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Biotech News Company news Regular news within the Australian biotech industry. |
- Abbott and Protein Design Labs announce therapeutic antibody collaboration
- Agen Biomedical secures worldwide distribution for D-dimer test
- Alchemia generic bolstered by Atrixia approvals
- Amrad loses third biggest shareholder
- C3 signs up Italian distributor
- CollTech appoints sales agent for Asia
- GTG invests $4.5 million in genomics alliance
- Life Therapeutics cut losses and forecast $13 million profit
- Peptech joint venture gets $2.1 million START grant
- Pfizer posts strong first half profit
- Polymerco forms biomaterial manufacturing alliance with AorTech
- SciGen to manufacture combined Hep B and A vaccine
- Start-ups to commercialise new sequencing technology
Abbott and Protein Design Labs announce therapeutic antibody collaboration
June 9 – Abbott Laboratories and Protein Design Labs announced a long-term collaboration that provides Abbott access to PDL's technology for antibody humanisation. Humanisation is a process by which antibodies with potent therapeutic properties are engineered to be composed of primarily human sequences while retaining their therapeutic properties. Under the agreement, PDL will humanise up to three antibodies for Abbott, and either company may humanise subsequent antibodies subject to Abbott's discretion. The agreement includes milestone payments subject to meeting clinical and commercial objectives, as well as royalties on sales of any antibody humanised by either party. Abbott currently has exclusive rights to market the humanised antibody Synagis (palivizumab) outside of the United States. In the U.S., MedImmune Inc. and Abbott have exclusive agreement to co-promote Synagis. Synagis is a humanised antibody product licensed under PDL's antibody humanisation patents, and currently is the largest single source of royalty revenues to PDL.
[Source: Company Announcement]
Agen Biomedical secures worldwide distribution for D-dimer test
June 11 – Agen Biomedical has signed a worldwide distribution agreement with US based Inverness Medical Innovations for its Simplify D-dimer test. Inverness Medical will have exclusive rights to distribute the test kit through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Wampole Laboratories and Unipath. The test is based on Agen's monoclonal antibody for D-dimer that measures the levels of D-dimer in blood or plasma samples in the diagnosis of blood clotting conditions. Agen forecasts growth in sales volume of the Simplify D-dimer test by up to four times in the first 12 months to $AU2.5 million, with minimum 100 per cent increases for the following two years.
[Source: Company Announcement]
Alchemia generic bolstered by Atrixia approvals
June 17 – Alchemia is set to benefit from a US FDA decision to approve two new applications for a competitor's anticoagulant synthetic heparin product. The FDA approved the synthetic heparin product, Atrixia, produced by Sanofi Synthelabo, for treatment of acute venous thrombosis (DVT) and acute embolism in conjunction with another drug. Alchemia, in partnership with Dow and American Pharmaceutical Partners, is developing a generic version of Atrixia for sale in the US market by 2008. Ongoing approval for uses of Atrixia means Alchemia need only demonstrate the generic is the same drug, and not have to undergo extensive clinical trials required of new drugs. Due to its manufacturing complexity Alchemia believes there are unlikely to be competitors in the generic synthetic heparin market estimated to be worth in excess of $US4 billion by 2008.
[Source: Company Announcement]
Amrad loses third biggest shareholder
June 17 – Japanese drug developer Chugai Pharmaceuticals is to sell its 9 per cent holding of Amrad, following last years termination of a 10 year joint venture that saw Chugai invest $AU20 million in 1994. The sale of its 11.9 million Amrad shares at current market prices would result in a capital loss of $AU13 million, due to a 30 per cent fall in stock price after Serono retired an alliance to investigate Amrad's leukaemia inhibitory factor compound, Emfilermin. Chugai's decision is influenced by Roche's recent purchase of a controlling stake in the company. Amrad's asthma collaboration with Merck generated $US11 million in the last year, contributing to Amrad recording a $AU7.4 million profit last financial year, but has forecast small loses this and next financial year.
[Source: Australian Financial Review]
C3 signs up Italian distributor
June 10 – Clinical Cell Culture has entered into an agreement with Health Defence S.p.A. of Italy as a sales agent for CellSpray and distributor for ReCell. CellSpray is a suspension containing cultured skin cells from patient for use in the treatment of major burns and scars and ReCell is a device that enables the collection of healthy skin cells for application to damaged skin. CellSpray is yet to be approved by Italian health authorities while the launch of ReCell is expected in 2005 with potential distribution agreements in the US, Japan, South Africa, India and Brazil under negotiation.
[Source: Company Announcement]
CollTech appoints sales agent for Asia
June 9 – CollTech has signed a Sales Agency Agreement for the marketing and sales of its high-grade Collagen products into the cosmetic and food industries of Northern Asia. Under the agreement CollTech has licensed its name to the newly incorporated CollTech Asia. Colltech Asia will retain exclusivity subject to sales in excess of 33.3 per cent of CollTech production capacity on a yearly basis in Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan. CollTech Asia will be working with CollTech to meet current demands for acid soluble collagen within the Asian cosmetic and related industries and have already started marketing initiatives. CollTech is in the final stages of its tender process for the construction of a collagen extraction plant in Collie, Western Australia.
[Source: Company Announcement]
GTG invests $4.5 million in genomics alliance
June 15 – Genetic Technologies has commenced a strategic alliance with the CY O'Connor ERADE Village Foundation, a leading Western Australian biotechnology centre, associated with the University of Western Australia, incorporating both the Immunogenics Research Foundation and the Institute of Molecular Genetics and Immunology Incorporated of Perth. Under the agreement GTG will issue 16.6 million shares to CYO and grant CYO a license to GTG's non-coding patents, in return the CYO will pay GTG a AU$2.5 million singing fee. The CYO will assign all its current intellectual property rights in genetics and genomics to GTG, including that pending and related research yet to be protected, with an estimated value of $AU15 million. GTG will support ongoing genetics and genomics CYO programmes which include projects in the field of human and animal genetics. GTG will provide $AU4.5 million to CYO over five years to fund research and establish new IP of five priority projects.
[Source: Company Announcement]
Life Therapeutics cut losses and forecast $13 million profit
June 18 – Life Therapeutics has announced financial projections that suggest the company will become profitable within 2 years. Life Therapeutics projects a $13 million profit within three years ending 30 June 2007. The report comes as part of a 200 day plan in which Life Therapeutics has been focussed on turning the organisation into a profitable commercial entity within all four of its core businesses. For the current financial year, the company is projecting a loss of $10 million on sales of $17 million representing a 27 per cent decrease in losses compared to the first half of 2003. Sales of $54 million in 2006 will see the company in the black with $4.5 million in profit and projected sales of $69 million with $13 million in profit in 2007.
[Source: Company Announcement]
Peptech joint venture gets $2.1 million START grant
June 17 – Peptech's joint venture partner Biosceptre International has been awarded an $AU2.1 million AusIndustry START grant to advance research into anti-cancer therapeutics and cancer diagnostics. Peptech entered into a joint venture with Biosceptre in November 2003 to jointly develop and commercialise cancer therapies and diagnostics. As a result of the joint venture, Biosceptre expects to generate four products, the first of these a cancer diagnostic agent. The agent is designed to target 80 per cent of all solid tumours, bind to and indicate the location, size and progression of relevant tumours following the application of cancer therapeutics. Other products include skin cancer treatments and imaging reagents. The funds will be used to further improve and validate current research efforts and advance these toward commercialisation.
[Source: Company Announcement]
Pfizer posts strong first half profit
June 15 – Pfizer's largest Australian division Pfizer Australia has posted sales of $AU828.9 million for the year ending 30 November 2003, a $AU67 million increase from the previous year. Profit for the period increased to $AU30.8 million from $AU18 million due to strong demand for its specialty pharmaceuticals. The acquisition of CSL's animal health division in December for $AU170 million is expected to significantly lift Pfizer Australia's turnover this year. In 2003, Pfizer bought Pharmacia Corp for $US58 billion whilst recording world-wide sales of $US45 billion with profits of $US3.9 billion. 'We are on target for a very pleasing result and are reaping the benefits of the integration of the Pharmacia business as well as the CSL acquisition, and we are slightly above our targets,' said Pfizer Australia and New Zealand finance director, Gennie Small.
[Source: Australian Financial Review]
Polymerco forms biomaterial manufacturing alliance with AorTech
June 10 – Polymerco and AorTech Biomaterials have entered into an agreement in which Polymerco will gain access to manufacturing skills and equipment for use with Polymerco's biodegradable polyurethane technology. AorTech is a Melbourne based manufacturer of Elast-Eon, a biostable polyeurethane technology currently under licence with major medical device companies in cardiovascular surgery. Polymerco, an operating subsidiary of Xceed Biotechnology, has acquired a license to the biodegradable polyurethane technology from CSIRO, plans to apply to orthopaedics, wound repair, drug delivery and stents.
[Source: Company Announcement]
SciGen to manufacture combined Hep B and A vaccine
June 11 – SciGen has renegotiated its license for the hepatitis B vaccine, Sci-B-Vac, following its licensing partner, Savient Pharmaceuticals decision to cease manufacturing and rely on its licensees to do so. This will allow Savient to focus on manufacturing of other recombinant products, namely human growth hormone. SciGen's revised agreement is extended to 17 years and includes Asia-Pacific rights to develop and market a therapeutic vaccine from Sci-B-Vac for the treatment of hepatitis and a combined hepatitis A and B vaccine. SciGen will begin manufacturing in India with local partner, Shreya Biotech that is expected to complete its manufacturing facility by January 2005.
[Source: Company Announcement]
Start-ups to commercialise new sequencing technology
June 10 – Queensland biotech Combinomics and New South Wales based Nucleics will team up to commercialise a new sequencing technology that overcomes current limitations of sequencing previously unmapped regions of DNA. The technology developed by Combinomics involves both biochemical and bioinformatic processes to overcome inaccurate sequencing by internal repeat regions or by structures that inhibit biochemical steps of the sequencing process. Random mutations applied to several copies of the problematic sequence remove the impeding structures allowing the original sequence to be computationally reconstructed from sequence of the mutated copies. Nucleics will develop the technology into a commercial kit format, and market this through its existing customer network. Combinomics was formed through investments from UniSeed and AU$250,000 through AusIndustry's Biotechnology Innovation Fund to commercialise the technology developed by the University of Queensland.
[Source: Company Announcement]
