Drug Companies Update Feb 2007
Mergers, acquisitions & Joint Ventures
- Abbott has acquired Kos Pharmaceuticals as a wholly-owned subsidiary.
- Actelion has completed its US$420 million acquisition of Cotherix.
- Altana Pharma has been acquired by Nycomed.
- Forest Laboratories has acquired Cerexa.
- GlaxoSmithKline has acquired Domantis, a company investigating domain antibodies for a variety of diseases.
- Austrian-based Intercell has acquired Pelias Biomedical Development.
- Lion bioscience will now be known as Syngis Pharma.
- Merck KGaA has taken over Serono, which will become a subsidiary under the name Merck Serono.
- Dermatology-focused Stiefel Laboratories has acquired Connetics Corporation to create one of the most robust and diverse dermatology product lines in the industry.
New Companies
- Swedish company Affibody is using its proprietary protein engineering technology to develop highly specific molecules for use as imaging agents and targeted anticancers.
- Amorfix is concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases in which aggregated misfolded proteins are present.
- Apthera was formed to develop and commercialize late-stage, peptide-based subunit vaccines for the treatment and prevention of cancer.
- Arca Discovery is focused on developing and commercializing genetically-targeted therapies for heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases.
- Capnia is developing novel therapeutics using its medical gas delivery system.
- China Biopharma develops and distributes human vaccine products in China.
- CoDa Therapeutics is developing novel wound healing products based on gap junction modulation.
- Eleos is developing sensitizing therapeutics for the treatment of cancer.
- Situated in Germany, Elera Pharmaceuticals is a start-up company developing estrogen signalling and aurora kinase inhibitors.
- Epiphany Biosciences is developing therapeutics and diagnostics to treat or prevent the spread of pathogenic viruses.
- Israeli company Heal-Or is developing topical wound healing and skin disorder therapeutics.
- Horizon Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the rapid development of analgesics for mild-to-moderate pain by combining existing products in novel combinations.
- Implicit Bioscience, based in Australia, is an immunology-focused drug discovery company.
- InteKrin Therapeutics is developing and commercializing treatments for immune, neuroendocrine and metabolic diseases.
- Jenken Biosciences is investigating small molecule drugs that modulate cytokine release involved in chronic inflammation-associated organ damage.
- India-based Lipicard Technologies is focused on the development of high therapeutic index drugs primarily for lipid management and cardiovascular disease.
- Lytix Biopharma specializes in synthetic micropeptides, which it is developing as antimicrobials and anticancers.
- Marillion Pharmaceuticals is developing novel anticancers, licensed from the University of Pennsylvania.
- Midway Pharmaceuticals was founded on the development of a polymer that inactivates harmful gut bacteria, and is focused on GI tract diseases and related conditions.
- Neogenix is an oncology-based pharmaceutical company, furthering research using tumour-associated antigens.
- OcuCure is focused on ophthalmalogical products. Its lead compound is a topical eyedrop for the treatment of both dry and wet AMD.
- Pervasis Therapeutics is developing cell-based therapies that induce repair and regeneration in a wide array of tissues.
- Presidio Pharmaceuticals is developing both novel and established therapeutic modalities for HIV-1 and other chronic viral infections.
- Rosetta Genomics is researching therapeutic and diagnostic applications using its proprietary bioinformatics technologies.
- RxBio is an early-stage biotechnology company developing molecules to protect against radiation as well as anticancers.
- Scynexis is a chemistry-focused drug discovery company.
- Siemens Medical Solutions is developing a biomarker for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.
- SpeciGen has a patented protein cage drug delivery system, which it is using to develop drugs for cancer, cardiovascular and infectious disease.
- Stealthyx Therapeutics aims to use its patented Prothyx technology platform to develop disease-specific therapeutic molecules.
- Stem Cell Sciences has a portfolio of patents covering the provision of stem cells in research and the clinic.
- Synosis Therapeutics is geared towards finding new treatments for CNS disorders.
