Pfizer Inc is prepared to commit up to $280 million to an experimental gene therapy for haemophilia which is under development by Spark Therapeutics in the US, while at the same time reinforcing its gene therapy research capacity in the UK.
Two European companies with complementary technology platforms have joined forces to supply drug targeting services to Forma Therapeutics Inc, a US company working to discover new compounds to treat cancer and other genetically-driven diseases.
Innovation in the biopharmaceutical industry is increasingly being driven by partnership deals. The variety and structure of these deals were discussed in early December 2014 in Lille, France at BioFIT, an event organised by the French life science group AFSSI. Industry executives and technology transfer officers argued that partnerships are becoming more common, and in some cases, more open-ended.
Responding to the growing need for new antibiotics, Merck & Co Inc has reached an agreement to acquire Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc for $9.5 billion. Cubist’s pipeline has new treatments for both Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile infections.
Novartis and the University of Pennsylvania have issued a clinical update of their cell therapy for paediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) showing that 36 out of 39 patients, or 92% of trial participants, experienced a complete remission of their disease.
The Food and Drug Administration has given its first approval to a single-agent immunotherapy for cancer – Amgen Inc’s Blincyto (blinatumomab) for the treatment of refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).
A kinase inhibitor which is already authorised for myelofibrosis has now been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for polycythemia vera, another bone marrow disorder. The drug, Jakafi (ruxolitinib), was developed by Incyte Pharmaceuticals Inc and Novartis.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc has dropped plans to divest a portfolio of off-patent drugs that do not represent its core business apparently because offers from the potential buyers were below expectations. The company announced the change of strategy on 4 December.
A medical device which is intended to treat congenital malformations of the heart using a regenerative medicine approach has been backed by a syndicate of leading European investors in a €27 million Series B financing round.
Switzerland-based Anergis SA has raised CHF 14.5 million (€12.1 million) from European and US-based investors in order to progress its lead vaccine against birch pollen allergy into a Phase 3 study. The vaccine consists of synthetic long peptides.