Seven years after the acquisition of Genzyme, French drug major Sanofi has added another orphan drug player to its portfolio. The company agreed with the management of US blood disorder expert Bioverativ to pay US$11.6bn in cash, a 64% premium on the company’s share price.
Italian, US and Australian researchers have used a blood screening test to detect cancer in patients with 8 different cancers whose tumors had not yet spread. Its sensivity is among the best performances yet for a universal cancer blood test.
French immunotherapy company TxCell received a €1.2m funding from the French governemt agency Bpifrance to develop its genetically engineered regulatory T cells (Tregs).
French microbiota specialist Da Volterra announced that its colon-targeted adsorbent, DAV132, can protect the intestinal microbiota from disruption caused by antibiotics.
Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) specialist Glythera has licensed Actava Group’s Affimer technology in order to develop drug conjugates using the combined technologies. Affimers are small, stable synthetic proteins expressed in E.coli that mimic the molecular recognition characteristics of monoclonal antibodies.
Immunologists headed by Eicke Latz (Univ. of Bonn, Germany) have found out that calorie-rich, fatty Western diet reprogrammes the innate immune system to become hyperreactive to inflammatory triggers. This could have huge medical impact as inflammation is a hallmark of most diseases of civilisation such as diabetes, cardiovascular and autoimmune disorders.
So far, there is no cure to stop fibrosis, the pathogenic proliferation of connective tissue of the skin and in organs, in autoimmune diseases such as systemic sclerosis (scleroderma). An US-Italian research team has now identified the immune cells that trigger connective tissue disease.
French venture capitalist Truffle Capital announced the first closing of its BioMedTech venture fund aimed at investments into North American and European medical devices and biotechnology start-ups.
Nanobody developer Ablynx NV has stated that the take-over cash price of €28 per share + optional €2.50 per share as Contingent Value Right (CVR) offered by Novo Nordisk A/S at the end of December is too low. The bid valued Ablynx at €2.3bn.