Week of Jan. 2, 2012: AMRI Restructures; ISPE Appoints Nancy S. Berg as CEO; and More

Company Notes

Karo Bio, a pharmaceutical company, has entered into a research collaboration agreement with Pfizer to discover and develop small-molecule RORgamma modulators for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Under the agreement, Pfizer will provide full funding for the research costs and have the exclusive right to market any products that may be developed as a result of the collaboration. Karo Bio may receive up to $217 million in upfront and milestone payments in addition to potential royalty fees.
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Marina Biotech, an oligonucleotide-based drug discovery and development company, and the biotechnology company Mirna Therapeutics have formed a license agreement regarding the development and commercialization of microRNA-based therapeutics using Mirna’s proprietary microRNAs and Marina Biotech's liposomal delivery technology.
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The biopharmaceutical company OPKO Health has completed its acquisition of FineTech Pharmaceutical, an Israeli provider of APIs.
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The biopharmaceutical company Zealand Pharma has received a milestone payment of EUR 3 million ($3.9 million) received under the license agreement with Helsinn Healthcare for elsiglutide, a GLP-2 peptide agonist in Phase I development.
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Abbott and Emergent Biosolutions have ended their partnership on a cancer drug candidate.

The CMO Albany Molecular Research (AMRI) restructures.

Alexion has agreed to acquire Enobia in a deal valued over $1 billion.Arecor has formed a collaboration with Lilly to develop advanced formulations of protein therapeutics.

UCB and Immunomedics have restructured their epratuzumab license agreement.

Veloxis and Athena have formed a manufacturing and commercialization pact for AtorFen, a fixed-dose combination of fenofibrate and atorvastin.

People Notes

Shlomo Yanai, president and CEO of Teva, plans to retire from the company effective May 2012. Teva’s board of directors has named Jeremy Levin, a former senior executive at Bristol-Myers Squibb, to succeed Yanai at that time. Rob Koremans will succeed Gerard van Odijk as president and CEO of Teva Europe.
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Celgene has announced the appointment of Richard Bagger as senior vice-president of corporate affairs and strategic market access.

ISPE has announced Nancy S. Berg as its new CEO.

Marken has appointed Steve Roese as its new head of global quality assurance.