BioWorld International articles from December 2006

BioWorld International archives from December 2006

Newron raises CHF118.12m in Swiss initial public offering.
December 13, 2006... Shares in Newron Pharmaceuticals SpA opened on the Swiss Stock Exchange in Zurich at CHF58 (US$48.20) Tuesday, more than 5 percent above its initial public offering price of CHF55 per share. The issue of about 2.1 million shares, which was...

Pharminox, Schering-Plough enter deal worth up to $40m.
December 13, 2006... LONDON -- Pharminox Ltd. sealed a two-year deal with Schering-Plough Corp. at a headline value of $40 million, validating its technology and providing the springboard for a new 5 million [pounds sterling] to 10 million [pounds sterling]...

Blindness gene identified in chickens could have impact.
December 13, 2006... LONDON -- A faulty gene responsible for causing inherited blindness in chickens could hold the key to understanding many common diseases that afflict humans, including hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, stroke and low-birth weight....

Novexel licenses aminocandin from Indevus Pharmaceuticals.
December 13, 2006... PARIS -- Novexel SA and Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc. signed a definitive agreement for Indevus to out-license worldwide rights of aminocandin to Novexel. Aminocandin is a member of the echinocandin class of anti-fungal compounds used to...

Belgium's ThromboGenics in novel biotech deal with India.
December 13, 2006... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- ThromboGenics, the Leuven, Belgium-based firm focused on vascular disease, announced Dec. 6 it is licensing its THR-100 thrombolytic to Bharat Biotech International Ltd. The deal covers manufacturing, clinical...

Allergy Therapeutics plc.(Other News To Note)
December 13, 2006... Allergy Therapeutics plc, of Worthing, UK, said it has promising initial data in its Phase IIa study of its sublingual hay fever vaccine. The vaccine incorporates the adjuvant MPL, a TLR4-agonist. While that study is the first ever examination...

Trophos announces plans for ALS TRO19622 Phase II/III trial.
December 13, 2006... PARIS -- Trophos completed a Phase Ib trial of its lead compound, TRO19622, in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and announced plans for carrying out a pivotal Phase II/III study. The Phase Ib trial included a one-month compliance, tolerance...

Actelion shares on rise as Actelion-1 now in Phase III.
December 13, 2006... Actelion Ltd. lifted the lid on one of its undisclosed clinical development programs, revealing for the first time that the molecule named Actelion-1 is an endothelin receptor antagonist (ERA) and also that the molecule is moving into a Phase...

Peptech ponders various ways of spending 71.3m [pounds sterling].
December 13, 2006... LONDON -- After cashing in on what could be considered one of the most astute investments in the history of biotechnology, Peptech Ltd. outlined its plans for spending the 71.3 million [pounds sterling] (US$139 million) it made from the sale of...

Genfit to list shares on Alternext market in Paris.
December 13, 2006... PARIS -- Genfit obtained a listing on the Alternext market of the Euronext stock exchange in Paris through direct quotation. The listing will take effect Dec. 19. To pave the way for the admission of its shares, Genfit completed a private...

PanGenetics in deals with Schering-Plough, LayLine.
December 13, 2006... PanGenetics BV made two additions to its antibody development pipeline in successive weeks, in-licensing a molecule from LayLine Genomics SpA that's in development for pain, and a drug candidate from Schering-Plough Corp. that targets an...

Antisoma plc.(Other News To Note)
December 13, 2006... Antisoma plc, of London, said it is advancing AS1411 into a Phase II trial in acute myelogenous leukemia, in combination with cytarabine (Ara-C), an established treatment for AML. The trial is expected to include older patients being treated...

Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, exercised its co-promotion option on ceftobiprole, its investigational cephalosporin antibiotic, in North America and major European countries with Cilag GmbH International, an affiliate of Johnson & Johnson, of New Brunswick, N.J.(Other News To Note)
December 13, 2006... Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, exercised its co-promotion option on ceftobiprole, its investigational cephalosporin antibiotic, in North America and major European countries with Cilag GmbH International, an affiliate of...

Cambridge Biostability Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, and Panacea Biotec Ltd., the second largest vaccine producer in India, entered a joint venture agreement.(Other News To Note)
December 13, 2006... Cambridge Biostability Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, and Panacea Biotec Ltd., the second largest vaccine producer in India, entered a joint venture agreement. Panacea Biotec has taken a 10 percent stake in Cambridge Biostability, for a total...

Cancer Research Technology Ltd. (CRT), of London, the commercialization arm of the charity Cancer Research UK, said it will receive a milestone payment from Vernalis plc, of Reading, UK, following the selection of a second preclinical development candidate by Vernalis partner Novartis AG in their Hsp90 drug discovery program.(Other News To Note)
December 13, 2006... Cancer Research Technology Ltd. (CRT), of London, the commercialization arm of the charity Cancer Research UK, said it will receive a milestone payment from Vernalis plc, of Reading, UK, following the selection of a second preclinical...

Crucell NV.(contarcst for pediatric vaccine production)(Brief article)
December 13, 2006... Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, was awarded an additional contract totaling more than $20 million for its Quinvaxem pediatric vaccine. The contract was awarded by a supranational organization for Latin America and covers sales in 2007....

Galapagos NV.(Other News To Note)
December 13, 2006... Galapagos NV, of Mechelen, Belgium, and The ALS Association, a Calabasas Hills Calif., a nonprofit health organization dedicated to finding a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, formed a new two-year target discovery alliance. Galapagos'...

GenPat77 Pharmacogenetics AG.(Other News To Note)
December 13, 2006... GenPat77 Pharmacogenetics AG, of Berlin, acquired worldwide rights to an advanced investigational cancer therapy, GP7.1, from Charite University of Medicine in Berlin. GP7.1 previously was tested in a pilot clinical study in patients with...

Onyvax Ltd.(product development)(Brief article)
December 13, 2006... Onyvax Ltd., of London, said that a Phase IIb trial with Onyvax-P, a vaccine against prostate cancer, is under way with the addition of UK centers to initial sites in the Baltic States, where the first patients have been treated. The UK sites...

Proteome Sciences plc.(patent notice)(Brief article)
December 13, 2006... Proteome Sciences plc, of Cobham, UK, said it was issued US Patent No. 7,144,705 titled "Diagnostic Assay for Stroke," relating to methods of diagnosing stroke by measuring the levels of heart fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP), a proprietary...

ReNeuron Group plc.(drug approvals)(Brief article)
December 13, 2006... ReNeuron Group plc, of Guildford, UK, said it filed an investigational new drug application with the FDA to carry out a Phase I safety trial ReN001, a stem cell derived therapy for treating the effects of stroke. The company said it is the...

Symphogen AS, of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Meiji Seika Kaisha Ltd., of Tokyo, entered a research, development and commercialization agreement that uses Symphogen's antibody discovery technology, Symplex, to develop a fully human recombinant polyclonal antibody that targets a nondisclosed bacterial pathogen.(Other News To Note)
December 13, 2006... Symphogen AS, of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Meiji Seika Kaisha Ltd., of Tokyo, entered a research, development and commercialization agreement that uses Symphogen's antibody discovery technology, Symplex, to develop a fully human recombinant...

Genmab licenses HuMax-CD20 to GSK in potential $2.1b deal.
December 20, 2006... Billing it as the biotechnology industry's biggest ever drug deal, Genmab A/S licensed the human monoclonal antibody HuMax-CD20 (ofatumumab) to GlaxoSmithKline plc in a transaction with a total potential value exceeding DKK12 billion (US$2.1...

Lipoxen, Baxter enter $75m deal on blood clot products.
December 20, 2006... LONDON -- Lipoxen plc signed a $75 million deal with Baxter International Inc. to apply its PolyXen drug delivery technology to develop longer acting, patentable forms of marketed blood clotting products. The agreement triggers a $1...

Toxoplasma virulence gene helps explain disease path.
December 20, 2006... LONDON -- A new understanding of how a genetic variation determines whether the parasite Toxoplasma gondii causes severe disease or just a mild infection could lead to new therapies for the condition. The findings also could make it...

Epigenomics' stock plunges as Roche exits collaboration.
December 20, 2006... Epigenomics AG lost 41 percent of its market capitalization Friday on news that the Roche Diagnostics arm of F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. was exiting their four-year alliance to develop molecular diagnostic products for colorectal, prostate and...

Speedel shares devalued as SPP301 pivotal study halted.
December 20, 2006... Shares in Speedel were down by 14.4 percent Tuesday on news that the company had halted a pivotal Phase III trial of the selective endothelin receptor antagonist (ERA) SPP301 (avosentan) in diabetic nephropathy, following the development of...

Biotecnol SA, of Oeiras, Portugal, and Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tustin, Calif., agreed to collaborate on the development of targeted immunocytokine agents for cancer and other diseases using Peregrine's Vascular Targeting Agent platform and Biotecnol's Tribody technology to fuse anti-phospholipid targeting agents to one or more cytokines in a Tribody format.(Other News To Note)
December 20, 2006... Biotecnol SA, of Oeiras, Portugal, and Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tustin, Calif., agreed to collaborate on the development of targeted immunocytokine agents for cancer and other diseases using Peregrine's Vascular Targeting Agent...

EU ministers shock industry, support ban of Austrian GM.(European Union Roundup)
December 20, 2006... BRUSSELS, Belgium - In a move that has sent shockwaves through the European biotechnology industry, the European Union Environment Council gave its support on Dec. 18 to a controversial and longstanding Austrian ban on Monsanto and Aventis...

BioAlliance gets green light for Phase II/III transdrug trial.
December 20, 2006... PARIS -- BioAlliance Pharma SA received the go-ahead from the French Health Products Safety Agency (AFSSAPS) to conduct a Phase II/III trial of its doxorubicin Transdrug in primary liver cancer. The Paris-based company reported the final...

IntegraGen setting up U.S. subsidiary for diagnostics.(Brief article)
December 20, 2006... PARIS -- IntegraGen SA established a subsidiary, IntegraGen Inc., in New York, for the commercialization of its molecular diagnostic tests in the U.S. Robert Gottlieb, who joined IntegraGen five months ago as vice-president for global...

VASTox gets remains of MNL Pharma for library.
December 20, 2006... LONDON -- VASTox plc swooped down on the assets of bankrupt MNL Pharma Ltd., acquiring a 1,300 library of natural imino sugars, a preclinical portfolio led by a cancer treatment MNLP462a, and a carbohydrate chemistry laboratory, for 240,000...

Antisoma brings in 26.3m [pounds sterling]; 'eye-watering' deal on way.
December 20, 2006... LONDON -- Antisoma plc raised 26.3 million [pounds sterling] (US$51.2 million) in a placing to replenish dwindling cash supplies, as negotiations to partner the lead cancer product AS1404 come to fruition. "It was a difficult decision in...

Elan Corp. plc, of Dublin, Ireland, and Biogen Idec Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., submitted a supplemental biologics license application seeking approval of Tysabri (natalizumab) for patients with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease.(Other News To Note)
December 20, 2006... Elan Corp. plc, of Dublin, Ireland, and Biogen Idec Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., submitted a supplemental biologics license application seeking approval of Tysabri (natalizumab) for patients with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease. The...

Endotherm GmbH, of Saarbruecken, Germany, entered a collaboration with PharmaInformatic, of Emden, Germany, to develop and optimize new antiviral agents.(Other News To Note)(Brief article)
December 20, 2006... Endotherm GmbH, of Saarbruecken, Germany, entered a collaboration with PharmaInformatic, of Emden, Germany, to develop and optimize new antiviral agents. PharmaInformatic will use its cheminformatics systems to predict antiviral and...

Graffinity Pharmaceuticals GmbH.(Other News To Note)
December 20, 2006... Graffinity Pharmaceuticals GmbH, of Heidelberg, Germany, said its partner, Ingelheim, Germany-based Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., decided to exercise options in the companies' original agreement to significantly increase the number...

GPC Biotech AG, of Martinsried, Germany, said Waltham, Mass.-based Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc., its partner for satraplatin, filed a demand for arbitration and statement of claim with the American Arbitration Association to resolve a dispute under the companies' co-development and license agreement for satraplatin.(Other News To Note)
December 20, 2006... GPC Biotech AG, of Martinsried, Germany, said Waltham, Mass.-based Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc., its partner for satraplatin, filed a demand for arbitration and statement of claim with the American Arbitration Association to resolve a dispute...

Pevion Biotech Ltd.(Other News To Note)
December 20, 2006... Pevion Biotech Ltd., of Berne, Switzerland, began a Phase I trial of a virosome-based therapeutic hepatitis C vaccine. The vaccine combines the company's proprietary vaccine technologies, PevitTER and PeviPRO, which induce cytotoxic...

Schwarz Pharma AG, of Monheim, Germany, said it transferred project rights from a 2003 urology research cooperation to 4SC AG, of Martinsried, Germany, following the company's new strategic positioning.(Other News To Note)
December 20, 2006... Schwarz Pharma AG, of Monheim, Germany, said it transferred project rights from a 2003 urology research cooperation to 4SC AG, of Martinsried, Germany, following the company's new strategic positioning. The collaboration aimed to create drugs...

Tibotec Pharmaceuticals Ltd.(Other News To Note)
December 20, 2006... Tibotec Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Cork, Ireland, said the Committee for Human Medicinal Products recommended conditional approval of Prezista (darunavir, also known as TMC114) for HIV based on results of 24-week pooled analysis of the POWER 1...

Europe releases $750 million for research in coming year.(health research funding for biotechnology industry)
December 27, 2006... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Union's Christmas present to the biotechnology industry was a Dec. 22 announcement of 628 million [euro] ($750 million) funding for health research in 2007. Individual grants of up to 12 million [euro] are...

Medivir licenses two HIV drugs to start-up Presidio.
December 27, 2006... Medivir AB has licensed two HIV drug candidates to Presidio Pharmaceuticals Inc. in return for potential development milestone payments of up to $75.25 million and an undisclosed minority equity stake in the firm. San Francisco-based...

Touch receptor protein opens innovative pain relief strategies.
December 27, 2006... LONDON -- The first insights into which molecules are involved in converting mechanical pressure into a nerve impulse--the process of touch reception--could lead to a new generation of analgesics. Researchers in Germany said their discovery...

Galapagos acquires ProSkelia in deal worth $59.1 million.(Galapagos Genomics N.V.)
December 27, 2006... LONDON -- Galapagos NV continued its progress as a consolidating force in European drug discovery, acquiring ProSkelia, the French discovery arm of the UK biotech ProStrakan Group plc in a deal valued at 45 million [euro] (US$59.1 million). ...

Anecova unveils new in vivo method of assisted fertilization.
December 27, 2006... Anecova SA unveiled a new, in vivo approach to assisted human reproduction, based on the use of an encapsulation technique that allows fertilization to take place within the uterus, instead of in a test tube. The Geneva-based company aims to...

London academic institutions facilitating genetics research.
December 27, 2006... LONDON -- Seven of London's leading academic institutions are banding together to commercialize their genetics research, forming an independent company to carry out business development and manage partnerships with biotech and pharma companies....

European parliament resistance growing toward use of GMOs.(genetically modified organisms )(Brief article)
December 27, 2006... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- A European Parliament debate on genetically modified organisms scheduled to take place Dec. 19 was postponed to Jan. 22 after the Parliament's agricultural committee raised numerous objections to what many of its members...

MediGene building sales force for licensed Rosacea treatment.
December 27, 2006... Kick-starting plans to build a regional dermatology sales force in Europe, MediGene AG acquired European marketing rights to the rosacea treatment Oracea from CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Martinsried, Germany-based MediGene is paying...

Ardana plc.(clinical trial report)(Brief article)
December 27, 2006... Ardana plc, of Edinburgh, UK, announced preliminary results from a Phase II study of its lead development compound, a GnRH antagonist Teverelix in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), showing the product induced symptomatic improvement from as...

Crucell NV.(research funds)(Brief article)
December 27, 2006... Crucell NV, of Leiden, The Netherlands, said the European Union awarded a grant to its subsidiary toward the development of a malaria vaccine. The 1.7 million [euro] (US$2.2 million) grant was given to a consortium of four leading groups in the...

Digilab BioVisioN GmbH, of Hannover, Germany, identified candidate biomarkers for lung cancer using its Peptidomics Differential Peptide Display (DPD) technology platform in the first phase of a collaboration with Abbott Molecular Inc., of Des Plains, Ill.(Other News To Note)
December 27, 2006... Digilab BioVisioN GmbH, of Hannover, Germany, identified candidate biomarkers for lung cancer using its Peptidomics Differential Peptide Display (DPD) technology platform in the first phase of a collaboration with Abbott Molecular Inc., of Des...

ImmuPharma plc.(fund raising)(Brief article)
December 27, 2006... ImmuPharma plc, of London, raised more than 4.71 million [pounds sterling] (US$9.2 million) through the issue of 4.4 million shares priced at 62 pence each and an interest-free unsecured bond with warrants. The funds will be invested in the...

Cerep aims to cut losses and end its chemistry arm.
December 27, 2006... PARIS -- Cerep SA will cease its loss-making chemistry services and drug discovery research activities as part of a plan aimed at bring it "rapidly back to profitability." The Paris-based company says it has decided to refocus on its...

MorphoSys AG.(Other News To Note)
December 27, 2006... MorphoSys AG, of Martinsried, Germany, said the antibody collaboration with Pfizer Inc., of New York, slated to end in 2008, has been extended until the end of 2011. Pfizer has the option to begin new therapeutic antibody projects with...