BACKGROUND
It has been a satisfaction Monday in Universitat de Barcelona and specially in the Fundació Bosch i Gimpera (FBG), were they have reached the thousand patent applications last January. They also have reported a return of 2,8 millions for the university since 2004 from the activities of this technology transfer office. Informed FBG in its website.
SIDEGROUND
Lots of stories to explain this week in the Big Pharma section:
Grifols is here again, developing its business and achieving great clinical milestones. On Tuesday, they announced the acquisition of Haema for 220 million euros in a debt-free basis. Grifols has financed the operation without external resources and, as they state in its own press release, these will be the first plasma donation centers outside the U.S. (pending the authorization by the German antitrust authorities).
On Thursday, the AMBAR (Alzheimer Management by Albumin Replacement) study conclusion has been an event to be proud in the company and they have explained to the world the start of data collection and analysis and the expected results communication in the fourth quarter of 2018. “AMBAR aims to evaluate whether Alzheimer’s disease can be stabilized by periodically extracting plasma and replacing it with albumin (Albutein), a process known as “plasma exchange”” says one of the subtitles of the press release. United BioSource Corporation LLC has been the CRO behind the clinical trial monitoring and now will be in charge of the analysis work until the trial finalization.
Both stories can be read in the company web page, for more information about the company, visit Grifols.
Nice update on the soap opera of the decade in the plant sector as Bayer plans to buy Monsanto if the European Commission(EC) authorize the operation. Really well explanations about EC’s concerns if the merge becomes a reality without any supervision as the competitiveness of the seeds and pesticides market could be threatened. So, Bayer and Monsanto were forced to introudce remedies for this issue and they seemed to fulfil the requirements from the EC except in one topic which is still being assessed: Divestiture to BASF of some Bayer assets to ensure the competition in the sector is still a reality after the operation. EC has pronounced and update of their thoughts about the merge last Wednesday where they set a new date, 16 of April, to release a final decision about the Bayer-BASF operation. More information on European Commission webpage.
Siemens has raised 4,2 million euros in the listing of it’s healthcare imaging division Healthineers. The world’s biggest player in the equipment for medical imaging has publicly offer a 15% of the company stakes. This place the company value at 28 billion euros at the eyes of the market on his debut day. The value hasn’t stabilized already but great news for the German company as the IPO of last Friday confirm their estimations on the first days of March.
And on the divestiture section, Pfizer and Sanofi tries to look for buyers for their OTC and generics division, respectively, without much success. GSK has closed the talks with Pfizer and has made a step aside in the race for the American OTC’s division. At its turn, Sanofi is failing in getting bids over their price expectations for its generics division. Updates and more information on FiercePharma web page.
Mid pharma calm week except for the communication from Atrys Health to the stock market for the acquisition of Telrads. The total acquisition of the teleradiology imaging company based in Màlaga, Spain, is the first step made by the company to develop its core business. The valuation of the acquisition has been placed in 4,8 M € and will be divided in upfront, milestones and shares payments. Visit Mercado Alternativo Bursàtil (MAB) for more information.
In the startup’s section, great news coming from United Kingdom as the Oxford Nanopore Technologies company has announced a 140 million euros fundraising. Experts in the development of portable devices for biological analysis has stated in its web the successful round and focused it’s goals in the development of a new manufacturing facility and the international expansion of its commercial team. Also expecting an investment in its R+D division to develop new devices which solves unmet needs of the sequencing market. Informed LaBiotech.eu and more information in the company web page.
FOREGROUND
Not a forecast, but an insight from ElEconomista which correlates the Amazon entrance to the health sector with an increment of M&A activity by some big health assurance and service companies. Nobody still knows the stake that Amazon will develop in this sector. However, everyone seems ready to fight.
To close the week, a brief remember about the opening of CaixaImpulse program for this 2018 which will help bio-health projects succeed with all the resources LaCaixa can supply.
BIOnews Week Summary 