Investment news

Advanced Gene & Cell Technologies (AGCT), a resident startup of the Skolkovo Foundation’s biomed cluster, has received the first tranche of investment from the RBV Capital venture fund allocated to carry out Russia’s first clinical practice of genome editing to treat HIV. AGCT plans to use the investment, which totals 44 million rubles ($738,000), to draw up a raft of preclinical data to carry out pilot phase one and two clinical research.

With $65 million in new funding, DARPA seeks to develop neural implants that make it possible for the human brain to speak directly to computer interfaces. As part of its Neural Engineering System Design (NESD) program, the agency will fund five academic research groups and one small San Jose-based company to further its goals.

Stada (STAGn.DE) backed a revised takeover bid on Monday from buyout groups Bain Capital and Cinven, which have secured backing from investors controlling around 20 percent of the German generic drugmaker's shares.

Konica Minolta Inc (4902.T) said it was purchasing U.S. diagnostics company Ambry Genetics in a deal valued at up to $1 billion - an acquisition that marks a strategic shift for the Japanese firm's healthcare business as it seeks a leading position in precision medicine. The deal is the largest ever for the photocopier maker, which has been seeking to diversify away its office equipment business. It pulled out of cameras about a decade ago.

Holland & Barrett, the UK's biggest health food retailer, is being bought by a Russian billionaire for £1.8bn.

To Rajiv Kaul, who manages the biggest U.S. biotechnology fund, a correction is just a discount on his favorite stocks. Kaul, who runs the $13.4 billion Fidelity Select Biotechnology Portfolio, said many drug companies’ research pipelines are still primed to pay off, and dealmaking isn’t going away. He expects the industry to bounce back over the next few years as new antibiotics, gene therapies and drugs for cancer and Alzheimer’s disease begin to reach the market. Kaul also manages the $3.3 billion Fidelity Advisor Biotechnology Fund.

Novavax Inc. was Tuesday’s worst performer on the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index as data from a mid-stage trial on the company’s respiratory vaccine failed to impress investors.

A rally in pharmaceutical stocks has made top managers at four biotechnology companies some of the highest-paid executives in the U.S. Hans Bishop, chief executive officer of Juno Therapeutics Inc., a Seattle-based developer of cancer therapies, was awarded salary, options and restricted shares in 2014 that were valued at $88.2 million as of year end, making him the 11th highest-paid executive in the U.S., according to the Bloomberg Pay Index, a daily ranking of the 100 top-paid executives. The awards were worth $7.3 million before the company’s initial public offering in December.