Sobi in €387m orphan drug deal with Novimmune

Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi) has signed a €387 deal with Swiss drug developer Novimmune for a late stage antibody targeting a rare haematology disorder.

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Novartis pays €945m for eczema programme

European biotechs Morphosys and Galapagos have handed over their joint atopical dermatitis programme MOR106 to Novartis for up to €945m. The Swiss pharma giant aims to strengthen its commitment to lead immuno-dermatology, the company said.

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IMI to spur on antibiotics research amidst big pharma pullback

The Innovative Medicines Initiative has launched a new Antimicrobial Resistance Accelerator Programme after Novartis announced its retreat from antibiotics research only days ago.

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Roche granted breakthrough status for liver cancer combo

Roche announced today that the US-American Food and Drug Administration FDA has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for the Swiss pharma giant’s mAb combination therapy for liver cancer.

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Epigenetic biomarkers predict immunotherapy success

UK biotech Oxford BioDynamics has presented data showing that the company’s blood test can predict patient response to treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1. 

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Urovant launches US$150m IPO

Swiss biopharma company Urovant Sciences has launched its IPO on Nasdaq, seeking US$150m. The proceeds will go to Phase III trials for its overactive bladder treatment candidate vibegron.

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Immunooncology: Genmab teams up with Immatics

Danish Genmab and German Immatics Biotechnologies are collaborating to discover and develop next-generation bispecific immunotherapies to develop therapeutics in multiple cancer indications.

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Narasimhan embraces Swiss biotech industry

Vas Narasimhan, the newly appointed CEO of Swiss pharma giant Novartis, introduced himself to the Swiss biotech industry with a stimulant talk at the Swiss Biotech Day. Apart from that participants of the annual gathering were in high spirits as the Swiss biotech sector continues to grow steadily.

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Business as usual in Amsterdam

The tremendous success of last year’s BIO Europe Spring in Barcelona was hard to beat. But the follow-up this year in Amsterdam organised by EBD Group together with Health Holland crystallised as a worthy successor.

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Global Bioenergies delivers first batch of cosmetics ingredient

French green chemistry specialist Global Bioenergies announced the delivery of a first batch of sustainable cosmetic ingredients to cosmetics heavyweight L’Oréal. It was produced as part of the ISOPROD project, supported by the French State’s Investissements for the Future Program.

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