The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded $115 million to the non-profit partnership, Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), to help it develop its portfolio of anti-malarial medicines. This is the MMV’s fifth grant from the foundation.
BioCeramic Therapeutics, a privately-owned company that is developing bioactive materials for orthopaedic and dental applications has received £1.2 million to support its operations ahead of the commercialisation of its lead product in 2010.
MorphoSys AG said that it has reached an agreement with Daiichi Sankyo Company Ltd of Japan to discover and develop therapeutic antibodies to treat hospital-acquired infections. The financial terms were not disclosed.
Sygnis Pharma AG has established a €10 million, three-year standby equity facility with YA Global Master SPV Ltd, the Cayman Islands investment vehicle of Yorkville Advisors LLC of the US.
Following strong nine-month sales of the influenza treatment, Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and the cancer drug, Avastin (bevacizumab), the Roche Group has raised its guidance for sales growth in 2009 and confirmed its estimates for profit growth.
A Switzerland-based diagnostics company, Biocartis SA, has raised €10 million in a Series A financing round led by Aescap Venture of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The company has technology for eventual use in in vitro diagnostic settings.
Merck & Co Inc has expanded its research alliance with Galapagos NV of Belgium to include the discovery of potential small molecule drugs in atherosclerosis. This raises the potential milestones from the alliance to €400 million, Galapagos said.
Amarin Corporation Plc of Dublin has raised $70 million in a private placement with institutional investors that will finance Phase 3 trials of the omega-3 drug, AMR 101, for cardiac diseases.
Prosensa BV of Leiden has granted GlaxoSmithKline an exclusive licence for its gene-correcting treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, PRO051, and has entered into an alliance that could make three other of Prosensa’s DMD products available to GSK.
Heptares Therapeutics Ltd has entered into an option agreement with the Novartis Option Fund under which the UK company will make its technology available to Novartis to generate drug leads against an unspecified GPCR target.