> Addex (SWX:ADXN) moved its R&D unit to the life science cluster that has been set up at Merck Serono's former campus in Geneva, Switzerland. The Addex R&D unit joins teams from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, University of Geneva and the Human Brain Project at the 40,000-square-meter campus. Release
> Pfizer ($PFE) dealt its reputation in the United Kingdom another blow by revealing it is to close its 120-person R&D site in Cambridge. The Big Pharma framed the decision as part of a consolidation of its neuroscience and pain R&D infrastructure. Cambridge, as a growing drug research hub, is better placed than Sandwich was to absorb R&D staffers jettisoned by Pfizer, but the move will definitely cause short-term disruption. Whether in the longer term ex-employees pick up IP from Pfizer and set up their own biotechs, as happened following the Sandwich cuts, remains to be seen. FierceBiotech
> United Therapeutics ($UTHR) dropped its licensing agreement with Pluristem Therapeutics ($PSTI). The move means Israeli cell therapy specialist Pluristem has regained full rights to PLX-PAD in pulmonary arterial hypertension. United Therapeutics made the decision after getting a look at data from the first three patients treated in a Phase I trial. While Pluristem talked up the safety profile and efficacy trend generated in the study, United Therapeutics thinks it is best served by walking away from the program. Release
> Galapagos ($GLPG) posted Phase II data on filgotinib, the oral JAK inhibitor AbbVie ($ABBV) walked away from earlier this year. The data showed that filgotinib outperformed a placebo in terms of inducing remission in people with Crohn's disease, positioning Galapagos to move the drug into Phase III and strengthening its hand as it searches for a partner to replace AbbVie. "Given filgotinib's unique clinical benefit in Crohn's to-date, providing at the very least a first-to-market advantage in the indication, we believe these data should boost the likelihood of successfully signing a new partnership deal in the near future," Jefferies analyst Peter Welford wrote in a note to investors. FierceBiotech
> MorphoSys (ETR:MOR) posted data on MOR202 and MOR208. Data on MOR202, the multiple myeloma drug dropped by Celgene ($CELG) earlier this year, come from an ongoing Phase I/II trial and back up MorphoSys' belief that the drug can be infused far faster than rival anti-CD38 drugs. The MOR208 data come from Phase II trials in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Release | More
> Sofinnova Partners rounded up €300 million ($325 million) to invest in up to 20 biotechs, two-thirds of which are expected to be based in Europe. The sum, which is €50 million more than Sofinnova set out to raise, gives the Paris-based VC shop the financial clout to continue its work of identifying, nurturing and financing early-stage biotechs. Recent successes for the company include the sale of Glycovaxyn and IPO of DBV Technologies ($DBVT). FierceBiotech