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

Interview 23 Mar 2020

Riding the Wave of Cambridge Entrepreneurship

The University of Cambridge is world-famous, but unlike its US equivalent, the city isn’t as well known for its startup culture. Jason Mellad, CEO of StartCodon — a new accelerator based there — believes the area is a great place to set up a new biotech. “When I arrived in 2004, there were several people, […]

March 23, 2020 - 9 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

Expert Advice 11 Mar 2020

Why Women’s Health Can Be a Good Investment

Since the Hormone Replacement Therapy market was destroyed almost overnight in 2002 after side effects were reported by researchers, there has been a lot of caution about investing in companies with a focus on women’s health. Mary Kerr, CEO of KaNDy Therapeutics and NeRRe Therapeutics, knows this only too well, but has not let it […]

March 11, 2020 - 13 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 3 Mar 2020

Alnylam Gets Second RNAi Drug Approval from EMA

US biotech Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has succeeded in getting its second RNAi drug — for treatment of rare, inherited liver diseases — approved by the European Medicines Authority just months after achieving US FDA approval for the same drug. Alnylam are well known for being pioneers in the RNA interference space. The company achieved the first […]

March 3, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 2 Mar 2020

Evonetix Raises €27M Series B to Progress DNA Synthesis Technology

UK synthetic biology company Evonetix raised €27M in Series B funding to develop its fast DNA synthesis technology and produce a working prototype of the company’s desktop platform. New investor Foresite Capital, a US-based VC firm, led the round, although all the company’s earlier Series A investors, such as the tech-focused VC’s Draper Esprit and […]

March 2, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 26 Feb 2020

Bicycle Therapeutics Partners Genentech in Deal Worth €1.6B

UK biotech Bicycle Therapeutics will collaborate with Genentech, now part of the Roche Group, to develop novel cancer immunotherapies and take them to market. Genentech will pay €28M upfront to Bicycle, but if discovery, regulatory and commercial milestones are met then the deal could be worth up to €1.6B for the Cambridge-based company. Bicycle’s technology […]

February 26, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 24 Feb 2020

Adrenomed’s Antibody Drug Scores Hit in Phase II Septic Shock Trial

German biotech Adrenomed reports that its first-in-class antibody drug adrecizumab was well-tolerated by septic shock patients and met its primary goal in a phase II trial. The company says it will release more detailed trial data in a peer-reviewed paper later in the year, but states that patients given adrecizumab, as opposed to placebo, had […]

February 24, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 18 Feb 2020

OncoDNA Secures €19M to Progress Precision Cancer Treatment Technology

Belgian biotech OncoDNA has raised €19M in Series B funding to further develop its cancer diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making software. The funding was led by Vesalius Biocapital, a Luxembourg-based VC investor, Swiss VC firm Swisscanto Invest by Zürcher Kantonalbank, and Belgian VC company SFPI-FPIM. Early investors in the company such as CPH Bank also contributed […]

February 18, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

In Depth 11 Feb 2020

Why European Biotechs Should Look to China for Investment

Traditionally European biotechs have looked to the US for additional investment, but changes in the law and significant economic success in the country in recent years means that new opportunities are opening up in China that are ripe for exploitation. China has a massive population and a correspondingly large patient group. Homegrown science is pretty […]

February 11, 2020 - 8 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

Expert Advice 6 Feb 2020

Why a Big Pharma Background Can Give Biotech Leaders an Edge

Many biotech founders come straight from academia and may struggle with the new skill set that is required to run a company. Rob de Ree, CEO of Dutch biotech NorthSea Therapeutics, has a background in big pharma and medtech and believes his earlier experience was instrumental to his success as a biotech leader. After spending […]

February 6, 2020 - 11 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

Best in Biotech 28 Jan 2020

10 Scientists Behind Modern Biotech You Probably Don’t Know

The modern biotech industry is a multi-million euro business, but who are the Europeans behind the science that made the industry what it is today? Here are 10 scientists, engineers and healthcare professionals we think you should know about. Over the last 25 years, biotech has become a burgeoning worldwide industry. It only became the […]

January 28, 2020 - 8 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 16 Jan 2020

BioNTech Expands Cancer Portfolio With US Biotech Acquisition

German cancer specialist BioNTech will acquire US T-cell therapy biotech Neon Therapeutics in a deal worth €60M, both to expand its cancer therapy pipeline and establish a US base. The deal is expected to complete in the second half of 2020, after which Neon will operate as a subsidiary of BioNTech. BioNTech has arguably scooped […]

January 16, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

Expert Advice 15 Jan 2020

How to Spot a Biotech Winner: Investment Lessons from Sofinnova

Making one biotech a success is hard enough, but correctly predicting multiple winners is the bread and butter of Antoine Papiernik, Managing Partner of Sofinnova Partners, one of the biggest and most prosperous life science venture capital investors in Europe. Papiernik began his career in corporate finance. In 1995, he was working in investment in […]

January 15, 2020 - 10 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

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

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