Business Concentrates
EMPLOYMENT
▸ Ophthotech and Nivalis slash jobs NIS’s labs in Avenel, N.J. fullerene-like tungsten disulfide particles that provide friction-reducing properties to lubricants. Evonik already supplies a line of polymeric additives to the lubricants industry.—MICHAEL MCCOY
RARE DISEASE
▸ Biotech firm Ovid develops Takeda drug In a reverse of the usual big pharma-biotech relationship, the New York City-based biotech firm Ovid Therapeutics will help develop a Takeda Pharmaceutical drug for rare pediatric epilepsy. The drug, a small molecule called TAK-935, inhibits the enzyme choles-
Poor clinical trial results have pushed two companies to each cut about 80% of their staff, including top executives, as they determine how to move ahead. In December, Ophthotech reported that its anti-PDGF therapy Fovista failed to show any benefit in two late-stage macular degeneration trials. At the time, the company had about 154 employees. Separately, Nivalis Therapeutics is restructuring and will retain just five of its 30 employees after a disappointing Phase II trial of its cystic fibrosis drug cavosonstat.—ANN THAYER
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
▸ Aurobindo to buy Portuguese firm India’s Aurobindo Pharma will pay $144 million to acquire the Portuguese firm Generis
▸ VWR, a laboratory products supplier, has acquired SeaStar Chemicals, a British Columbia-based maker of high-purity reagents. SeaStar uses proprietary purification technology and a customized bottling process to maintain high reagent purity levels, VWR says.
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OUTSOURCING
▸ China’s Pharmaron bags analysis firm Xceleron The Beijing-based contract research firm Pharmaron has agreed to buy Xceleron, a provider of mass spectrometry services based in Germantown, Md. According to Pharmaron, Xceleron has developed accelerator mass-spectrometry technology that uses carbon-14 ion counting to analyze very small drug samples. The Chinese firm expects the technology to complement its U.K.-based offerings in the area of radiolabeled compound manufacturing and radiolabeled metabolism services. Pharmaron was formed in 2003 and employs about 4,000 people.—JEAN-FRANÇOIS
TREMBLAY
▸ ExxonMobil and Synthetic Genomics are extending a 2009 agreement to make biofuels from algae. The companies say they have made “significant progress” in understanding algae genetics and growth characteristics and in increasing oil production.
▸ Merck KGaA and software supplier Palantir Technologies are joining to implement a data integration and analysis regimen at the drug firm. The partnership will launch with initiatives at Merck’s headquarters targeting drug development, patient monitoring, and supply chain management.
▸ Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has told stock analysts that FDA has officially deemed Sanofi’s Le Trait, France, manufacturing facility to be acceptable. Problems at the plant had threatened the timing of regulatory review of the companies’ jointly developed monoclonal antibody drugs sarilumab and dupilumab.
▸ Merck KGaA has opened a plant in Mollet des Vallès, Spain, that makes meglumine, an FDA-approved drug excipient and a component of medical imaging contrast media. Meglumine interacts with active pharmaceutical ingredients to increase solubility. Merck calls the plant the only one of its kind in Europe.
▸ Takeda Pharmaceutical has licensed antibody-drug conjugate technology from the South Korean firm LegoChem. The technology, called ConjuAll, uses a site-specific bioconjugation method and a β-glucuronide linker to create homogeneous ADCs, LegoChem says.
▸ Evotec, MaRS Innovation, and Canadian researchers have launched Fibrocor Therapeutics to target fibrotic diseases. MaRS and others have invested about $2 million in the Toronto-based start-up, while Evotec is providing drug discovery activities in exchange for an equity stake.
Business Roundup ▸ Tosoh will spend $37 million to build a 110,000-metric-ton-per-year polyvinyl chloride plant in the Philippines. The facility will nearly double the company’s PVC capacity in the country, which is currently investing in its water distribution and sewage infrastructure.
Farmacêutica. Both companies produce generic drugs, but Aurobindo is also back-integrated into the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Aurobindo expects the purchase will make it the largest supplier of generic drugs in Portugal. It plans to use the output of Generis’s plant to supply Portugal as well as other countries in Europe. Currently owned by the private equity firm Magnum Capital Partners, Generis recorded sales of $70 million last year.—JEAN-FRANÇOIS TREMBLAY
C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | JANUARY 23, 2017
CREDIT: EVONIK
terol 24-hydroxylase, which may have a role in central nervous system diseases such as epilepsy. In the deal, Takeda received equity in Ovid, which specializes in rare neurological diseases. The two firms will share any profits on a 50-50 basis.—MICHAEL MCCOY
