Neurodegeneration specialist Pharnext SA and autoimmune disease expert Galapagos NV have inked an R&D contract in order to expand Pharnext’s pleotherapy approach to new indications.

Norwegian BerGenBio ASA said it will go public at Oslo Børs and partnered with Merck & Co. for conducting Phase II combination studies of its oral Axl kinase blocker BGB324 with Merck’s PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab in lung cancer patients.

Inhaled lung therapeutics specialist Breath Therapeutics Holding BV closed a Series A financing led by Gimv and Sofinnova. 

The UK’s Life Sciences sector is more than twice as productive as the UK average, says a new analyst report. However, it doesn’t come close to the productivity in Switzerland or other leading life sciences clusters. 

MorphoSys AG has announced that its partner Roche plans to start two further pivotal Phase III studies with its licensed Alzheimer’s antibody Gantenerumab. 

Sanofi’s vaccine arm Sanofi Pasteur has inked a deal with AstraZeneca’s biologics subsidiary MedImmune totaling €615m to acquire co-development rights for MEDI8897, a jab to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, the most common cause of lung inflammation in infants.

Researchers at Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne and Canadian collaborators have found that the microbiome of irritable bowel syndrome patients affects their susceptibility for anxiety disorders.

Avelumab, Merck KGaA’s and Pfizer’s Phase III checkpoint inhibitor, has been granted Priority Review from the US Food and Drug Administration in urothelial carcinoma patients who progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy.

The times in which biotechs dominate the orphan drug market are over. A report from business intelligence provider Evaluate Ltd. concludes that only three in ten OD developers are still biotech SMEs.

Around 130 antibiotics experts joined the 10th Berlin Conference on 24th February to highlight high dynamics of European AMR activities.