BioWorld International articles from January 2008

BioWorld International archives from January 2008

Revised desmoteplase deal could earn Paion $102m.
January 2, 2008... Paion AG got its stroke drug desmoteplase back on track by signing a new agreement with its existing partner H. Lundbeck A/S, under which the latter firm will take on future development and global commercialization responsibility for the...

Are acquisitions hampering European biotech growth?(Views Vary Among Panelists)
January 2, 2008... LONDON -- Big pharma's unabated appetite for biotech assets may be providing lucrative exits, but it is turning the European sector into acquisition fodder and preventing the development of sustainable public companies. In the view of...

Genetic variant discovery raises hope for bowel cancer screening.
January 2, 2008... LONDON -- The discovery of an additional common genetic variant that increases a person's risk of developing bowel cancer is bringing closer the day when physicians will be able to offer people genetic screening to identify those at high risk...

Intercell files BLA, MAA for encephalitis vaccine.
January 2, 2008... Intercell AG brought its eighth year in business to a successful conclusion by completing the biologics license application filing for its lead product, a cell-culture-based vaccine against Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), just before...

Astex optimistic IPO window will open for Lucrative 2008.
January 2, 2008... LONDON -- Astex Therapeutics Ltd. is hoping the initial public offering window will open in 2008, enabling it to capitalize on clinical data from its three lead products, which it reported last month. "We're continuing to track the...

BioAlliance mulls future as Immtech halts trial.
January 2, 2008... PARIS -- Little more than two weeks after signing an exclusive licensing agreement with BioAlliance Pharma SA granting the French company European commercialization rights to pafuramidine maleate, Immtech Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced that it...

EU says the value of its research programs 'hazy'.(European Roundup)(Financial report)
January 2, 2008... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Europe's 7 billion [euro] (US$10 billion) a year research program lacks strategy and systems for assessing its effectiveness, according to a report released by the European Union's internal auditors. The evaluation...

Acambis plc.(Other News To Note)
January 2, 2008... Acambis plc, of Cambridge, UK, said it completed the formulation work on its Clostridium difficile vaccine, improving its stability and paving the way for a proof-of-concept trial in 2008. C. difficile infection is the most common cause of...

Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd.(Other News To Note)
January 2, 2008... Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, filed its new drug submission for oral alitretinoin with Health Canada, seeking to get the drug approved in severe refractory chronic hand eczema. Marketing applications have been filed also in...

GW Pharmaceuticals plc.(Other News To Note)
January 2, 2008... GW Pharmaceuticals plc, of Salisbury, UK, said more than 1,400 patients in the UK have been prescribed Sativex, its cannabis-based treatment for the symptoms of multiple sclerosis on a named patient basis, despite the fact that the product does...

Jerini AG.(Other News To Note)
January 2, 2008... Jerini AG, of Berlin, said the FDA accepted the new drug application for Icatibant in hereditary angioedema for priority review and issued a PDUFA date of April 26, 2008. The agency also scheduled a Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee...

Medivir AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, said Presidio Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Francisco, elected to return rights to MIV-310, an HIV nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, which allows Medivir to transfer the full license to the compound and intellectual property to Beijing Mefuvir Medicinal Technology Co. Ltd., of China.(Other News To Note)
January 2, 2008... Medivir AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, said Presidio Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Francisco, elected to return rights to MIV-310, an HIV nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, which allows Medivir to transfer the full license to the compound...

PepTcell Ltd., of High Wycombe, UK, has entered into a research collaboration with Gador SA, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, to develop a T-cell vaccine for Chagas disease, a neglected tropical disease with no adequate treatment or vaccination.(Other News To Note)
January 2, 2008... PepTcell Ltd., of High Wycombe, UK, has entered into a research collaboration with Gador SA, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, to develop a T-cell vaccine for Chagas disease, a neglected tropical disease with no adequate treatment or vaccination....

Plethora Solutions Holdings plc.(Other News To Note)
January 2, 2008... Plethora Solutions Holdings plc, of London, said it received regulatory approval to start a Phase III study of PSD502 for the treatment of premature ejaculation in Europe. That follows the initiation of the U.S. Phase III program. The product...

SkyePharma plc, of London, reached an agreement with its licensee, Abbott Inc., of Abbott Park, Ill., in which Abbott will pick up the tab for additional clinical work on its combination asthma drug, Flutiform, requested by the FDA.(Other News To Note)
January 2, 2008... SkyePharma plc, of London, reached an agreement with its licensee, Abbott Inc., of Abbott Park, Ill., in which Abbott will pick up the tab for additional clinical work on its combination asthma drug, Flutiform, requested by the FDA. In...

Solagran Ltd.(Other News To Note)
January 2, 2008... Solagran Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, said the firm is on track to start commercial production of its liver protectant Ropren in January 2008. Ropren was registered as a new and low-side-effect pharmaceutical to treat chronic liver disease...

Tibotec Pharmaceuticals Ltd.(Other News To Note)
January 2, 2008... Tibotec Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a Cork, Ireland-based unit of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson, submitted a supplemental new drug application to the FDA for full approval of the protease inhibitor Prezista (darunavir) as well as an...

Vernalis plc.(Other News To Note)(Brief article)
January 2, 2008... Vernalis plc, of London, applied to list 14.7 million shares in order to raise the $5.8 million milestone payment it owes to former holders of Cita Neuro-Pharmaceuticals Inc., which Vernalis acquired in 2005. The milestone is associated with...

Verona Pharma plc.(Other News To Note)
January 2, 2008... Verona Pharma plc, of London, said it is raising 2.32 million [pounds sterling] (US$4.6 million) in a placement for the further development of its respiratory portfolio. The company, which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market in...

Addex, Merck ink $702m deal for schizophrenia compound.
January 9, 2008... Merck & Co. Inc. demonstrated its liking for Addex Pharmaceuticals AG's approach to modulating glutamate receptors by entering a second deal with the Swiss firm in consecutive months. The latest pact is potentially worth up to $702 million...

Gene variant could provide clues to the cause of ALS.
January 9, 2008... LONDON -- Researchers have identified a genetic variant that increases the risk of developing the degenerative neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by about 30 percent. The variant is in a gene that encodes the enzyme...

NicOx renews research deal with Pfizer in ophthalmology.
January 9, 2008... PARIS -- NicOx SA and Pfizer Inc. have signed an extension to their March 2006 collaboration agreement that grants New York-based Pfizer the exclusive right to apply NicOx' proprietary nitric oxide-donating technology to drug discovery research...

Silence tries to calm investors after share price takes a dive.
January 9, 2008... LONDON -- Europe's leading RNAi specialist Silence Therapeutics plc has written a New Year letter to calm investors' nerves after a run on the shares in December that saw the stock price fall as low as 0.64 [pounds sterling], a far cry from the...

EMA promises to boost professionalism in 2008.
January 9, 2008... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Medicines Agency started the New Year with a declaration of intent to boost its professionalism, in a new bid to reassure skeptics that the widening membership of the European Union risks diluting the sharpness...

Faust signs research deal with Takeda for GPCRs.
January 9, 2008... PARIS -- Faust Pharmaceuticals SA concluded a research agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, under which the French company will use its Neuroclid platform to identify novel drug candidates that target undisclosed...

Sepracor enters $175m deal with Bial for epilepsy drug.
January 9, 2008... Sepracor Inc. has partnered with Portuguese firm Bial SA in a deal potentially worth $175 million to develop and commercialize BIA 2-093 (eslicarbazepine acetate) as a therapy to control epileptic seizures. Under the agreement, Marlborough,...

Biotech industry welcomes EU support for its products.
January 9, 2008... The European biotech industry has welcomed a European Union initiative aimed at boosting leading European industrial sectors. EuropaBio, the European biotech association, said it is a valuable support for bio-based products such as enzymes,...

Acambis plc.(Other News To Note)
January 9, 2008... Acambis plc, of Cambridge, UK, said it completed delivery of the entire 2.7 million doses of its ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ahead of schedule. As a result, the company expects to record total...

Argenta Discovery Ltd., of Harlow, UK, has entered into an alliance with NeuroSolutions Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, to gain preferential access to its specialist electrophysiology and hERG testing services and expertise.(Other News To Note)
January 9, 2008... Argenta Discovery Ltd., of Harlow, UK, has entered into an alliance with NeuroSolutions Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, to gain preferential access to its specialist electrophysiology and hERG testing services and expertise. The collaboration will...

Ark Therapeutics Group plc, of London, will acquire Lymphatix Oy, of Helsinki, Finland, in an all-share deal valued at 2.25 million [euro] (US$3.3 million).(Other News To Note)
January 9, 2008... Ark Therapeutics Group plc, of London, will acquire Lymphatix Oy, of Helsinki, Finland, in an all-share deal valued at 2.25 million [euro] (US$3.3 million). That gives Ark royalty-free rights to the vascular endothelial growth factor genes...

Bioceros BV, of Utrecht, the Netherlands, and MaimoniDex RA Ltd., of Tel Aviv, Israel, are collaborating to develop a monoclonal antibody specific for CD44vRA, a splice variant of the adhesion molecule CD44 that is involved in the inflammatory process underlying rheumatoid arthritis.(Other News To Note)
January 9, 2008... Bioceros BV, of Utrecht, the Netherlands, and MaimoniDex RA Ltd., of Tel Aviv, Israel, are collaborating to develop a monoclonal antibody specific for CD44vRA, a splice variant of the adhesion molecule CD44 that is involved in the inflammatory...

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd.(Other News To Note)
January 9, 2008... Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd., of Petach Tikva, Israel, signed two worldwide research laboratories to promote its second drug, CF102, and facilitate joint research to investigate the drug's effect on hepatitis C virus replication in hepatocytes, as...

Fovea Pharmaceuticals SA.(Other News To Note)
January 9, 2008... Fovea Pharmaceuticals SA, of Paris, received orphan drug designation from the European Commission for its recombinant human rod-derived cone viability factor (rh-RdCVF) for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa following a positive opinion from...

Galapagos NV, of Mechelen, Belgium, said its BioFocus DPI service division has entered a two-year target discovery collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceutica, a division of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson, in the field of oncology.(Other News To Note)
January 9, 2008... Galapagos NV, of Mechelen, Belgium, said its BioFocus DPI service division has entered a two-year target discovery collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceutica, a division of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson, in the field of oncology....

Genmab A/S.(Other News To Note)
January 9, 2008... Genmab A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, started a new preclinical antibody program, HuMax-CD32b, a fully human IgG1, k antibody aimed at targeting the CD32b receptor found on immune cells and hematological tumors. The company said HuMax-CD32b might...

Helsinn Healthcare SA, of Lugano, Switzerland, and its partner MGI Pharma Inc., of Minneapolis, said the FDA has accepted the firms' supplemental new drug application for Aloxi (palonosetron hydrochloride) oral capsules.(Other News To Note)
January 9, 2008... Helsinn Healthcare SA, of Lugano, Switzerland, and and its partner MGI Pharma Inc., of Minneapolis, said the FDA has accepted the firms' supplemental new drug application for Aloxi (palonosetron hydrochloride) oral capsules. Aloxi injection is...

PSivida Ltd.(Other News To Note)
January 9, 2008... PSivida Ltd., of Perth, Australia, received a non-compliance letter from Nasdaq, stating that the company's common stock has traded below the $1 minimum bid price for the last 30 consecutive business days. The company has 180 days, or until...

ReNeuron Group plc.(Other News To Note)(Brief article)
January 9, 2008... ReNeuron Group plc, of Guildford, UK, did not get the answer it was hoping for from the FDA, which continued its clinical hold on the company's IND application to start clinical trials of its ReN001 stem cell therapy for stroke. The...

Rosetta Genomics, of Rohovot, Israel, said its subsidiary Rosetta Genomics Inc. has received a license from Roche Molecular Systems, of Pleasanton, Calif., to use its PCR technology in Rosetta Genomics' microRNA-based diagnostic tests.(Other News To Note)
January 9, 2008... Rosetta Genomics, of Rohovot, Israel, said its subsidiary Rosetta Genomics Inc. has received a license from Roche Molecular Systems, of Pleasanton, Calif., to use its PCR technology in Rosetta Genomics' microRNA-based diagnostic tests. Rosetta...

SkyePharma plc, of London, and Sciele Pharma Inc., of Atlanta, said the FDA has approved all four new dosage strengths of Sular, a calcium channel blocking agent for the treatment of high blood pressure.(Other News To Note)
January 9, 2008... SkyePharma plc, of London, and Sciele Pharma Inc., of Atlanta, said the FDA has approved all four new dosage strengths of Sular, a calcium channel blocking agent for the treatment of high blood pressure. The new Sular formulation uses...

France suspends cultivation of Monsanto's GM corn.
January 16, 2008... PARIS -- France has suspended the cultivation of genetically modified corn, which means Monsanto's MON 810 corn, the only GM corn containing a pesticide that was authorized for commercial cultivation in the country. The decision was taken...

Novacta using $6.9m grant to seek more C. diff funds.
January 16, 2008... LONDON -- Anti-infectives specialist Novacta Biosystems Ltd. was awarded a 3.5 million [pounds sterling] (US$6.9 million) grant to develop a Clostridium difficile treatment, and will use the backing to embark on a venture capital funding round,...

Dual approach delivers positive results in Duchenne's model.
January 16, 2008... LONDON -- Human muscle stem cells, isolated from males with Duchenne's muscular dystrophy and genetically modified to correct the defect that causes the condition, can treat symptoms of muscle weakness in a mouse model of the disease, a study...

Molecular partners gets $5m in Centocor development pact.
January 16, 2008... Molecular Partners AG is banking an up-front payment of $5 million after entering a drug discovery and development alliance in inflammatory disease with Centocor Research & Development Inc., the research arm of Horsham, Pa.-based Centocor Inc....

Protagen gets $1.5m for protein biochips.
January 16, 2008... Protagen AG raised 1 million [euro] (US$1.5 million) to expand its protein biochips business unit. The cash injection is "sufficient for our needs," CEO Christoph Huls told BioWorld International, as the Dortmund, Germany-based proteomics...

Amarin Corp. plc, of London, successfully completed a preclinical proof-of-concept study using a nasal formulation of lorazepam.(Other News To Note)
January 16, 2008... Amarin Corp. plc, of London, successfully completed a preclinical proof-of-concept study using a nasal formulation of lorazepam. The preclinical study evaluated the extent of absorption of lorazepam after nasal administration and the...

Anadis Ltd.(Other News To Note)(clinical trial reports)(Brief article)
January 16, 2008... Anadis Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, reported positive results for its milk-derived anti-flu virus antibodies in several animal trials with mice. The antibody significantly decreased disease mortality and significantly interrupted the disease...

Oxford BioMedica Signs deal boosting gene therapy efforts.
January 16, 2008... LONDON -- Oxford BioMedica plc has taken out rights to use the RNAi gene-silencing technology invented by Nobelists Andrew Fire and Craig Mello in conjunction with the company's LentiVector viral delivery system. The agreement opens up new...

Genfit, Pierre Fabre renew metabolic disorders pact.
January 16, 2008... PARIS -- Genfit renewed its strategic research collaboration with the French pharmaceutical company Pierre Fabre Laboratoires. Genfit, of Lille, France, and Pierre Fabre, of Castres, France, signed their initial collaboration agreement in...

Artes Biotechnology GmbH, of Langenfeld, Germany, and Rhein Minapharm Biogenetics, a subsidiary of Cairo, Egypt-based Minapharm SAE, started a collaboration to develop three therapeutic proteins.(Other News To Note)
January 16, 2008... Artes Biotechnology GmbH, of Langenfeld, Germany, and Rhein Minapharm Biogenetics, a subsidiary of Cairo, Egypt-based Minapharm SAE, started a collaboration to develop three therapeutic proteins. Under the terms, Artes will use its Hansenula...

European industry warns against French GM ban.
January 16, 2008... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European biotech industry has come out strongly against recent French moves to ban GM maize. "We have serious doubts about the process that has led to this decision," said Nathalie Moll, executive director of EuropaBio,...

Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, said its ceftobiprole was assigned a review by the FDA's Anti-Infective Drug Advisory Committee for Feb. 28.(Other News To Note)
January 16, 2008... Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, said its ceftobiprole was assigned a review by the FDA's Anti-Infective Drug Advisory Committee for Feb. 28. The company previously submitted a new drug application for ceftobiprole, a...

BioAlliance Pharma SA, of Paris, obtained marketing approval for Loramyc in the UK and Denmark following the European mutual recognition procedure that ended in December.(Other News To Note)
January 16, 2008... BioAlliance Pharma SA, of Paris, obtained marketing approval for Loramyc in the UK and Denmark following the European mutual recognition procedure that ended in December. Securing marketing authorization in the UK brings BioAlliance a milestone...

BT Pharma SA.(Other News To Note)
January 16, 2008... BT Pharma SA, of Toulouse, France, gained a new patent through its exclusive license with the Institut Pasteur, covering the adenylate cyclase vector technology. That patent claims a combination cancer treatment, which associates a...

Caprotec Bioanalytics GmbH.(Other News To Note)(financing)(Brief article)
January 16, 2008... Caprotec Bioanalytics GmbH, of Berlin, received 6 million [euro] (US$8.8 million) in two rounds of financing from Creathor Venture, IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft, ERP Startfonds and private investors for further development and marketing of the...

Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, signed a nonexclusive license granting Seoul, South Korea-based ISU Abxis rights to its STAR research technology.(Other News To Note)
January 16, 2008... Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, signed a nonexclusive license granting Seoul, South Korea-based ISU Abxis rights to its STAR research technology. The deal covers both a research evaluation of STAR for the production of recombinant...

CSL Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, hired contract manufacturing firm Celltrion Inc., of Incheon, South Korea.(Other News To Note)
January 16, 2008... CSL Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, hired contract manufacturing firm Celltrion Inc., of Incheon, South Korea, to supply the monoclonal antibody CSL 360, which is undergoing a Phase I trial for acute myeloid leukemia.

ExonHit Therapeutics SA, of Paris, amended its cancer diagnostics partnership with bioMerieux SA, of Marcy l'Etoile, France, which gives ExonHit commercial rights to diagnostic kit development through the alliance and allows bioMerieux greater flexibility to start new research and development projects in that field.(Other News To Note)
January 16, 2008... ExonHit Therapeutics SA, of Paris, amended its cancer diagnostics partnership with bioMerieux SA, of Marcy l'Etoile, France, which gives ExonHit commercial rights to diagnostic kit development through the alliance and allows bioMerieux greater...

ImmuPharma plc.(Other News To Note)
January 16, 2008... ImmuPharma plc, of London, said it gained rights for the worldwide development and commercialization of IPP-204106, a cancer drug candidate believed to act with a dual mechanism to prevent both angiogenesis and proliferation. The drug, a...

Ipsen SA.(Other News To Note)
January 16, 2008... Ipsen SA, of Paris, and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies said they will sign a memorandum of understanding creating the Ipsen Life Sciences Program at the institute. The goal of the partnership is to advance knowledge of proliferative...

Living Cell Technologies Ltd.(Other News To Note)(contracts with Palmert Members Ltd.)(Brief article)
January 16, 2008... Living Cell Technologies Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, said Palmert Members Ltd., a British Virgin Island company, will purchase 24.1 million shares of LCT at A29 cents (US25 cents) each for an aggregate purchase price of $6 million. In that...

MorphoSys AG.(Other News To Note)
January 16, 2008... MorphoSys AG, of Martinsried, Germany, said data published in the Journal of Virology identified a new epitope on the HIV-Protein gp41 that is capable of neutralizing various HIV strains. The research was conducted by NIH scientists using...

OncoMethylome Sciences SA, of Liege, Belgium, and Epigenomics AG, of Berlin, entered a broad technology licensing agreement under which OncoMethylome obtained worldwide nonexclusive rights to several of Epigenomics' core technologies, including its MethyLight portfolio for the sensitive and quantitative detection of DNA methylation for in vitro diagnostic product development and commercialization.(Other News To Note)
January 16, 2008... OncoMethylome Sciences SA, of Liege, Belgium, and Epigenomics AG, of Berlin, entered a broad technology licensing agreement under which OncoMethylome obtained worldwide nonexclusive rights to several of Epigenomics' core technologies, including...

Onyvax Ltd.(Other News To Note)
January 16, 2008... Onyvax Ltd., of London, said it was awarded a 1.1 million [pounds sterling] (US$2.2 million) grant by the UK Technology Strategy Board toward a 1.8 million [pounds sterling] project to develop next-generation cell-based cancer vaccines. The...

Plasticell Ltd., of London, entered an agreement with Axordia Ltd., of Sheffield, UK, to exploit and market a panel of six human embryonic stem cell lines.(Other News To Note)
January 16, 2008... Plasticell Ltd., of London, entered an agreement with Axordia Ltd., of Sheffield, UK, to exploit and market a panel of six human embryonic stem cell lines. Under the terms, Plasticell obtained a right to make and sell the hESC lines Shef 1, 2,...

Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc.(Other News To Note)(lease agreement)(Brief article)
January 16, 2008... Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc., of Carmiel, Israel, has signed a lease agreement to expand its manufacturing and research facility, providing approximately three times more space than currently in anticipation of the potential commercialization...

Rosetta Genomics Ltd.(Other News To Note)
January 16, 2008... Rosetta Genomics Ltd., of Rehovot, Israel, has signed a collaboration agreement with the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit to develop microRNA-based diagnostics and prognostics for brain cancer. The parties will conduct a genomewide molecular...

Sysmex Corp., of Kobe, Japan, and bioMerieux, of Marcy L'etoile, France, said they have signed an agreement under which Sysmex will take a 34 percent equity stake in bioMerieux's Japanese subsidiary to form a new company called Sysmex bioMerieux Co. Ltd.(Other News To Note)(Brief article)
January 16, 2008... Sysmex Corp., of Kobe, Japan, and bioMerieux, of Marcy L'etoile, France, said they have signed an agreement under which Sysmex will take a 34 percent equity stake in bioMerieux's Japanese subsidiary to form a new company called Sysmex...

Tissera Inc.(Other News To Note)(diabetic nonhuman primates in xenotransplantation experiments)(Brief article)
January 16, 2008... Tissera Inc., of Herzliya, Israel, said diabetic model experiments of pancreatic xenotransplantation successfully weaned diabetic nonhuman primates from the use of exogenous insulin. After pig embryonic pancreatic tissue was transplanted into...

Wanxing Bio-pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.(Other News To Note)(Sinobiomed Inc. gets governmant funding)(Brief article)
January 16, 2008... Wanxing Bio-pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., of Shanghai, China, said its subsidiary Sinobiomed Inc. has been granted government funding of RMB9 million (US$1.24 million) to continue the clinical trial of its recombinant malaria vaccine and advance...

Yissum Ltd.(Other News To Note)(technology transfer to Eucalyptus Ltd.)(Brief article)
January 16, 2008... Yissum Ltd., of Jerusalem, the technology transfer arm of the Hebrew University, licensed an oral, small molecule for conditions such as neurodegenerative diseases to Eucalyptus Ltd. The molecule, AD4 (N-acetylcysteine amide), is an antioxidant...

Novexel receives 75m [euro] up front for beta lactamase inhibitor.(Deal Could Reach 150M [euro])
January 23, 2008... PARIS -- Novexel SA and Forest Laboratories Holdings Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Forest Laboratories Inc. signed an agreement allowing the U.S. company to develop, manufacture and commercialize Novexel's novel intravenous beta lactamase...

UK research groups get OK for human/animal cloned embryos.
January 23, 2008... LONDON -- Two UK research teams have been given approval to create human/animal cloned embryos for use in embryonic stem cell research. The one-year licenses will allow researchers to use enucleated animal oocytes as the vehicle for...

Cancer-killing viruses target metastases from primary tumors.
January 23, 2008... LONDON -- Promising results from animal studies suggest that it soon may be possible to treat people with cancers of organs such as the breast, colon, skin and prostate so that any metastases from their primary tumors are killed. The...

Scil, Pfizer enter $250m deal for preclinical osteo drug.
January 23, 2008... Scil Technology GmbH could earn as much as $250 million in up-front and milestone payments from Pfizer Inc. by out-licensing rights to cartilage-derived retinoic acid sensitive protein (CD-RAP), a growth factor preferentially expressed in...

First index fund to focus on large-scale investments.
January 23, 2008... Index Ventures added a new 400 million [euro] (US$583 million) growth fund to the 350 million [euro] venture capital fund it raised 12 months ago, and it has hired Guido Magni, a senior scientist from F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., to lead the...

Amarin Corp.(Other News To Note)
January 23, 2008... Amarin Corp., of London, said its shareholders approved a 1 for 10 reverse split of each of its ordinary shares. During that period Amarin's Nasdaq ticker symbol will appear as "AMRND."

Ark Therapeutics plc.(Other News To Note)
January 23, 2008... Ark Therapeutics plc, of London, said that following a recent independent data and safety monitoring board review of the Phase III trial of Cerepro, its gene therapy treatment for glioma, patients in the study will be followed until the end of...

European drug industry faces antitrust bust on generics.(Probe Includes Dawn Raids)(Industry overview)
January 23, 2008... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Union has launched an in-depth antitrust investigation of the research-based pharmaceutical sector, in response to suspicions of artificial impediments to the entry of generic products. In announcing the...

BioAlliance Pharma SA.(Other News To Note)
January 23, 2008... BioAlliance Pharma SA, of Paris, will move into new European headquarters in February. Located just down the road from its existing head office, it has more than double the floor space and will enable the company to bring together its entire...

Cancer Research Technology Ltd., of London, the technology transfer arm of the charity Cancer Research UK, said it granted Glycart Biotechnology AG, of Zurich, Switzerland, rights to develop a preclinical antibody discovered by CRT.(Other News To Note)
January 23, 2008... Cancer Research Technology Ltd., of London, the technology transfer arm of the charity Cancer Research UK, said it granted Glycart Biotechnology AG, of Zurich, Switzerland, rights to develop a preclinical antibody discovered by CRT. The...

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd.(Other News To Note)
January 23, 2008... Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd., of Petach Tikva, Israel, said a preclinical study of CF101 for uveitis conducted by the NIH's National Eye Institute demonstrated that the drug reduced ocular disease symptoms. Can-Fite and the NIH signed a cooperative...

Vivendy raises $15.5m for Morbus Morquio therapy.
January 23, 2008... Start-up firm Vivendy Therapeutics AG raised CHF17 million (US$15.5 million) in a Series A round to finance development of an enzyme replacement therapy for Morbus Morquio Type A, a rare lysosomal storage disorder characterized by severely...

Action Pharma A/S.(In other financing news)
January 23, 2008... Action Pharma A/S, of Aarhus, Denmark, raised 15 million [euro] (US$21.8 million) in a Series D round to fund development of its pipeline of drugs for treating Type II diabetes, organ failure and other conditions. Global Life Science Ventures,...