Author: Willem van Lawick

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Jan. 15, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (Nasdaq:BMRN) announced today that it completed the initial offering period for the previously announced tender offer for all of the outstanding ordinary shares of Prosensa Holding N.V. (Nasdaq:RNA). As a result, BioMarin will purchase approximately 93.4% of Prosensa’s outstanding shares pursuant to the initial offering period for the tender offer. BioMarin also announced that it has commenced a subsequent offering period to provide Prosensa shareholders who have not yet tendered their shares the opportunity to do so. The subsequent offering period is scheduled to expire at 6:00 p.m., New York City time, on January 29, 2015. (more…)

~ Data confirms the potential of ATIR™ in partially matched hematopoietic stem cell transplants ~
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, December 9, 2014 – Kiadis Pharma B.V. (“Kiadis Pharma”), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing T-cell immunotherapy treatments for blood cancers, today announces positive interim data from the ongoing Phase II clinical study with its lead product ATIR™. The data were presented by Dr. Denis-Claude Roy, Professor of Medicine at the University of Montreal and Chair of the study, at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in San Francisco (Abstract 314). (more…)

Leiden, The Netherlands, Dec. 8, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Prosensa Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: RNA), the biopharmaceutical company focusing on RNA-modulating therapeutics for rare diseases with a high unmet medical need, is delighted to have won the Scrip ‘Biotech Company of the Year’ Award for 2014, announced last week in London, UK.
The prestigious Scrip Awards provide an opportunity to acknowledge and applaud the highest achievers across the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, recognizing both corporate and individual accomplishments. The award for ‘Biotech Company of the Year’ is given to the company which has demonstrated the greatest achievements for the year.
Hans Schikan, CEO of Prosensa, said, “Winning Scrip’s ‘Biotech Company of the Year’ Award is a great honor and a testament to the dedication and hard work of the Prosensa team. Our drive to succeed is fueled by patients and their families, who continue to inspire us to make innovative therapies available as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
The other five finalists were: Ablynx; Horizon Discovery; Isis Pharmaceuticals; Mesoblast; and Silence Therapeutics.

 Acquisition of Prosensa provides near-term opportunity to commercialize, if approved, its exon-skipping drug candidate, drisapersen, for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)
 Drisapersen is currently under a rolling review as part of a New Drug Application process and has Orphan, Fast Track and Breakthrough Therapy designation by the FDA
 Drisapersen, a potential first-to-market and best-in-class product for treating a large population of patients with a rare, fatal genetic disease represents up to 10,000 DMD patients
 Follow-on products leveraging Prosensa’s same technology platform in the pipeline target an additional 35,000 DMD patients in BioMarin’s commercial territories
 Investor conference call to be held today, November 24, 2014 at 5am PST (8am EST)

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., November 24, 2014 — BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) and Prosensa Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: RNA) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement in which BioMarin will offer to purchase all of the outstanding ordinary shares of Prosensa for $17.75 per share, for a total up front consideration of approximately $680 million. In addition, two approximately $80 million contingent milestones are payable for the approval of drisapersen in the U.S. no later than May 15, 2016 and Europe no later than February 15, 2017, respectively. (more…)

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, October 30, 2014 – Kiadis Pharma B.V. (“Kiadis Pharma” or “the Company”), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing T-cell immunotherapy treatments for blood cancers, today announces that its lead product ATIR™ has been granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Kiadis Pharma has previously been granted an ODD for ATIR™ by both the EMA and the FDA for the prevention of acute Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD) following an allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. (more…)