Hamburg, Germany-based biotech Evotec has announced that its subsidiary Haplogen GmbH (Vienna) has entered into a favorable cooperation agreement with Bayer, aimed at developing new therapies targeting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Thanks to the deal, Bayer obtains an exclusive…
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Johnson & Johnson today has announced it has acquired Zarbee’s Naturals, a producer of natural OTCs for children, from private equity L. Catterton. Zarbee’s Naturals was founded in Utah in 2008 and sells natural OTCs: these are highly demanded products,…
Biotech group Amgen has announced today first results from a Phase-III clinical trial in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Sample groups have been treated for 22 weeks with Remicade versus experimental biosimilar ABP 710 (monoclonal antibody). ABP 710 was shown to…
Loxo Oncology’s shares yesterday soared by 23% (Nasdaq) as the company published an abstract of the presentation prepared for the ASCO (American Society for Clinical Oncology) Annual Meeting, to be held from 1 to 5 June. The presentation includes preliminary…
California-based biotech BioMarin announced on Friday its Q1 2018 financial results, which have been above analysts’ expectations. Sales increased by 23% vs Q1 2017, to $373m. The San Rafael-based company’s best-selling drug is still Vimizim, whose sales increased by 11%….
Denmark-based Lundbeck may soon sign a new acquisition agreement, after taking over Prexton Therapeutics two months ago for $905m. The group is apparently targeting companies with candidates still undergoing the early stages of clinical trials, intended to treat central nervous…
US-based biotech Biogen has announced today its Q1 2018 results, which have partly disappointed analysts and investors. Biogen’s shares firstly fell 2% (Nasdaq), but have offset the drop during the day. The group delivered a $3.1bn sales volume over the…
Germany-based biotech Morphosys could not have made any better debut in the Nasdaq. Starting from $25.04, its share price reached $26.16 at the end of its first trading day and closed at $26 last Friday. Morphosys is already traded in…
Biogen announced today, few hours before Wall Street opened, that it has entered into a $1bn-worth agreement with biotech Ionis Pharmaceuticals. The agreement is aimed at developing novel therapies targeting neurological diseases, thanks to the expertise Biotech has developed in…
Private equity Advent International has announced today in a press release that it is in exclusive talks with Sanofi to acquire Zentiva, the French company’s arm that markets generics all over Europe. Advent has offered Sanofi €1.919bn. Advent International, which…
Switzerland-based Lonza yesterday opened the largest gene and cell therapy production site in the world in Pearland (Texas). The facility has an area of 250,000 square meters and will soon create 200 new jobs–especially scientists and engineers. Lonza has long…
US-based Eli Lilly yesterday announced the results from the Phase III REACH-2 clinical trial, conducted on patients with liver cancer (HCC) treated with Cyramza (ramucirumab) as a second-line treatment. The trial has delivered positive results and investors have soon rewarded…
US-based private equity Carlyle has secured AkzoNobel’s Specialty Chemicals division for €10.1bn (including debt), putting an end to a battle among various bidders, including Apollo Global Management, Hal Investments and the Bain Capital-Advent International consortium, which broke out over one…
Denali’s shares yesterday rose almost 2% (Nasdaq) as the San Francisco-based company announced it has started a Phase I clinical trial aimed at testing its DNL747 therapy on patients with Alzheimer’s. Simultaneously, Denali has started a Phase I clinical trial…
Denmark-based Leo Pharma has announced today it has sold the rights to ten products to its Sweden-based competitor Karo Pharma for €260m. The transaction only includes rights, not production sites or R&D staff. The divested brands include Conotrane®, Fonx®, Condyline®,…
Canada-based Valeant has had the worst start today. The group led by CEO Joe Papa announced today, before trading started, its Q4 2017 results, which were below analysts’ and investors’ expectations. The company’s shares soon reacted with a 11% decline…
A judge in the federal court in Delaware has ruled in favor of Gilead in an appeal trial concerning patent issues against Merck & Co.. Specifically, the judge has held invalid Merck & Co.’s patent protecting a hepatitis C treatment,…
Japan-based pharmaceutical group Shionogi has reported that it has developed a therapy eliminating the A and B influenza virus in 24 hours with a single dose–a far better result than Roche’s Tamiflu, which requires two doses and a minimum of…
Leuven, Belgium-based TiGenix today obtained by the FDA an ODD (Orphan Drug Designation) for its Cx601 investigational therapy, developed to treat fistulas in patients with Crohn’s disease. Cx601 is an allogeneic, stem-cells therapy already assessed in two Phase III clinical…
Hikma Pharmaceuticals today announced it has lowered its current year guidance, which has immediately resulted in a 5% capitalization loss. The news was announced a week after that US FDA rejected – temporarily – to approve the generic of GSK’s…
Stada announced on a press release it has received another non-binding offer, without disclosing the potential buyer’s name. The German group added that the new bid is of approximately €58.00 per share, which corresponds to valuing the group at approximately…
Germany-based pharmaceutical group Stada will enlarge its product portfolio by acquiring UK-based manufacturer of vitamins and food supplements Natures Aid. Natures Aid is headquartered in Preston (Manchester) and has approximately 60 employees. The company generated a revenue of approximately GBP7.3m…
Netherlands-based chemical group AkzoNobel will not sell its Specialty Chemicals business unit, denying sale rumors which have been circulating for a long time now. In so doing, Akzo confirms its strategy to remain a manufacturer of chemicals, but also paints…
Sooft Italia (OOgroup), a company operating in the ophthalmic business, appears to be on sale and, reportedly, UBS has already been mandated to look for a buyer. Potential bidders include VC Principia, Italy-based pharma group Angelini and Mediolanum Farmaceutici. According…
A team at Swansea University analyzed the uncontrolled surge in antidepressant prescriptions for children and teenagers. According to the the Welsh university researchers, prescriptions have increased by almost 30% over the past 10 years and drugs not allowed for use…
The Italian chemical group Maipei, specialized in building products, intends to pursue M&A again, with new acquisitions. The company will soon perform two operations of share capital increase – by €25M and by €27.5m – which will bring the total…
Organovo is a California-based company focused on developing 3D bioprinting technology, already known for their liver tissue, used by MSD and Roche for pre-clinical investigational drugs. The organization has announced that it has begun commercial contracting for its second tissue,…
Takeda, the major Japanese pharma group, has started an important three-year clinical trial for the vaccine against dengue, including vaccination of 20,000 children in Asia and Latin America. The new vaccine TAK-003, developed by Takeda, will provide an alternative to…