German biotech Acousia Therapeutics closes a series B round with corporate and institutional VC firms, and aims to advance its drugs into clinical trials for hearing loss associated with cancer chemotherapy. 

Sanofi links with researchers at Germany’s Fraunhofer Gesellschaft in the search for new antibiotics while a European joint venture called Hit Discovery Constance GmbH is set up to conduct high-throughput screening for biotech and academic partners. Also, Moderna Therapeutics bags another major partner, GSK exits its DMD deal with Prosensa, and more.

Despite the availability of new oral medicines, larger advances in MS remain elusive, especially for those with advanced MS. Two nonprofit groups, the National MS Society’s Fast Forward venture arm and the Myelin Repair Foundation, are thinking creatively in different ways – but both spending millions of dollars – to make those breakthroughs come sooner.

Starting out with a CNS research program left behind in the restructuring that created Pharmacia Corp., Newron Pharmaceuticals SPA has launched a program to develop ion channel-targeted drugs for epilepsy, neuropathic pain, Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.