News and Trends 28 Oct 2021 DNA Manufacturing Startups Net Venture Capital Windfalls Touchlight Genetics and DNA Script have closed major venture financing rounds in the last month as investor excitement mounts over the next generations of DNA manufacturing. DNA Script made a big splash in Paris this week as it raked in €142M in Series C funding. The company will ramp up the commercialization of its benchtop […] October 28, 2021 - 6 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 25 Oct 2021 Biotech Startups Face a Growing Wave of Cyberattacks The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic last year triggered a wave of cyberattacks in the life sciences industry, and the problem is likely to get worse. Biotech startups need to improve their cybersecurity, but where should they start? In January 2020, it was time to open the champagne for Andrew Sewell, Professor of Infection and […] October 25, 2021 - 11 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 19 Oct 2021 Biotech VCs Face Funding Bulge Amid Struggling Stock Markets Despite volatile biotech stocks limiting options for exit, Sofinnova Partners’ latest €472M fund highlights ballooning European venture capital and its growing focus on early-stage biotech investments. Biotech fundraising broke records in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic swept the globe. This year seems set to continue biotech’s winning streak in private fundraising. One example is a […] October 19, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 12 Oct 2021 The Top European Biotech Investment Rounds in September Initial public offerings by European biotech companies were hot in September, and companies developing technologies including sequencing and bioinformatics received big private and public investments. Last month, European and Israeli biotech companies raised over €1.5B in 42 deals, which included initial public offerings (IPOs) and private financing rounds. This was more than triple the total […] October 12, 2021 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 21 Sep 2021 Europe’s Antibiotic Investments Stagnate As Resistance Crisis Looms Despite the urgent danger of antibiotic resistance, investments into European biotech antibiotic players have remained flat. However, growing regulatory and societal awareness could spell fresh investments in the coming years. Over the last decade, pressure has been mounting on healthcare systems as infectious microbes become harder and harder to fight with antibiotics. Some strains of […] September 21, 2021 - 7 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 10 Sep 2021 The Top European Biotech Funding Rounds in August UK and German companies led the European biotech funding race in August, specializing in cell therapy, diagnostics, and RNA-based treatments. With summer in full swing, August was a quieter month than July in terms of European biotech funding. Private biotechs in Europe and Israel — in addition to those going public in an initial public […] September 10, 2021 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 2 Sep 2021 AC Immune’s Mixed Phase II Results Buoy Alzheimer’s Research An Alzheimer’s disease drug developed by AC Immune and Genentech has drawn conflicting phase II results this week, raising tentative hopes for the field of treatments targeting the protein tau. For decades, the major culprit responsible for Alzheimer’s disease was suggested to be the buildup of a protein called amyloid-beta in the brain. Blocking this […] September 2, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 1 Sep 2021 Slow-Release Jab for Child Growth Hormone Deficiency Gets FDA Nod The FDA has given the green light to Danish company Ascendis Pharma for the first slow-release formulation that provides a weekly alternative to daily injections for children with growth hormone deficiency. For decades, patients with growth hormone deficiency have required tedious daily hormone injections to stave off the effects of the rare condition, including slow […] September 1, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 24 Aug 2021 UK Venture Round Shines Spotlight on Europe’s Psychedelics Scene The UK has cemented its position as a European hub for psychedelics research following a €68.5M ($80M) Series B round from the startup Beckley Psytech. The Oxford-based Beckley Psytech — founded in 2019 to develop psychedelic treatments for neurological conditions — had originally set the target of its venture capital financing at €43M ($50M). Earlier […] August 24, 2021 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 10 Aug 2021 The Top European Biotech Funding Rounds in July Nordic biotechs yielded some of Europe’s biggest biotech funding rounds in July, as did developers of cultured meat and other protein alternatives. July saw a continuing buzz of biotech fundraising activity in Europe. In the venture capital arena, the investors Sofinnova and Panakès Partners closed new funds to target life sciences companies, including those in […] August 10, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 26 Jul 2021 Europe’s TCR Therapy Scene Gains Traction with €40M Series B Swedish firm Anocca’s fundraising is the first major venture capital round to go to a European TCR therapy developer this year; another sign that the technology is gaining momentum. Last year was a busy one for companies developing cell therapies for cancer based on engineering T-cell receptors (TCRs), known as TCR or TCR-T cell therapies. […] July 26, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 8 Jul 2021 The Top European Biotech Funding Rounds in June While oncology and psychedelics dominated European biotech’s biggest funding rounds last month, startup seed financing focused more on gene therapy and drug discovery. Last month saw some momentous events for Europe’s biotech heavyweights. GSK paid an impressive €524M ($625M) upfront to co-develop an immuno-oncology candidate with iTeos Therapeutics in Belgium. Meanwhile, the German antibody drug […] July 8, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email