Helen Albert, Author at Labiotech.eu

About

Freelance science and health journalist with lots of experience writing about all aspects of life sciences and biotech. Recovering geneticist and evolutionary biologist. I am half German and half British and spend most of my time in Berlin while not hiding out in the Norfolk countryside in the UK. When not writing or editing, I like to spend my time taking photos, knitting, reading fiction, eating and making good food and travelling (when global conditions allow!).

Articles by Helen Albert

Genomics partner Vertex big genomic data

News and Trends 31 Aug 2018

Vertex Partners Oxford Genome Analysis Firm To Develop New Personalized Therapies

Genomics, a company using machine learning to analyze genetic data, is partnering with precision medicine specialists Vertex Pharmaceuticals to develop new therapies in a 3-year collaboration. The agreement marks the closing of the Oxford-based company’s €28M (£25M) series B fundraising round, as Vertex has also invested €11.7M (£10.5M) in Genomics. If the collaboration is successful […]

August 31, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 30 Aug 2018

First RNAi Drug Approved in Europe After 20 Years of Research

The first ever RNA interference (RNAi) drug, used to treat polyneuropathy in patients with hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis, has been given marketing approval by the European Commision. The approval follows that of the US FDA who gave the green light to US biotech Alnylam Pharmaceutical’s Onpattro (patisiran) earlier this month following positive Phase III findings in […]

August 30, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 29 Aug 2018

Women’s Health Biotech Raises €28M to Fund Phase II Menopause Drug Trial

UK-biotech KaNDy Therapeutics closed a £25M (€28M) series C round to help finance the upcoming Phase IIb trial of its lead candidate for treating symptoms of the menopause. Unlike other therapies aimed at treating the same symptoms, KaNDy’s drug (NT-814) is not based on hormone replacement therapy, which can take a long time to be […]

August 29, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 29 Aug 2018

Affimed Collaborates with Genentech in Cancer Immunotherapy Deal Worth €4.4B

The German biotech will partner with Genentech, part of the Roche Group, to develop targeted cancer therapies that engage both innate and adaptive immune cells. Affimed will receive €82M ($96M) upfront from the US giant to develop its immunotherapy ROCK (Redirected Optimized Cell Killing) platform, which uses both natural killer cells and T-cells to target […]

August 29, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

More News! 24 Aug 2018

Shire gets US market approval for rare inflammatory disease drug

The UK-US biotech giant’s drug Takhzyro has been approved by the FDA to prevent attacks of hereditary angioedema, a rare genetic disease that causes swelling around the body. Hereditary angioedema is a potentially life threatening genetic condition that people can inherit from either of their parents. Takhzyro (lanadelumab-flyo) is a first-in-class monoclonal antibody drug that […]

August 24, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 22 Aug 2018

Swedish Biotech Breaks Barrier to Diagnosis with Rheumatoid Arthritis Test

A blood test developed by Swedish-biotech Immunovia and scientists from Linköping University accurately diagnoses patients with rheumatoid arthritis even if they test negative for two common biomarkers. The current gold standard test for rheumatoid arthritis, which affects 5-7 million people in the US and Europe, misses a substantial number of people who have the condition. […]

August 22, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

sea view plus seaweed marine biofuel news

More News! 22 Aug 2018

Producing Cost-Effective and Eco-Friendly Biofuel With Seawater

UK researchers have developed a technique for making bioethanol from seawater, which they hope will make production of the biofuel cheaper and more environmentally friendly than current methods. At present, bioethanol production uses very large amounts of freshwater – 1000-10,000 liters water per 1 liter bioethanol. They also require large amounts of plant biomass to […]

August 22, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

Best in Biotech 20 Aug 2018

Here are our 10 favorite biotech books you should read this summer

Here is a list of our 10 best biotech books for you, ranging from new and classic popular science to science fiction, as selected by the team at Labiotech. The summer is sadly coming to a close very soon, but we wanted to provide you with a bit more Labiotech entertainment for its last few weeks. I […]

August 20, 2018 - 9 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

Agriculture field mulch film biodegradable plastic

More News! 26 Jul 2018

Plastic Type Key to Eco-Friendly Breakdown by Soil Microbes

Swiss research shows that bacteria and fungi in the soil are able to comprehensively break down some types of plastic, but not others. Thin plastic ‘mulch’ films are commonly used by farmers on fields to prevent weeds, but it is often extremely difficult to collect these films after they have been used. “While plastic that […]

July 26, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

Interview 28 Jun 2018

The Race to Get CRISPR to the Clinic: Hope Versus Hype

In 2016, German pharma giant Bayer took a bold step and decided to partner with CRISPR Therapeutics to form a company that could join the race to be first into the clinic with a CRISPR therapy. Peter Nell worked at Bayer for many years and was one of the founding team of Casebia Therapeutics. Now […]

June 28, 2018 - 7 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 22 Jun 2018

Radiotherapy-Enhancing Cancer Nanomedicine Secures Good Phase II/III Results

A nanomedicine designed to help amplify and focus radiation treatment on hard to treat soft tissue sarcoma cells has achieved positive Phase II/III trial results for French-American biotech Nanobiotix. “Data are exceptional and show without any doubt an improvement of radiation therapy impact,” commented Sylvie Bonvalot, Head of Sarcoma and Complex Tumor Surgery Unit at […]

June 22, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 12 Jun 2018

Spider Silk Shows Promise in Vaccine Field

Swiss and German scientists have engineered spider-silk microparticles that can be used to protect a vaccine particle, allow it to enter immune cells and trigger T-cell immunity without toxic effects. The team, partnered by AMSilk — the German biotech behind Adidas’ biodegradable shoes, hopes their technique will allow more targeted and stable vaccines against difficult targets […]

June 12, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

Resources

Categories

The twelve hottest biotech companies in the Boston area

Biotech bankruptcies: what to expect in 2024 following a record year?

Approaches

Therapeutic areas

RNA editing set to take off: could it outperform gene editing?

Future of cancer treatment: what will therapy look like in 2034?

R&D

BD

World biotech leaders

Connect with decision-makers and researchers worldwide for collaborative opportunities

Company

Join Us

Subscribe to our newsletter

Advertise with us