Merus, a biopharmaceutical company located in Utrecht, The Netherlands, announced today that it has closed a €21.7 million ($30.7 million) Series B financing round led by new investors the Novartis Option Fund, Pfizer Inc. (New York),  Bay City Capital (San Francisco), and LSP (Life Sciences Partners; Amsterdam). Merus’ seed investor Aglaia Oncology Fund (Bilthoven) also participated in this financing. 

A £5M development at the Norwich Research Park (NRP), funded by a partnership including the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) will provide facilities for start-up and growing businesses that will turn world-class science into products and technologies. This new development, announced today (26 January 2010), will bring new innovation and a boost to local and national economies.

Flexion Therapeutics have announced agreements with four major pharmaceutical partners, acquiring the rights to four clinical-stage compounds, and gaining investment from the world's biggest pharmaceutical company.

GlaxoSmithKline and Genmab A/S announced today that the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a positive opinion for Arzerra(TM) (ofatumumab), for the treatment of refractory chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL).

Pfizer Inc. has provided an update to its pipeline for the first time since the close of the acquisition of Wyeth in October, 2009. The new development pipeline, composed of assets from both legacy companies, includes 133 programs from phase 1 through registration, and shows growth and increased diversity in each of the areas where the company invests in research and development.

Bioamber, a joint venture between US-based DNP Green Technology and France-based ARD (Agro-industrie Recherches et Développements), announces the successful start-up and commissioning of the world’s first bio-based succinic acid plant. Since December 2009, the plant has been producing renewable succinic acid from wheat derived glucose.

Scientists at King’s College, London have developed a vaccine treatment for Leukaemia that can be used to stop the disease returning after chemotherapy or bone marrow transplant. The vaccine is due to be tested on patients for the first time. Eventually it is hoped the drug, which activates the body's own immune system against the leukaemia, could be used to treat other types of cancers.