AstraZeneca has bumped up its stake in US biotech Moderna, which is pioneering the development of a new class of drugs made of messenger RNA, to nine percent.
The UK-listed group said it is investing a further $140 million to increase its equity interest in the company, adding to its previous stake garnered through a collaboration agreement signed back in March 2013.
The parties initially hooked up to develop medicines for cardiovascular, metabolic and renal diseases, as well as oncology, and subsequently signed another agreement in January this year solely focused on the development of cancer therapies.
The companies coupling AstraZeneca group MedImmune’s protein engineering and cancer biology expertise with Moderna’s technology platform in the hope of developing new mRNA-based therapies.
These enable the body to produce therapeutic protein in vivo, and thus potentially offer a new treatment approach for a wide range of diseases.
By Selina McKee
Source: Pharma Times
Avivi joins Bayer fresh off a yearlong stint as chief marketing officer of Advance Auto Parts, which followed about three years spent as marketing chief of another auto parts company, Tenneco. Rounding out her nearly 30-year career in marketing are leadership roles at consumer goods giants Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble.
Air Liquide S.A. (Paris) is continuing its development with the acquisition of Homecare activities in Belgium and the Netherlands. The two entities acquired in Belgium and the Netherlands support 10,000 patients living with respiratory insufficiency, sleep apnea syndrome or requiring infusion or nutrition treatments.
US-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pay approximately $4.9 billion in cash to acquire Alpine Immune Sciences, a compatriot biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing innovative, protein-based immunotherapies.
