Epirus Switzerland GmbH, of Zug, Switzerland, will earn up to $275 million in up-front, milestone and royalty payments under a new partnership with Orygen Biotecnologia Ltda, a joint venture of Brazilian pharmaceutical firms Eurofarma Laboratorios SA and Biolab Sanus Farmaceutica Ltda. The companies will work to register a biosimilar of Remicade (infliximab, Johnson & Johnson), BOW015, with Brazil’s National Agency of Sanitary Surveillance. Read More
Not yet fully emerged from stealth mode, Sideris Pharmaceuticals Inc. made known its $32 million Series A round as well as a potential $300 million deal with Novartis AG that includes the right to acquire Sideris and the iron-chelating candidate SP-420. Read More
Shares in Evotec AG rose 10 percent Monday on news of a research partnership with Astrazeneca plc on the discovery and development of disease-modifying drugs for chronic kidney disease. Read More
No big worries appear to be on the agenda for Thursday’s advisory committee meeting on Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s simeprevir, which is seeking a limited hepatitis C virus (HCV) label. Read More
Boulder, Colo.-based Array Biopharma Inc. will be receiving a $5 million milestone payment following the announcement that Astrazeneca plc has begun a Phase III trial for selumetinib, an oral MEK inhibitor, being investigated as second-line therapy in patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors are KRAS mutation-positive. Read More
LONDON – Maximizing value from technology platforms presents formidable challenges for biotechs, in balancing the level of investment in product development with cranking the handle to generate new programs. Read More
LONDON – A promising new strategy for treating multiple sclerosis is under investigation. An international team of researchers reported that they have identified a method of stimulating repair of nerve cells that have lost their protective lipid insulation, a process that occurs in multiple sclerosis. Read More
• Innocore Technologies BV, of Groningen, the Netherlands, signed a license and collaboration agreement with Allergan Inc., of Irvine, Calif., to develop long-acting ocular drug delivery products for ophthalmic diseases. Read More
• Samsung Biologics, of Seoul, South Korea, and Roche AG, of Basel, Switzerland, said they entered a long-term strategic manufacturing agreement under which Samsung will manufacture Roche’s commercial biologic medicines at its two manufacturing facilities in Incheon, South Korea. Read More
• Bioalliance Pharma SA, of Paris, said the international independent board of experts’ data and safety monitoring board in charge of the safety profile of the ReLive Phase III trial unanimously recommended continuing the study without modification for the third time since the trial’s start. Read More
• Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said in a third quarter update that Linzess (linaclotide) sales were $34.4 million in the period. Read More
