Nicox SA is undertaking another strategic reorganisation with plans to spin out its portfolio of marketed ophthalmology products in Europe into a new company in which it will have a minority stake. It will keep a R&D portfolio that includes two products in registration in the US.
Milan, Italy-based Dianax has received a €2 million European Union grant to support development of a portable diagnostic for the prevention and monitoring of diabetes. The device is designed to provide measurements of glycated haemoglobin.
Evotec AG, whose extensive drug discovery business is divided between services for biotech companies and proprietary work, has obtained non-exclusive access to the gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 in order to strengthen its screening and target identification activities.
TiGenix NV has secured a development and commercialisation deal for a late-stage cell therapy for a Crohn’s disease indication with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd, generating an immediate upfront payment of €25 million while retaining rights to the product in the US.
The US Food and Drug Administration has put a clinical hold on a Phase 2 trial of a new immunotherapy developed by Juno Therapeutics Inc after two patients died in early July. A third patient had previously died at the end of May.
Ablynx NV said that its experimental compound for rheumatoid arthritis, vobarilizumab, was very effective with less frequent administration than tocilizumab when tested as a monotherapy in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis.
BioGeneration Ventures BV has raised about €25 million at the first close of a new fund targeting innovative life science companies in Europe with a strong focus on the Netherlands. The target size of the fund is €50 million.
Netherlands-based NightBalance BV, which has developed an unobtrusive device for training an individual to avoid sleep apnea, has raised €12.5 million in a Series B financing. The proceeds will be used to market the product in Europe where it received regulatory approval in 2012.
A pioneering cell therapy designed to treat patients with congestive heart failure did not meet its primary endpoint in a Phase 3 European trial. But the developer, Celyad SA, said a subgroup did show statistical significance.
In another move to generate income from out-licensing, AstraZeneca Plc has negotiated rights to two experimental dermatology drugs to LEO Pharma A/S of Denmark. The products are biologics and have not yet reached the market.