Apitope said it has regained global rights to its IL-10-bolstering vaccination ATX-MS-1467 for remitting-relapsing multiple sclerosis from Merck KGaA. A 2009 contract forsaw that Merck will take over commercialisation cost following Phase II testing. Phase II data are due to be published in Q4/2016.
The European Patent Office’s decision to speed up examination of patent applications to 12 months without any transition period is set to ruin biotech SMEs financially and may send a blocking signal to innovators.
Roche is making up lost ground in immuno-oncology. The Swiss company’s PD-L1 directed immunotherapy atezolizumab is more effective in combatting lung cancer than standard chemotherapy.
The new joint venture Synvina is positioned in the market for drop-in bioplastics with advanced product characteristics.
With about 38,000 attendees and 2,500 exhibitors, CPhI worldwide in Barcelona has broken another record. Personalised 3D printed pills and hypothesis generation using big data were only two trends reported.
The fate of the bioeconomy in Europe remains undecided. The evaluation of the European Commission’s bioeconomy strategy plus action plan has been delayed.
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.