ThromboGenics NV and its partner, the Alcon unit of Novartis AG, received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) for Jetrea (ocriplasmin) as a treatment for vitreous macular traction, paving the way for a European launch in the second quarter. Read More

For 60 years, the DNA double helix has provided an iconic image of how our genetic information is held and how it reproduces. Now scientists at the University of Cambridge in the UK – where Watson and Crick developed their ideas about the genetic code – have provided another pioneering insight into the workings of human genes. Read More

Newly established Dutch start-up Dezima Pharma BV in-licensed what it considers a best-in-class cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor, DEZ-001 (formerly TA-8995), from Osaka, Japan-based Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp. and is planning to move the cholesterol-lowering drug into a Phase II trial involving more than 400 patients in the coming months. Read More

With key regulatory and clinical events fast approaching, MolMed SpA is set to add about €5 million (US$6.5 million) to its balance sheet in a capital increase that is fully underwritten in all but name. Read More

The latest advance in antibody technology has arrived in the shape of the Crescendo mouse, a transgenic mouse that is engineered to generate fully human single domain VH fragments. Read More

• Molecular Partners AG, of Zurich, Swizterland, said results from a Phase I/II study published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology showed that MP0112, a long-acting anti-VEGF DARPin, was found to be safe in patients with diabetic macular edema and showed suppression of VEGF-A concentrations in aqueous humor after a single intraocular injection, with a pharmacokinetic half-life of about two weeks. Read More