Biotech and Pharmaceuticals
Life Sciences
*Merck needs development funding just as profit seen slipping. FRANKFURT, April 20- Merck KGaA will seek development partners for experimental treatments including tepotinib as the German company looks to licensing deals to help fund clinical trials, according to its head of drug R&D. Luciano Rossetti, its drug research and development chief, told Reuters the...
LONDON, April 17- General Electric is raising its bet on biotechnology with the launch of prefabricated manufacturing units for producing virus-based gene and cell therapies, novel anti-cancer treatments and vaccines. Interest in such medicines, which use engineered viruses to carry healthy genetic material into the cells of sick people, has exploded...
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*GSK divests drugs in exchange for 19.9 pct Orchard stake. LONDON, April 12- GlaxoSmithKline is divesting its rare disease gene therapy drugs to private biotech company Orchard Therapeutics as Chief Executive Emma Walmsley makes good on her promise to prune the drugmaker's pharmaceuticals portfolio. Financially, the transaction will not move the dial for...
LONDON, April 12- Britain's Orchard Therapeutics, which has already raised more than $140 million to fund its work in gene therapy, plans another private sale of shares following its acquisition of a portfolio of GlaxoSmithKline rare disease medicines. The GSK deal, which involves Britain's biggest drugmaker taking a 19.9 percent stake in Orchard, offers...
LONDON, April 12- GlaxoSmithKline is divesting its rare disease gene therapy drugs to Orchard Therapeutics, it said on Thursday, as Chief Executive Emma Walmsley makes good on her promise to prune the drugmaker's pharmaceuticals portfolio. Financially, the transaction will not move the dial for Britain's biggest drugmaker, but it offers a sign that Walmsley...
LONDON, April 12- GlaxoSmithKline said on Thursday is was transferring its rare disease gene therapy drugs to Orchard Therapeutics as Chief Executive Emma Walmsley makes good on her promise to prune the drugmaker's pharmaceuticals portfolio. Under the deal, GSK will receive a 19.9 percent stake in unlisted Orchard and get a seat on its board.
PARIS, April 12- French healthcare group Sanofi is investing 350 million euros in a Canadian vaccine facility, which the drugmaker said would help it meet growing demand in this area. Sanofi's new investment will finance the construction of a new state-of-the-art vaccine manufacturing facility at the Sanofi Pasteur Canadian headquarters in Toronto,...
*MOODY'S SAYS $8.7 BILLION ACQUISITION OF AVEXIS STRENGTHENS NOVARTIS'S PIPELINE IN GENE THERAPY, BUT REDUCES FINANCIAL FLEXIBILITY. *MOODY'S SAYS MONETISING VALUE OF JV STAKE HAS REDUCED DIVERSITY BUT INCREASED CASH BALANCES, AND LEFT UNCERTAINTY OVER USE OF PROCEEDS. *MOODY'S SAYS EXPECT THAT AVXS-101, IF APPROVED, WILL ONLY HAVE A MEANINGFUL IMPACT ON...
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AveXis Inc., up $94.55 to $210.46. Western Digital Corp., up 79 cents to $88.56. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., down 40 cents to $60.48.
*$218- per-share cash deal is 72 pct above 30- day average. ZURICH, April 9- Swiss drugmaker Novartis is moving further into gene therapy by buying AveXis for $8.7 billion, adding a rare-disease treatment that could reap billions in sales. This is Novartis's second notable gene therapy deal this year after it agreed to pay $105 million upfront and up to $65 million...
GENEVA— Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis says it has agreed to buy the U.S.-based gene therapy company AveXis Inc. for $8.7 billion, part of its goal to become a leader in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. The tender offer for $218 per share announced Monday marks a whopping 88 percent premium from AveXis' closing price in Nasdaq trading on...
*$218- per-share cash deal is 72 pct above 30- day average. ZURICH, April 9- Novartis is moving further into gene therapy with a $8.7 billion deal for AveXis that gives the Swiss drugmaker a rare-disease treatment seen reaping billions in sales and bolsters its technology base. This is Novartis's second notable gene therapy deal this year after it agreed to pay...
April 9- Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG will buy U.S. gene therapy company AveXis Inc for $8.7 billion in cash, the companies said on Monday.
April 6- Incyte Corp's shares sank more than 20 percent on Friday after its experimental cancer drug failed to bolster the effectiveness of Merck& Co's blockbuster Keytruda to treat skin cancer patients. The failure is a big blow for Incyte, which has strung deals with major drugmakers to test its immunotherapy epacadostat in combination with their cancer...
April 3- Pfizer Inc said on Tuesday it signed an agreement with Allogene Therapeutics, a company formed by a consortium in which the drugmaker will hold a 25 percent stake, to further develop its allogenic CAR T cell therapy. San Francisco- based Allogene specializes in cancer treatment by developing CAR T cell therapy for blood cancer and tumors.
Alphabet's venture capital investment arm, GV, has seen four of its portfolio companies go public in the last year.
J. Craig Venter, Human Longevity co-founder, talks about the progress being made in the area of genomics and extending human life.
*Company has until April 25 to make firm bid. LONDON/ TOKYO, March 28- Japan's largest drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical is considering a bid for London- listed Shire that could top $40 billion and spark another takeover battle in the deal-hungry pharma industry. Takeda said buying it could create a global biopharmaceutical leader, boosting its position in the...
NEW YORK/ TORONTO, March 23- Canadian financier Newton Glassman has long told his private equity firms clients that his big bet on casinos would yield a financial jackpot. At the end of 2011, a year after Glassmans Catalyst Capital Group Inc took control of Gateway Casinos& Entertainment Ltd, Catalyst told investors in a report seen by Reuters that it already had...
*Appoints Helge Lund as new chairman. COPENHAGEN, March 22- Leading diabetes drugmaker Novo Nordisk has named former oil boss Helge Lund as its new chairman as the company contends with increasing price pressure and seeks acquisitions to broaden its blood products line-up. The man dubbed by some as Norway's Mr Oil because of his extensive career in the oil and...
