The new £100 million (US$160 million) Wales Life Sciences Fund (WLSF) is poised to make its first investment after appointing biotech veteran Chris Evans to run the fund and pulling together a supporting cast of nine seasoned industry experts to manage its portfolio. Read More

A family that has 14 members affected by an aggressive form of malignant melanoma has helped researchers discover a new mutation that is common in melanoma tumors and could lead to new, targeted treatments for that type of cancer. Read More

Pharma's productivity woes have spawned a new UK company, Avillion LLP, which is offering to plug between $50 million and $100 million into the co-development of Phase III assets. Read More

Bone Therapeutics SA raised €7.7 million (US$10.4 million) in new financing as a prelude to a larger round, as it seeks to expand the indication range for its cell therapy product Preob. Read More

Cytox Ltd. has been rescued from liquidation and raised £3.5 million (US$5.5 million) in new money to reinvigorate efforts to develop a simple, definitive blood test for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Read More

With data due from a pivotal Phase III trial of its lead drug candidate around midyear, Gene Signal International SA raised an undisclosed investment from its longstanding syndicate of private investors to keep its pipeline of antisense and peptide-based drugs moving forward. Read More

• Sirtex Medical Ltd., of New South Wales, Australia, reported results from an analysis of 548 patients in a clinical study testing Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT) with SIR-Spheres microspheres in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Read More