Corp. plc, which rebounded from dismal Huntington's disease data with the December acquisition of Ester Neurosciences Ltd., is moving full steam ahead once again, thanks to a $28 million cash infusion. (BioWorld Today)
Shares of Iomai Corp. surged more than 117 percent after the firm agreed to be acquired by Austrian vaccines maker Intercell AG in a deal valued at about $189 million. (BioWorld Today)
There's an old joke about a man who walks into a talent agency with his dog and tells the agent that the dog can talk. To convince the agent, the man asks the dog what the top of the house is called, and the dog responds, "Roof!" When asked what the outside of the tree is called, the dog says, "Bark," and when asked to name the most famous baseball player in the world, the dog replies, "Ruth!" (BioWorld Financial Watch)
Year-old Apoptos Inc. is raising $28 million in its first major funding round since being established in June 2007 by venture firms Venrock and ARCH Ventures based on technology targeting programmed cell death. (BioWorld Today)
The FDA approved Sucampo Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s Amitiza (lubiprostone) for female patients with constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C), making it the only U.S.-approved drug for that indication following the marketing suspension of Novartis AG's Zelnorm last year. (BioWorld Today)
