> Actelion (VTX:ATLN) CEO Jean-Paul Clozel issued yet another warning to any company thinking of trying to buy his business. "You can see the way our business is going, you see our pipeline moving. Our products are very exciting. And for me, it's very clear that … to give all these assets, all this value to an acquirer would not make sense," Clozel said on a conference call to discuss Actelion's second-quarter results. The Swiss biopharma and perennial takeover target was reportedly the subject of an $18.9 billion bid from Shire ($SHPG) earlier this year. Transcript
> Allergan ($AGN) expanded its deal with Molecular Partners (SWX:MOLN). The revised terms see Allergan broaden the ophthalmology DARPin alliance, which has already given rise to abicipar, a wet age-related macular degeneration treatment that recently entered Phase III. Allergan and Molecular partners are trying to repeat that success by pushing a multi‐VEGF/PDGF DARPin asset through preclinical and start up a clutch of discovery programs. Molecular Partners is set to pick up $35 million (€32 million) in accelerated milestone payments. Release
> Cortendo pushed ahead with plans to go public in the U.S. The Swedish-American drugmaker has long harbored ambitions to list in the U.S., with CEO Matthew Pauls initiating a pivot away from a plan to file for an IPO in Oslo, Norway, after he took the reins last year. Cortendo has yet to file paperwork with the SEC but issued a press release signaling its intent to file for an IPO in the U.S. Release
> Fereydoun Firouz, the former CEO of Merck KGaA's EMD Serono, took over at Ares Allergy, the company being created through the merger of Stallergenes and Greer Laboratories. Firouz worked at his former employers for 22 years before leaving in unusual circumstances, in which it took EMD Serono 17 days to inform the world of his resignation. The task facing Firouz now is to fulfill the vision that prompted Ares Life Sciences to merge its two investments--Stallergenes and Greer--into one transatlantic allergy player. Ares was set up in 2008 by the Bertarelli family, which founded Serono and sold it to Merck KGaA in 2007. Release
> The U.S. FDA granted the status of Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) to a product being developed by Motif Bio (AIM:MTFB). The nods cover the use of iclaprim as a treatment for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections and hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia, setting Motif Bio up to speed through development and pick up 5-year exclusivity extensions if it wins approvals. The receipt of QIDP status also means Motif Bio has now fulfilled the terms of its £22 million ($34 million) placing. Financing Release | QIDP Notice | More
> Swiss private equity firm LifeCare Partners joined with a consortium of financiers to invest in Leukocare. As part of the arrangement, former GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) vaccine executive Jean-Paul Prieels has joined the supervisory board at Leukocare. The cash will finance the advance of Leukocare's technology to stabilize proteins and other biologics. Release
> Gensight Biologics pocketed $36 million (€33 million) in a Series B financing. Fidelity Management & Research Company, Jennison Associates, Sphera Global HealthCare Fund, Perceptive Advisors and HealthCap joined with investors from the Series A round to restock the coffers of the ocular disease specialist. Paris, France-based Gensight will use the money to push its gene-therapy based approach to treating Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy into Phase III. Release