LONDON – The industry has hit out at a proposal by the U.K.'s opposition Labour party to create a state-owned generic drugs company to supply the National Health Service and to force companies to cut the cost of expensive proprietary products. Read More
DUBLIN – Amryt Pharma plc raised $60 million in new equity financing to complete its all-stock takeover of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc., creating a global rare diseases company with three marketed products, a U.S. commercial infrastructure and a couple of near-term opportunities to expand its portfolio. Read More
HONG KONG – South Korean biopharmaceutical giant Celltrion Group, of Incheon, and Korea Development Bank (KDB), a wholly state-owned policy development bank, have agreed to run a fund worth KRW220 billion (US$184 million) to grow venture companies in Korea's bio-health care sector. Read More
SUZHOU, China, and HONG KONG – Despite investor worries over the long-term political and economic stability of Hong Kong after almost four months of social unrest and frequent violent protests, Chinese biotech executives remain optimistic about the outlook for the prospects for the market. Read More
LONDON – Tacalyx GmbH has raised €7 million (US$7.7 million) in seed funding to initiate research on a new generation of antibodies targeted at tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs) expressed on a wide variety of tumor cells. Read More
Versatope Therapeutics Inc., a company developing a universal influenza vaccine in Lowell, Mass., has been awarded a contract with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases worth up to $17.9 million over five years to support completion of a phase I study slated to wrap up in 2022. Read More
Lineage Cell Therapeutics Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., is looking for an external commercialization partner to help launch Renevia, the company's facial aesthetics product, in Europe and has hired Sercador Ltd. to help with the search. Renevia recently received European approval. Lineage, formerly known as Biotime Inc., rebranded itself in August to better reflect its cell therapy platform. Read More
Aeterna Zentaris Inc., of Charleston, S.C., said it closed its registered direct offering with U.S. institutional investors to purchase approximately $5 million of its common shares and warrants at a combined purchase price of $1.50. The company sold 3.325 million common shares and issued warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 3.325 million common shares at an exercise price of $1.65 per share. Read More
Neoleukin Therapeutics Inc., of Seattle, appointed Leslie Aberman vice president, legal affairs and intellectual property and Samantha Willing vice president, people. Read More
Wednesday's House subcommittee hearing on H.R. 3, which tasks Medicare with directly negotiating prescription drug prices in the U.S., may have been an exercise in futility. Although both Republicans and Democrats in Congress still agree that something has to be done to lower drug prices, they are beyond compromise on key aspects of H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act. Read More
