Drug Companies Update June 2007
Mergers, acquisitions & Joint Ventures
- Boston Life Sciences has changed its name to Alseres Pharmaceuticals
- Cytyc has aquired Adeza, a biotech company focused primarily on the diagnosis of pregnancy-related and female reproductive disorders.
- Specialist pharmaceuticals and devices company Maelor has acquired Acorus Therapeutics
- NeuroMedix has been acquired by Transition Therapeutics, a company developing therapeutics for unmet medical needs.
- Gene therapy company Oxford BioMedica has acquired Oxxon Therapeutics
- India-based Orchid Pharmaceuticals has acquired Bexel Pharmaceuticals, which will remain as a subsidiary.
- Pfizer has acquired privately-owned biopharmaceutical company BioRexis.
- Sheffield Pharmaceuticals merged with Pipex Therapeutics and changed its name to Pipex Pharmaceuticals.
- Tekmira Pharmaceuticals is a spin out of biopharmaceutical company Inex, focused on the development of compounds for the treatment of cancer.
- Trident Pharmaceuticals is a joint venture between Hunter-Fleming and The University of Bristol.
- VIA Pharmaceuticals has merged with fellow US-based Corautus Genetics.
New Companies
- Gene-therapy company, Advantagene, develops anticancer immunotherapy drugs that enhance current therapies and provide clinical benefit.
- British-based Apitope Technology develops novel vaccines for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and allergies.
- US-based Arete Therapeutics develops first-in-class molecules for the treatment of cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases.
- American-based BioRelix focuses on the discovery and development of antibiotics that target antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
- Cequent Pharmaceuticals develops novel therapeutics using its TransKingdom RNA interference (tkRNAi) technology to treat and prevent a wide variety of diseases.
- Conatus Pharmaceuticals is a privately-owned company, developing compounds for the treatment of inflammation and liver disease.
- Coronado Biosciences is engaged in developing novel and proprietary cancer therapeutics.
- Gene Signal is researching gene coding in the regulation of angiogenesis, with an initial focus on ophthalmology.
- Established in 1988, Glycadia Pharmaceuticals develops novel therapies targeting upstream diabetes-specific abnormalities.
- Immune Control is developing serotonin antagonists for use against lymphoproliferative cancers, autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection.
- Iperboreal Pharma researches and develops medicines, hospital products and medical devices for the treatment of critical illnesses.
- Limerick Neurosciences uses its proprietry technology to improve existing therapeutics by attenuating neurotoxicity.
- Swedish company Moberg Derma focuses on the development of drugs for the treatment of skin diseases.
- Using its dominant negative ligand drug discovery system, Molecular LogiX develops protein-based cancer therapeutics called anticancer ligands (ACLs).
- Osprey Pharmaceuticals is engaged in the development of therapeutic proteins for chronic diseases.
- Pradama is developing products to treat bone diseases, using its bone-targeting technology.
- Privately-owned SARcode develops small-molecule LFA-1 inhibitors to treat inflammatory diseases.
- Verona Pharma discovers and develops new therapeutic drugs for the treatment of allergic rhinitis and other chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma and COPD.
- German biopharmaceutical company, Xvir Therapeutics, develops oncolytic adenoviruses for the treatment of multidrug-resistant cancers.
