Drug Companies Update Feb 2008
Mergers, acquisitions & Joint Ventures
- Cellgate has been acquired by Progen Pharmaceuticals and will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary.
- Dara Biosciences and Point Therapeutics have merged. Dara has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Point, which itself has changed its name to Dara Biosciences.
- Ortec has changed its name to become Forticell Bioscience.
- Reckitt Benckisser has acquired Adams Respiratory Therapeutics, which will remain a wholly-owned subsidiary.
New Companies
- Beijing Mefuvir Medicinal Technology conducts the pharmaceutical business of its Chinese parent company Wuhun Humanwell Hi-tech Industry.
- Biovascular is a biotechnology company developing drugs and devices for the control of intimal hyperplasia.
- Cary Pharmaceuticals is developing novel treatments for depression, hypertension and smoking cessation.
- Celecure is an Estonia-based company developing novel anticancers.
- Israeli biopharmaceutical company Immunovative Therapies is developing immunotherapeutics incorporating living cells as the active ingredients.
- Medical Therapies is based in Australia and is developing drug candidates for cancer and inflammatory conditions.
- Numerate is a biotech company developing small-molecule therapeutics.
- Pevion is a Swiss company spun off from Bachem AG and Berna Biotech, focused on the development of vaccines and vaccine platforms.
- Shanghai CP Guojian is a Chinese biopharmaceutical company developing humanised and fully-human antibodies in the areas of oncology and autoimmune disease.
- Canadian outfit Upstream Biosciences develops drugs and diagnostic markers for cancer and infectious disease.
- Allozyne is a Seattle-based company which develops and manufactures protein therapeutics into which non-natural amino acids have been incorporated.
- LovaDerm is an Israeli company developing a novel therapeutics for acne based upon a well-known active ingredient.
- OncoTac Pharmaceuticals is a Danish outfit developing targeted anticancers via its proprietary OncoMpact technology.
- Theralogics is developing drugs specifically targeted at NF-kappaB.
- Trellis Bioscience is using its proprietary CellSpot technology to identify antibodies for infectious disease and oncological indications.
