Today Stories

Valent U.S.A. LLC and Nufarm Americas, Inc. announced today the two companies have signed a 5-year distribution agreement extending Nufarm Americas' position as exclusive distributor of a broad portfolio of Valent branded products.  The agreement covers all Valent products for the professional turf and ornamental (T&O), aquatic, and industrial vegetation management (IVM) markets in the United States.  This agreement continues the distribution partnership Valent and Nufarm established in 2014. "This agreement between Valent and Nufarm ensures continued innovation, service, and support to our T&O, IVM, and aquatics customers, said Matt Plitt, executive vice president and chief operations officer for Valent.  "The history of the two organizations working together is so…

Thursday 20th September saw the ninth PM Society Digital Awards take place at The Brewery in London. 450 guests sat down to dinner before the winners were announced by the voice of the Lotto Alan Dedicoat and comic host Ramesh Ranganathan. There was an even spread of winners across the categories, echoing last year’s trend with no one agency or company sweeping up more than 2 Golds. This year the evening ended with the announcement of the first Pharma Digital Partner award which was won by Norgine’s Kym Jacks Bryant who beat finalists Mary Andrews from GSK and Kasper Kofod from Novo Nordisk.  Best Digital Project or Account Manager this year was won by Four Health’s Sam Bradford Smith and the Best Agency Digital Team was from Insypher. This year 3 agencies stood out at the top of th…

Aralez Pharmaceuticals Inc. ("Aralez" or the "Company") announced today that it and certain of its affiliates have entered into purchase agreements with two separate stalking-horse purchasers to sell their main operating businesses:  an agreement to sell its VIMOVO® royalties and Canadian operations to Nuvo Pharmaceuticals Inc. ("Nuvo") in a transaction valued at U.S.$110 million, subject to customary adjustments, and an agreement to sell its TOPROL-XL® Franchise to its secured lender, certain funds managed by Deerfield Management Company, L.P. ("Deerfield"), in a transaction valued at U.S.$130 million, subject to customary adjustments. Deerfield has also provided a commitment to finance Nuvo's transaction with the Company. Each of Nuvo and Deerfield has agreed to serve as "stal…

American Associated Pharmacies (AAP), an independent pharmacy cooperative with over 2,000 pharmacy members, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the remaining 50 percent interest in the joint venture of Arete Pharmacy Network. Arete Pharmacy Network is a quality-focused national Pharmacy Services Administrative Organization (PSAO), concentrated on the success and profitability of independent and community pharmacies. The transaction closed on Sept. 12, 2018. Arete Pharmacy Network was formed in 2016 with a total of 2,250 stores; it has since grown significantly with over 2,800 pharmacies. This makes Arete Pharmacy Network the fourth largest PSAO in the nation. In December 2016, Arete Pharmacy Network further expanded its geographical footprint through the acquis…

Mitra Biotech today announced a partnership with Glenmark Pharmaceuticals focused on advancing Glenmark's proprietary immuno-oncology drug pipeline utilizing Mitra's CANscriptTM platform. CANscript is a human, immune-relevant ex vivo platform that allows drug developers to understand drug performance in human tissue, which in turn allows for an informed approach to clinical development and patient response. CANscript recreates the in vivo tumor microenvironment, maintaining the heterogeneity of the tumor while preserving its immune compartment. This uniquely positions the platform to provide drug developers with answers to mechanistic questions about their immuno-oncology drug candidates and prioritize the most promising candidates for advancement into clinical trials. "Glenmark recogniz…

New life-changing cell and gene therapies for use in health services around the world will be produced in Stevenage by innovative biotech firms as the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult) is granted new licences.   The licences, awarded by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), will help these companies collaborating with the CGT Catapult at the Stevenage manufacturing centre develop therapies that can progress faster to clinical trials and commercial supply. More cell and gene therapies are becoming available for patients, and the new licences represent a significant step towards establishing the CGT Catapult’s manufacturing centre in Stevenage as a world-leading hub for the production of advanced therapies. The manufacturing centre, opened in Apri…

Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPG) announces the acquisition of sanaplasma AG, a source plasma collection company headquartered in Switzerland. The acquisition of sanaplasma AG is expected to increase Shire’s access to plasma in the longer term and add to its European plasma collection network, complementing existing core capabilities in plasma supply and manufacturing. Plasma is essential to the manufacture of immunoglobulin therapies that help treat patients living with certain rare immunological diseases. Immunology is Shire’s largest franchise, with 18% growth on a pro-forma basis in 2017 to $4.4 billion in product sales, primarily driven by increased global demand for subcutaneous and intravenous immunoglobulin brands. This acquisition is expected to support the growth of the Immunol…

IRBM, today announced a new agreement in the peptide therapeutics area with Merck & Co. Inc., Kenilworth NJ USA, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, continuing their long-standing history of collaboration that began in 2010. “Our R&D peptide group have extensive expertise to help deliver high quality peptide drugs for a wide variety of therapeutic indications,” said Carlo Toniatti, CSO at IRBM. “We are thrilled to be collaborating on this project as part of our mission to advance impactful agents into the clinic.” There has been increasing interest in peptide research over the last 15 years. The pharma industry continues to make significant pre-clinical and clinical investments into peptide-based therapeutic candidates for different therapeutic areas, including met…

Citoxlab, a leading CRO for non-clinical research, today announces an investment and partnership deal with Experimental Pharmacology and Oncology Berlin-Buch GmbH (EPO), a well-recognized CRO providing comprehensive services for preclinical oncology research worldwide.   Founded in 1997, EPO is an AAALAC accredited organization. It provides in vitro and in vivo testing of drug candidates with antitumoral and/or immunostimulatory activities in the oncology field. With state-of-the art facilities of 1,300m2 (12,000ft2) at the Campus Berlin-Buch, EPO offers, in particular, a comprehensive range of well characterized syngeneic tumor models, Patient Derived Xenograft (PDX) models and humanized tumor models. More than one hundred large pharma and biotech companies from Europe, Asia and Nort…

United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ : UTHR ) ("United Therapeutics") today announced that it has closed the merger of SteadyMed Ltd. (NASDAQ : STDY ) ("SteadyMed") with a subsidiary of United Therapeutics. Pursuant to the merger, United Therapeutics acquired all of the outstanding ordinary shares of SteadyMed. As a result of the merger, SteadyMed ordinary shares are no longer publicly traded on the NASDAQ Stock Market. About United Therapeutics United Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative products to address the unmet medical needs of patients with chronic and life-threatening conditions.

GenesisCare is excited to announce that building work has started on a £12million expansion to create a state-of-the-art cancer imaging and treatment centre; GenesisCare, Oxford. This investment into local healthcare services in Oxfordshire will allow an additional 1,000 people suffering with cancer to receive world-class cancer care closer to home.    The investment comes after four successful years of GenesisCare services in Oxford, doubling the footprint of the original site at Eastpoint Business Park, providing greater patient access and 15 new permanent jobs. This will enable the centre to offer the latest in cancer imaging and radiotherapy care, including the addition of advanced PET-CT and 3T MRI imaging machines. This will help reduce patient waiting times and the need…

KinoPharma, Inc., and the National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology are pleased to announce that they have entered a contract for collaborative research on efficacy evaluation of the compound KPO1143, developed by KinoPharma, to prevent the accumulation of protein called tau (hereafter "tau protein") (*1), which is considered a cause of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The National Institutes' research group is led by MD & PhD Makoto Higuchi from the Department of Functional Brain Imaging Research of the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS). Background and objectives of R&D on AD Under the public R&D funding of A-STEP by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), KinoPharma, Inc., embarked on research for discovering drugs that can inh…

Eisai Inc. announced today that results from the CAMELLIA-TIMI 61 cardiovascular (CV) outcomes trial in patients treated with BELVIQ® (lorcaserin HCl) CIV 10 mg twice-daily were presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2018 and concurrently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. As previously reported, the study met its primary safety objective and met the FDA-mandated criteria for cardiovascular safety, finding that long-term treatment with BELVIQ did not increase the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in overweight and obese patients at high risk for a CV event. With this result, BELVIQ is the first-ever weight loss medication approved for chronic weight management to achieve this objective in a dedicated CV outcomes trial. In additio…

Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ : BRKR ) today announced that is has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority interest in Hain Lifescience GmbH, which is headquartered in Nehren, Germany. Hain is an infectious disease molecular diagnostics (MDx) specialist with a broad range of MDx solutions for the detection of microbial and viral pathogens, for antibiotic resistance testing, as well as for human genetic diseases.   Hain is already a profitable company, and in 2018 Hain expects to generate revenues of about $38 million.  Bruker expects to acquire an 80% majority interest in Hain, with options for the remaining 20% that can be exercised after 2021.  The majority acquisition is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2018, subject to customary closing conditions…

Transgene (Euronext Paris: TNG), a biotech company that designs and develops virus-based immunotherapies against cancers and infectious diseases, today announces the completion of the transactions signed with Tasly Biopharmaceuticals. Co. Ltd. (“Tasly Biopharmaceuticals”) on July 10, 2018. These agreements demonstrate the significant potential of the novel oncolytic virus TG6002 and the chronic hepatitis B therapeutic vaccine TG1050, on which the regional products T601 and T1011 are based. T601 and T101 are now being developed by Tasly Biopharmaceuticals for patients in Greater China.   All closing conditions including completion of the administrative transfer of the assets contributed by Transgene to Tasly Biopharmaceuticals have been completed and 27.4 million newly-issued shares…

Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE : AMRX ), a specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced a 10-year license and supply agreement for Levothyroxine sodium tablets with Jerome Stevens Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (JSP), a New York-based pharmaceutical manufacturer of prescription tablet and capsule formulations. The agreement is effective March 22, 2019. "Levothyroxine is one of the most compelling generic product markets in the United States today," said Rob Stewart, President and CEO of Amneal. "With more than 120 million prescriptions per year, Levothyroxine is the most prescribed drug in the United States, and we see exciting opportunities to grow market share, given the evolving market dynamics in the space and the manufacturing and validation challenges associated with this product. M…

Avista Healthcare Public Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ : AHPA ) ("AHPAC"), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, and Organogenesis Inc. ("Organogenesis" or the "Company"), a leading regenerative medicine company focused on the development, manufacture and commercialization of product solutions for the Advanced Wound Care, Surgical and Sports Medicine markets, today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement, under which Organogenesis will become a wholly owned subsidiary of AHPAC.  Affiliates of Avista Capital Partners ("Avista"), a leading private equity firm, have agreed to invest $92 million in the combined company in conjunction with the transaction.  Following the closing of the transaction, Organogenesis will be listed on the Nasdaq Sto…

BioNTech AG, a rapidly growing biotechnology company focused on precise immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and infectious disease, today announced that it has entered into a multi-year research and development (R&D) collaboration with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) to develop mRNA-based vaccines for prevention of influenza (flu).   Under the terms of the agreement, BioNTech and Pfizer will jointly conduct research and development activities to help advance mRNA-based flu vaccines. Pfizer will assume sole responsibility for further clinical development and commercialization of mRNA-based flu vaccines, following BioNTech’s completion of a first in human clinical study.   BioNTech will receive $120 million in upfront, equity and near-term research payments and up to an add…

Sygnature Discovery, a leading independent provider of integrated drug discovery and pre-clinical services and expertise, has today announced the next stage in its ambitious expansion plans with the addition of a new facility located at Alderley Park in Cheshire.   This expansion will result in the doubling of Sygnature’s drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) department as the company embarks on a sustained recruitment programme. The expanded DMPK department, which focuses on the timely delivery and interpretation of discovery DMPK data to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies through innovation, quality and commitment, will be co-located across Sygnature’s Nottingham and Alderley Park sites.   Commenting on the announcement, Chief Operating Officer, Dr Jonathan Wi…

Portage Biotech Inc. ("Portage" or the "Company") wishes to announce that, subject to regulatory and shareholder consent, it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of SalvaRx Limited (the "Transaction"). The vendors are SalvaRx Group plc (SALV:LSE), (94.2%), James Mellon (2.9%) and Gregory Bailey (2.9%) (collectively, the "Vendors"). Under the terms of a Sale and Purchase Agreement dated August 13, 2018, the Company has agreed to issue 805,070,067 common shares (the "Consideration Shares") at a deemed price of approximately US$0.089 per share to the Vendors for an aggregate acquisition cost of US$ 71.70 Million. Immediately after closing, SalvaRx Group plc will distribute approximately 87% of the Consideration Shares to its shareholders by way of a dividend in kind. Declan Doo…