Industry News

Novartis acquire Admune, a clinical-stage biotech company focused on the development and delivery of cytokine therapy drugs for cancer, for the company’s IL-15 agonist program, currently in Phase I clinical trials for metastatic cancer. The fee is not being disclosed. Novartis also signed a $15 million licensing agreement with Palobiofarma. The company, based at Barcelona’s science park, focuses on the discovery and development of new drugs based on the modulation of adenosine receptors.

DelMar Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of new cancer therapies, announced that it presented positive preclinical data demonstrating the promising potential of its lead product candidate VAL-083 (dianhydrogalactitol) as a treatment for ovarian cancer.

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, a global leader in the science of heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring, has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for aortic valve-in-valve procedures using the Edwards Sapien XT transcatheter heart valve.

A preliminary research presented at a US medical conference suggests that cancer drug may be helpful in improving memory and motor skills in patients with Parkinson's disease. The trial at Georgetown University involved 12 people who had Parkinson's or a related condition called Lewy body dementia.

Johnson & Johnson's Stelara was significantly better than placebo at inducing clinical response and remissions in patients with moderate to severe Crohn's disease. Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract that affects about 700,000 Americans and 250,000 Europeans. Symptoms can include frequent diarrhea, abdominal pain and rectal bleeding. Stelara, a biotech medicine that blocks inflammation, is approved to treat the skin condition scaly plaque psoriasis and a type of arthritis associated with psoriasis.

Honeywell announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Seelze, Germany-based laboratory research chemicals business from Sigma-Aldrich for approximately 105 million euro.

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The contract development and manufacturing organisation, Recipharm AB (publ) entered into an agreement whereby it will acquire a majority stake in Nitin Lifesciences Limited (“Nitin”), an Indian sterile injectables CMO, currently owned by the Sobti family.

Pharma major Biocon's research arm Syngene International Ltd reported Rs.52 crore net profit for second quarter of fiscal 2015-16 from Rs.40 crore in the same period last year, posting 31 percent annual growth.

Pharma major Biocon on Tuesday reported Rs.306 crore net profit for second quarter of 2015-16, a whopping 200 percent growth over the same period last year due to income from the public issue of its research arm Syngene International Ltd.

Pfizer Inc's subsidiary Hospira has secured an Indian patent for an improved process for the preparation of Cilastatin. Cilastatin is a chemical which acts with anti-biotic Imipenem for the treatment of infections in various body systems. Imipenem and Cilastatin are combined in a drug to make an anti-biotic.  It is used to treat serious infections that are mild to moderate in severity, such as lower respiratory infection and heart valve infection.