News

The Wellcome Trust has awarded £4.3 million to researchers at St George’s, University of London to investigate a new class of drugs for asthma and allergies.

Alizyme Plc has told investors that there is a “material uncertainty” about whether it will receive milestone payments for one of its drug development programmes. Barring additional funding, it would therefore be unable to continue as a going concern.

Five new medicines, including a cell-based treatment for cartilage defects, have received positive opinions from the European Medicines Agency, paving the way for the issuing of marketing authorisations by the European Commission.

The European Medicines Agency has recommended that a marketing authorisation be given to a cell-based, cartilage-repair treatment under the European Union’s Advanced Therapies Regulation, which came into effect at the end of 2008.

Clavis Pharma ASA, a Norwegian company that specialises in lipid-based delivery of pharmaceutical agents, achieved an endorsement of its technology with a placement of new shares worth NOK 129 million (€14.3 million).

The European Medicines Agency is inviting comments from industry and medical professionals on its proposal to make more regulatory documents public as well as to open up its own decision-making procedures to more outside scrutiny.

Neovacs SA, a small, privately owned biologics company in Paris, is developing third generation antibodies, which are currently defined as vaccines that cause the body will make its own antibodies to whatever target is required.

The Swiss specialty biopharmaceutical company, Lumavita AG, has topped up a recent Series A funding round with CHF 6 million, bringing the total amount raised for commercialising its lead antibiotic product to CHF 24 million.

Eli Lilly has launched a new web-based initiative to capture independent drug research from universities and biotechnology companies that might eventually form the basis for future collaborations or licensing deals.

Pharming Group NV has expanded its equity by negotiating the conversion of some of its convertible debt into shares and by issuing about one million new shares from a stand-by equity facility.