LONDON – Scil Technology GmbH has signed up Sanofi SA as commercialization partner for its protein therapy for osteoarthritis in a €180 million (US$235.9 million) plus royalties deal that will see the French pharma company take on all responsibility for further development of the program. Read More

Shares in Sygnis Pharma AG plunged more than 62 percent Friday on news that its lead drug AX200 failed to demonstrate efficacy in a 328-patient Phase IIb trial in acute ischemic stroke. Read More

LONDON – Erythropoietin (EPO), the hormone that stimulates the formation of new red blood cells, is released in response to tumors and helps provide them with a more favorable environment for growth and spread, a new study has found. Read More

Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd. plans to complete a European regulatory filing for its lead drug Scenesse (afamelanotide) in the coming weeks, following a Phase III trial in patients with erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP), which met its primary endpoint. Read More

LONDON – NeuroSearch A/S is spinning out two start-ups to take forward programs that were parked in September when the company announced it was restructuring and would be focusing all resources on its Phase III Huntington's disease product, Huntexil. Read More

LONDON – Oxford BioMedica plc can now boast three years' safety data and a sustained improvement in symptoms in all 15 patients treated in the Phase I/II trial of its ProSavin gene therapy for Parkinson's disease, but needs to progress to a higher dose "to provide more certainty" that this is not just a placebo effect, and to be competitive against deep brain stimulation treatment. Read More

• Apeiron Biologics AG, of Vienna, Australia, said GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London, exclusive, worldwide licensee for Apeiron's new investigational recombinant human Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (GSK2586881, formerly APN01), has initiated a Phase IIa study in patients suffering from acute lung injury. Read More