In a major boost for the UK biotech sector, an impressive sum has been raised by Beacon Therapeutics to support its R&D activities in ophthalmic gene therapies.

Phylogica is continuing its strong financial year, with the company’s shares surging after it announced that a pilot study for its cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) showed these were able to kill drug-resistant breast cancer cells in vivo, when linked with the cancer drug Omomyc.

Vanda, Novartis settle Fanapt dispute; Genentech, Phylogica partner on antibiotics; Janssen licenses Sevion antibody platform; Pfizer accesses Philogen antibodies; Tiziana licenses Novimmune asset; and EpiVax applies Novozymes technology.

Pfizer, which saw 13% growth in its global vaccines business during the second quarter, pays $635 million to buy a pair of vaccines from Baxter. The meningitis and encephalitis vaccines, sold mainly in Europe, are expected to generate combined sales of about $300 million this year.