LONDON – A huge international study has established that a rare liver disease, which often occurs simultaneously with inflammatory bowel disease, is, in fact, a separate disease. Read More

CHICAGO – Officials from the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) stammered through a question-and-answer period in which the audience sought the agency's definition of an "innovative" drug, its stance on orphan therapies and its policy with regard to biosimilars, during the first day of the BIO 2013 International Convention here. Read More

While the development and approval of biosimilars, especially monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), are moving at a snail's pace in developed countries, the copycat drugs are racing forward in Asia and Latin America. Read More

LONDON – Horizon Discovery Ltd. is in line for undisclosed up-front and milestone payments, followed by a potential $75 million from AstraZeneca plc in a deal that signals a move-up for the company, from providing services and products to applying its genome-editing technology in-house to uncover novel targets. Read More

Continuing a flurry of 2013 dealmaking, nanomedicine firm BIND Therapeutics Inc. kicked off the BIO International Convention with a potential $199 million-plus deal with AstraZeneca plc to develop and commercialize an Accurin therapeutic based on a molecular targeted kinase inhibitor. Read More

Novo Nordisk A/S is the first taker for Kymab Ltd.'s second-generation transgenic mouse antibody platform Kymouse, providing all-important industry validation for the fledgling technology, as well license fees, development milestones and royalties on eventual product sales. Read More

UK-based GW Pharmaceuticals plc set the terms for its proposed U.S. initial public offering (IPO), which would provide a listing on Nasdaq and nearly double its cash position ahead of the anticipated launch of lead cannabinoid product Sativex in the U.S. Read More

ActoGeniX NV closed a Series B equity financing round, raising €€10.7 million (US$14 million) to move its ActoBiotics program to the investigational new drug application (IND) stage in a second indication of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Read More

Allecra Therapeutics GmbH, a Franco-German start-up raised €15 million (US$19.6 million) in a Series A round to take two antibiotic development programs into the clinic and through clinical proof of concept. Read More

• Santaris Pharma A/S, of Hoersholm, Denmark, said the European Patent Office issued minutes of the oral proceedings specifying the board of appeal's decision to maintain EP 1015469, the "Wengel" patent, with claims to amino- and thio-LNA nucleotides and oligonucleotides. Read More