ProStrakan, which is owned by Japan’s Kyowa Hakko Kirin, has announced that they will be acquiring UK cancer pain specialist, Archimedes Pharma, for £230 million in cash. ProStrakan, which is based in Scotland, is purchasing Reading-based Archimedes from Denmark’s Novo Nordisk Foundation. Archimedes posted sales revenues of £41 million last year, an increase of 33%.
US medtech company, Medtronic have confirmed the purchase of Ireland’s Covidien for $42.9 billion in cash and stock. Medtronic is the second-largest maker of medical devices, and once the transaction has been completed, the company noted that will have “significantly advanced” their position as a global “premier medical technology and services company.” The combined group,
Results of a clinical trial combining Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Yervoy and Nivolumab show an exceptional improvement in tumour regression and overall survival rate for patients with advanced melanoma. Mario Sznol of Yale University School of Medicine, reporting the results of the early-stage study, commented that “this is the first trial conducted with this combination in melanoma.”
Bristol-Myers Squibb (B-MS) yesterday announced a worldwide research partnership and license agreement with CytomX. The collaboration plans to discover, develop and commercialise novel therapies against multiple immuno-oncology targets using CytomX’s proprietary Probody Platform. Probodies are monoclonal antibodies selectively activated within the cancer microenvironment, to focus the activity of therapeutic antibodies to tumours and helping spare
Valeant yesterday confirmed that they are planning on making an improved, bigger offer for Allergan after their initial unsolicited $46 billion takeover offer was rejected. US pharmaceutical company, Allergan, who are best-known for their Botox, rejected Valeant and investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management’s offer earlier this week, commenting that the offer substantially undervalues
Merck & Co’s have released their Q1 results for 2014, showing an increase in profit, despite being hindered by unfavourable exchange rates and patents expiring. The healthcare company announced net income of $1.70 billion, an increase from the $1.59 billion net income of Merck & Co’s first quarter of 2013. However, turnover for the business
Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have announced restructuring deals worth billions of dollars, as they aim to concentrate on specialist areas of their business going forward. Within the agreement, GSK will sell their cancer portfolio to Novartis for $14.5 billion upfront and $1.5 billion in milestones, whilst Novartis will sell their vaccines unit to GSK for
Abbott yesterday revealed financial results for the first quarter of 2014. The company announced worldwide sales of $5.2 billion. Excluding foreign exchange, the company-wide results included an increase of 0.5% on an operational basis and a decrease of 2.5% on a reported basis. International sales, which make up over 70% of Abbott’s total sales, increased
Following the announcement earlier this year that Novartis would be closing their Horsham site, the pharmaceutical company have confirmed that they have hired PharmaVentures to investigate future options for the site. PharmaVentures has been appointed to provide advice on the feasibility of reusing the site for either a business or science park, and to help
Swedish drugmaker, Meda, have confirmed that they have rejected a takeover bid from US generics major, Mylan. Shares in Meda, which markets specialty treatments, over-the-counter products and branded generics, were frozen after a report from the Financial Times noted that Mylan was planning to submit an offer that would create a $23 billion company. The Financial Times cited someone
