News

Crucell NV, the Dutch antibody and vaccine developer, produced strong results for 2009 but its fourth quarter figures suggested that it is losing some momentum.

Novartis AG has in-licensed a new compound for the treatment of hepatitis C that is described as the first in a new class of drugs called cyclophilin inhibitors. The deal was announced on 9 February, 2010 but no financial details were disclosed.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd said that it will use the proceeds of a new funding round amounting to £17.4 million to support its technology platform and in particular, its lead project in DNA sequencing.

The Netherlands-based diagnostics company, Qiagen NV, has reached an agreement with Pfizer Inc to develop a companion diagnostic for its immunotherapy vaccine, which is currently in Phase 2 development.

Cancer Research Technology (CRT) has entered into a three-year drug discovery and development alliance with AstraZeneca Plc that is expected to lead to the identification of new small molecule drugs targeting changes in a cell’s metabolism.

Privately-owed French pharmaceutical company, Pierre Fabre SA, has licensed exclusive rights to Abbott Laboratories to a preclinical monoclonal antibody for cancer that targets a membrane receptor known as c-Met.

As those who attend medical conferences know well, biotech executives like to talk about what they do in terms of models.

GlaxoSmithKline is expanding its restructuring programme in order to generate an additional, annual pre-tax savings of £500 million by 2012. Half of the savings will come from R&D where it intends to stop discovery research in depression and pain.

The Roche group’s net income declined by 22% to CHF 8.5 billion in 2009 as it absorbed the cost of acquiring and integrating Genentech. Group sales, however, rose by 8% and the company proposed a 20% increase in its dividend.

Galápagos NV, which performs discovery research for itself and for other companies using a functional genomics platform, has acquired Argenta Discovery Ltd, a privately-held contract research organization, for €16.5 million in cash.