News

The top management at sanofi-aventis has changed following the appointment of Chris Viehbacher to the position of chief executive officer on 1 December 2008.

Privately-owned Cellzome Inc, which operates out of Cambridge, UK, and Heidelberg, Germany, has achieved the first milestone payment in its alliance with GlaxoSmithKline to identify kinase-targeted therapeutics for inflammatory diseases.

Evotec AG has unexpectedly announced the resignation of its president and chief executive officer, Jörn Aldag, effective 31 December 2008. Mr Aldag has been an executive with the company for 11 years. Mario Polywka, chief operating officer, and Klaus Maleck, chief financial officer, will jointly lead the company until a new chief executive is appointed, the company said.

The European Commission is proposing that pharmaceutical companies be allowed to provide prescription-drug information directly to consumers, provided this is not advertising.

Galapagos NV of Belgium has entered into a research collaboration with privately-held Dart Neuroscience LLC of San Diego, California, valued at €4.1 million to develop a cell-based assay for the US company’s drug discovery programmes for brain disorders.

MorphoSys AG has hired Arndt Schottelius from Genentech Inc to run its preclinical and clinical development activities.

Pharming Group NV of the Netherlands has purchased  €20.1 million of its 6.875% convertible bonds at face value with a combination of cash and shares.

Crucell NV of the Netherlands has announced the launch of its recombinant hepatitis B vaccine, Hepavax-Gene, in China. The product is being targeted at the private market segment with a particular focus on young adults. It has already been sold in at least 90 other countries.

The executive credited with focusing the research efforts of the Roche Group on the molecular pathology of disease is to retire.

A group of biotechnology company chief executives and investors has called on the UK government to contribute at least £500 million for investment in Britain’s biotech sector, which can no longer count on getting sufficient funding from private sources because of the worldwide banking crisis.