Austrian Apeiron Biologics has outlicensed the global marketing rights for its neuroblastoma antibody dinutuximab beta to British Eusa Pharma.

Danish insulin maker Novo Nordisk tries to relieve financial pressure by laying off 1,000 staff. The step was necessary due to challenges on the US market, the company said.

CAR T cell specialist bluebird bio has inked a potential US$1bn partnership with Medigene – to get access to the drug developer’s technology platform.

Martinsried-based autoimmune specialist Immunic AG secured financial support for the next 3.5 years from lead investors Life Sciences Partners and LifeCare Partners (LCP, Switzerland) based on prior autoimmune programmes of 4SC AG.

Backed by MPM Capital and Sofinnova, immuno-oncology specialist iOmx Therapeutics has raised €40m in its first round of financing. The German company had just been founded in spring.

German immuno-oncology play BioNTech has entered into a collaboration with Roche’s Genentech to develop novel mRNA-based, individualised cancer vaccines. The deal will net BioNTech €278m.

Prexton Therapeutics is taking aim at Phase II: The Swiss company happily presented results for its Phase I trial of its mGluR4 positive allosteric modulator in Parkinson’s Disease, saying the first-in-class compound proved to be safe and well tolerated.

Denmark’s Novozymes has acquired microbial research company Organobalance GmbH. The German company owns a large collection of microbial strains, some of which date back to the 1920s, and has strong capabilities in microbial screening and assay technology.

14.09.2016 – The summer slump on the stock markets is over: AC Immune has confidently priced its long-awaited Nasdaq IPO. The Swiss Alzheimer’s specialist is expecting to raise up to US$68m (€60.5m) overseas.

13.09.2016 – Diabetes major Sanofi is joining forces with Verily – formerly Google Life Sciences – to launch Onduo. The joint venture will develop a comprehensive diabetes management platform.