News and Trends 1 Oct 2021 Novo Nordisk Foundation Pumps €85M into Carbon Capture Research As pressure mounts to tackle climate change, the Danish Novo Nordisk Foundation has granted €84.7M to the world’s first research institution dedicated to capturing carbon dioxide from the air and harnessing the gas as a raw material. The new Novo Nordisk Foundation CO2 Research Center has the mission to efficiently capture, store, and recycle the […] October 1, 2021 - 6 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 15 Sep 2021 UK Startup Surfs Investment Wave in Microbiome with €18M Series A As increasing attention turns to microbiome-based therapeutics, the Scottish biotech Enterobiotix has closed a Series A fundraising to potentially treat a myriad of medical conditions by improving gut health. Last week, EnteroBiotix raised €18M (£15.5M) in Series A funding to further develop a pill to restore the patient’s gut microbiome to a healthy state using […] September 15, 2021 - 4 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 12 Aug 2021 European Biotechs Fire up Deals to Develop Parkinson’s Treatments Last month, European biotechs Ipsen and AC Immune announced multi-million euro deals to acquire or license treatments for Parkinson’s disease. For some experts, this increasing interest in the brain disease with the fastest growing prevalence is long overdue. In July, Swiss company AC Immune bought assets and intellectual property for investigational Parkinson’s vaccines valued at […] August 12, 2021 - 4 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 6 Aug 2021 Artios’ €129M Series C Pushes Limits of DNA Repair in Cancer The UK firm Artios Pharma raised a huge Series C round last week in one of many efforts to develop cancer drugs that target the DNA repair systems of our cells. Artios Pharma bagged €129M (£110M) last week in a venture capital round led by the US-based firms Omega Funds and TCG X. The proceeds […] August 6, 2021 - 4 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 30 Jul 2021 British Diagnostics Biotech Becomes Social Enterprise After Acquisition UK rapid diagnostics company Mologic will convert into a social enterprise after being acquired by a group of philanthropic funds and investors, in what experts predict may become an increasingly popular trend. The British biotech Mologic will entirely reinvest any profits into widening global access to affordable medical technology after being acquired in a deal […] July 30, 2021 - 4 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Jul 2021 Multi-Million UK Life Sciences Initiative Welcomed By VC Firms Biotech venture capital firms across Europe have warmly received the launch of a €235M (£200M) UK government initiative to support the growth of promising late-stage life sciences companies. The UK’s Life Sciences Investment Programme opened to applications from fund managers this month, with the aim of providing €235M in late-stage capital and attracting at least […] July 16, 2021 - 4 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 12 Jul 2021 Sofinnova Taps into Italian Gene Therapy with Three Seed Financings The French investor Sofinnova Partners has injected a total of €6M into three Italian gene therapy companies, cementing Italy’s reputation as a European center for cell and gene therapies. Last month, the venture capitalist Sofinnova Partners used its Telethon fund to inject cash into AAVantgarde Bio, Borea Therapeutics, and Alia Therapeutics. The three firms will […] July 12, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 2 Jul 2021 Poxel’s Diabetes Drug Wins Japan Nod, But Competition Remains Fierce As French biotech Poxel marks the first market approval of its oral type 2 diabetes medication in Japan, eyes turn to the future of this drug and its rivals in Europe and the US. The fortunes of the Lyon-based Poxel have been boosted by the first-ever regulatory approval of its oral type 2 diabetes medication […] July 2, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 15 Jun 2021 Patent Waiver on Covid-19 Vaccines Splits Opinions in Biotech Industry Attempts to increase global Covid-19 vaccine coverage with a temporary patent waiver have been met with hostility from many big pharma and biotech companies, but some smaller players welcome the idea. With the Covid-19 pandemic still rampaging through many countries and new viral variants popping up with alarming regularity, scuffles over who holds intellectual property […] June 15, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 May 2021 EU Approves Edible Insects for Humans but Roadblocks Remain Europe is seeing a surge of interest in edible insect farming after an EU vote earlier this month greenlit the first insect-derived food product for human consumption. But insect protein pioneers still face other obstacles such as restrictions on what insects can be fed. The approval went to dried yellow mealworm developed by French-based biotech […] May 20, 2021 - 6 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 4 May 2021 Bluebird Bio Withdrawal Raises Gene Therapy Doubts in Europe Last month, the US firm bluebird bio abandoned the sale of its gene therapy Zynteglo in Germany after a pricing dispute with health authorities — a blow that could have repercussions for the rollout of other gene therapies in Europe. Zynteglo was approved in the EU in 2019 as the first-ever gene therapy for the […] May 4, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 Apr 2021 Pandemic Boosts Diagnostics Field with High Revenues and Acquisitions The US medtech firm Hologic has bought the Finnish-French biotech Mobidiag for around €668M in the latest of a series of mergers, acquisitions, and stock market launches taking over the diagnostics market. Hologic’s move is the latest in a flurry of activity from the women’s health specialist, which has snapped up Diagenode in Belgium, Biotheranostics […] April 20, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email