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development

Novartis buys another 2.5 percent in Israel’s Gamida Cell

Swiss drugmaker Novartis will invest up to an extra $15 million in Gamida Cell, an Israeli developer of stem cell therapies, Gamida said on Sunday. Novartis last year invested $35 million in the company for a 15 percent stake, in a deal that could reach $600 million if Novartis exercises a buyout option that expires in 2016. The $15 million investment will be used to advance Gamida Cell's clinical programs, including the development of NiCord, an experimental treatment for patients with high risk hematological malignancies, or blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma and sickle cell disease.

New UN development goals will drive nations ‘nuts:’ Indian economist

An Indian economist and member of a key government panel which formulates policy on social issues slammed the United Nations’ new development goals on Tuesday, saying that having so many goals and targets would drive governments “nuts”. World leaders are due to adopt a set of new development objectives in September, to replace eight expiring U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Although the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be finalised only in September, U.N. officials say member states have identified 17 goals and 169 targets.

Germany in push to encourage antibiotics development

By Ludwig Burger FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany is looking to encourage the development of more powerful antibiotics against the growing threat of drug-resistant superbugs, the country’s pharmaceutical industry association said on Wednesday. The health ministry in Berlin is to hold talks later this year with Germany’s pharma lobby VFA, which will propose loosely modeling any new rules for antibiotics on the so-called orphan drug status that is awarded to experimental treatments of rare diseases, VFA’s chairman Hagen Pfundner said.