Spain's Zeltia Denies Biotech Sale Rumours

Spanish pharmaceuticals group Zeltia has denied claims in the local media that its biotechnology business PharmaMar is the subject of an attractive acquisition bid from an unidentified US or European firm.

The reports are the latest in a series of rumours surrounding PharmaMar, which have in the past linked the company to US healthcare major Johnson & Johnson and now Switzerland's Serono.

The Spanish firm has a number of cancer therapies in clinical development, which are mainly based on marine organisms. Promising products include ovarian cancer therapy Aplidin, as well as Yondelis, which entered Phase I trials early this year.