Abzena Plc is to apply its antibody technology to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell development under a new agreement with Tmunity Therapeutics Inc, a company co-founded by Carl June, head of the scientific team that discovered Kymriah.
Novo Nordisk A/S is reorganising its research organisation to accelerate the development of novel therapies for serious chronic diseases. The move represents a shift away from traditional insulin products and into, among other things, cardio-metabolic and stem cell research.
The Danish company will also increase investment in digital technologies and artificial intelligence to help identify lead molecules and develop them faster. As a consequence, the size of company’s R&D workforce will be reduced with the loss of about 400 jobs in Denmark and China.
Research carried out by scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany suggests that colon cancer is stimulated by cell stress and bacteria and not by inflammation, as previously thought.
Two German networking organisations have announced plans for helping nascent biotechnology and medical device companies start operations in Europe by obtaining crowdfunding, which involves raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet.
Would-be biotechs will be able to raise €1 million to €10 million with a prospectus and for amounts smaller than €1 million a prospectus will not be needed.
An international investment group led by Life Sciences Partners (LSP) of the Netherlands has provided $45 million in Series D financing to the digital health company Endotronix Inc to commercialise its system for helping physicians treat patients with heart failure from home.
The product platform consists of a remote monitoring system coupled with an implantable pulmonary artery sensor that enables physicians to monitor their patients and detect any worsening of a heart failure.
The Swiss medical device company Luciole Medical AG has raised CHF 5.3 million (€4.7 million) in a Series A financing round to commercialise a minimally-invasive monitoring probe designed to measure blood oxygen levels in the brain, specifically for patients in intensive care.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Lumoxiti (moxetumomab pasudotox-tdfk), a new drug developed by AstraZeneca Plc for the treatment of refractory hairy cell leukaemia (HCL), a rare, slow-growing cancer of the blood.
Sanofi SA has continued its ongoing reorganisation under Chief Executive Olivier Brandicourt with a reconfiguration of two of its global business units. The current units include products for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other legacy products. They will be altered to reflect the company’s geographical priorities.
A new primary care business unit will combine the product portfolios of Sanofi’s current diabetes, cardiovascular and mature products divisions to focus exclusively on mature markets.
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH has exercised an option to acquire Austria-based ViraTherapeutics GmbH which is developing oncolytic virus vaccines to treat cancer. The transaction has been valued at €210 million.
Galapagos NV has raised $300 million in a secondary offering on Nasdaq two days after the Belgian company and its partner Gilead Sciences Inc announced positive Phase 3 results for a new JAK1 inhibitor to treat rheumatoid arthritis.