Silico Research

Actavis and Bioton form insulin joint-venture

silico — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:43:48 +0000

Actavis and Bioton have announced that they have formed a joint venture company for the development and registration of insulins, including analogue insulins. In the joint-venture, Bioton will be responsible for the development and manufacture of insulin products, while Actavis will be granted an exclusive licence to commercialise those products under the Actavis brand throughout the European Union and the United States of America and other territories.

Roche executes alliance with Technoclon to co-develop coagulation assays

silico — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:59:16 +0000

Roche has announced that it has entered into a strategic alliance with Technoclon to co-develop a range of coagulation assays. According to the companies, the alliance supports plans Roche announced in October 2011 to develop a new line of analyzers for the central coagulation laboratory. The new line is expected to be introduced in the U.S. and Canada in 2014. Roche will also market Technoclone’s range of products that address the needs of specialists and researchers in the hemostasis research field.

Les Laboratoires Servier and Monash University sign GPRC collaboration agreement

silico — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:52:57 +0000

Les Laboratoires Servier and Monash University have announced a collaborative agreement for drug discovery and research on G Protein Coupled Receptors. The collaboration will make use of MIPS’ capability in the identification of novel GPCR targets. The collaboration will initially run for three years with the research program including known and novel GPCR targets, covering various potential therapeutic fields including metabolism, cardiology, neurology and psychiatry, rheumatology and oncology. Under the terms of the agreement, MIPS will receiveannual support for research activities undertaken as part of the collaboration and support for up to 15 staff to work exclusively on collaborative projects.

Novartis extends collaboration with GenVec

silico — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:47:52 +0000

GenVec has announced that it has extended its collaboration agreement with Novartis. Under the extension, Novartis will fund research at GenVec through January 2013 to support its hearing loss and balance disorders program. In January 2010, GenVec entered into a collaboration agreement with Novartis to discover and develop novel treatments for hearing loss and balance disorders. Under the terms of the agreement, if certain clinical, regulatory, and sales milestones are met, GenVec is eligible to receive up to $213.6 million, including upfront and milestone payments in addition to royalties on future sales. In August 2010, GenVec entered into an additional agreement with Novartis, to manufacture clinical trial material for up to two lead product candidates for this program.

Amgen buys Micromet for $1.16 billion

silico — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:53:35 +0000

Amgen and Micromet have announced that the companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Amgen will acquire Micromet for approximately $1.16 billion. The acquisition includes blinatumomab, a Bispecific T cell Engager antibody in Phase 2 clinical development for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blinatumomab is also in clinical development for the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and could have applications in other hematologic malignancies. Micromet has partnerships with AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Lonza, MedImmune and Sanofi.

Celgene buys Avila Therapeutics for $925 million

silico — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:30:16 +0000

Celgene and Avila Therapeutics have announced an agreement under which Celgene will acquire Avila. According to the companies the acquisition positions Celgene to expand its role in the future treatment of hematologic cancers with Avila’s AVL-292, a selective Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (Btk) inhibitor, currently in phase I clinical development. Under the terms of the agreement, Celgene will acquire Avila for $350 million in cash, up to $195 million for milestones contingent upon the development and regulatory approval of AVL-292, and up to $380 million in potential milestone payments contingent upon the development and approval of candidates generated from the Avilomics platform.

Roche and Technoclone sign assay development alliance agreement

silico — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:20:14 +0000

Roche and Technoclone have announced that they have entered a strategic alliance to co-develop a portfolio of coagulation assays. Technoclone is a reagent specialist in thrombosis and cardiovascular diagnostics. Under the deal, Roche will also market Technoclone’s range of Research Use Only products that address the needs of specialists and researchers in the hemostasis research community. Further terms of the alliance were not announced.

AstraZeneca and Karolinska Institutet sign three year collaborative imaging research agreement

silico — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:10:21 +0000

AstraZeneca and Karolinska Institutet have announced a three year collaborative research agreement that will apply molecular imaging technologies to generate novel diagnostic imaging tools and further the development of AstraZeneca’s neuroscience research and development pipeline. AstraZeneca and the Swedish medical university Karolinska Insitutet have collaborated since 2006 in the field of Positron Emission Tomography. The continued collaboration between AstraZeneca and the university is planning to deliver new imaging tools for the diagnosis of patients primarily with severe neurological illnesses as well as in pain control. The alliance will also facilitate the development of drugs for disorders such as chronic pain, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

Almirall signs €7.5 million collaboration with BioFocus

silico — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:49:16 +0000

Almirall has announced that has formed a research alliance with BioFocus. The three-year alliance is aimed at delivering drug development candidates directed to a key respiratory target of interest to Almirall. Under the terms of the collaboration, BioFocus will apply its integrated drug discovery capabilities whilst Almirall will bring in respiratory specific assets to the joint experimental effort. The value of this collaboration to BioFocus could reach €7.5 million.

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals acquire ex-US rights to Zevalin from Bayer

silico — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:43:05 +0000

Reuters reports that Spectrum Pharmaceuticals has announced that it will acquire rights to market cancer drug Zevalin outside of the United States from Bayer for €19 million. Spectrum, which already owns US rights of Zevalin, said Bayer will get royalties based on a percentage of net sales of the drug in all territories worldwide except the United States. In 2010 Spectrum generated sales of $29 million from Zevalin. Zevalin is currently approved in more than 40 countries for the treatment of follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.