Bayer AG & Evotec AG’s deal; Plasticell and CellSpring AG’s deal; Allergan Acquires Akarna; Cambrex Acquires Pharmacore

Bayer AG and Evotec AG enter a multi-target research partnership agreement

Bayer and Evotec have agreed to develop novel treatments for chronic kidney disease in diabetic patients. According to the agreement, Bayer will have all the rights to select clinical candidates and Evotec’s Cure Nephron target pipeline. It will pay approximately $15.64m to Evotec during the contract period.

Plasticell and CellSpring AG have entered into an agreement

Plasticell and CellSpring have entered an agreement which aims to examine and validate the capability of osteogenic cell therapy and 3D cell cultures in drug screening. According to this agreement, the companies will be responsible for developing 3D tissue models that accurately respond to the drug treatment. These 3D models are used in pharmaceutical industry in all stages of drug discovery, to evaluate the efficacy of lead compounds.

Allergan Acquires Akarna Therapeutics

Allergan plans to develop novel treatments for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and other liver diseases through the acquisition of Akarna Therapeutics. The acquisition has been completed for a purchase consideration of $50m. Allergan will gain all rights to AKN-083 and a portfolio of additional development stage FXR compounds. Akarna Therapeutics will receive additional clinical, regulatory, developmental and commercialisation milestones of its drug candidate.

Cambrex Acquires Pharmacore

Cambrex Corporation, a manufacturer of small molecule innovator and generic active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), has acquired PharmaCore, which specializes in developing, manufacturing and scaling up small molecule APIs for clinical phase projects, for approximately $25 million. The company is licensed with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to manufacture Schedule II to Schedule V controlled substances.