News and Trends 11 Mar 2020 Update: Carmat’s Artificial Heart Reaches Two Year Milestone Update (11/03/2020): In a record first, Carmat announced today that one patient in its artificial heart trial has had the device implanted for 2 years. “Passing a two-year period of individual functioning is very encouraging, and confirms the capacity of our device to provide long-term support, which is one of our two key objectives along […] March 11, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 6 Mar 2020 This Startup Is Developing a DIY Biomarker Diagnostics Kit The Swedish medical device startup Qlife is developing a diagnostic kit that patients can use at home to better control chronic diseases. Mission: To make convenient diagnostics for patients with a home-use kit that they can use to monitor blood biomarkers in chronic conditions such as arthritis. Chronic disorders such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes […] March 6, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 5 Mar 2020 Drug Development Costs Lower Than Pharma Companies Claim A team of UK and Belgian scientists has reported that drug companies spend up to €1.3B less on drug development than previously suggested, which raises questions about high drug prices set by some biotech and pharma companies. The study, published in the journal JAMA, took publicly available data from pharma company financial reports with the […] March 5, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 28 Feb 2020 This Startup Is Automating the Manufacture of Gene and Cell Therapies In London, the firm Ori Biotech is developing an automated way to manufacture gene and cell therapies, a bottleneck for many biotech companies. Mission: To develop a robotic system to automate the labor-intensive tasks involved in manufacturing cell and gene therapies, such as gene transduction and cell expansion. Gene and cell therapies are maturing as […] February 28, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 27 Feb 2020 Scientists Connect Brain Cells to Machines Over the Internet An international group of researchers has set up a brain-machine interface between cultured nerve cells and electronic chips linked over the internet, which could lead to the development of AI implants for treating neurological disorders. As described in a study published in Nature Scientific Reports, the team set up a system where cultured rat nerve […] February 27, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 26 Feb 2020 French Startup Raises €6M to Develop Cheap Single-Cell Sequencing Kits Scipio bioscience has raised €6M in a Series A round to launch cost-effective single-cell RNA sequencing kits, which could have big potential in profiling cells for research and clinical diagnostics. The round was led by M Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Merck. Other investors in the round included Seventure Partners’ seed fund Quadrivum […] February 26, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 Feb 2020 European Researchers to Make Light Bulbs using Bacteria A team of scientists from Austria, Spain, and Italy is working to make LED light bulbs out of proteins produced by bacteria. Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, are widely seen as a key tool for making lighting eco-friendly because they are more energy-efficient than traditional bulbs. However, the coatings of these devices — designed to absorb […] February 25, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 Feb 2020 Update: Janssen and Maze Jump on Board Finnish Genomics Project Update (25/02/2020): Janssen and the US company Maze Therapeutics are the latest pharma companies to sign up as partners in the public-private genomics collaboration FinnGen. FinnGen’s pharma partners now total 11, including Sanofi and GSK, which joined early last year. Published 23/01/2019: Sanofi and GSK have joined up with a project collecting genomic and health […] February 25, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 21 Feb 2020 This Startup is Developing Anti-Aging Antibodies The Heidelberg-based startup Velabs Therapeutics aims to make anti-aging drugs that selectively destroy ‘aged’ cells in the body. Mission: To develop antibody drugs using microfluidics technology that can kill old or ‘senescent’ cells, which have been linked to the development of age-related conditions such as cardiovascular disease, dementia, and macular degeneration. While there are various […] February 21, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 Feb 2020 Immatics Partners GSK in Deal Worth €1B to Develop Cancer Therapies The German biotech Immatics will partner with GSK and could receive more than €1B from the big pharma for developing cancer immunotherapies based on engineered immune T-cells. Immatics will collaborate with GSK to develop two T-cell therapies that express a protein engineered to detect cancer antigens and kill cancer cells. In return, Immatics will receive […] February 20, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 19 Feb 2020 Belgian Biotech Raises €50M to Make Gene Therapy Manufacturing Cheaper An equity investment worth up to €50M will push to market Univercells’ manufacturing technology, which is designed to reduce the costs of viral vector production for gene therapies. The investment comes from Gamma Biosciences, an investment platform supported by the US investor KKR. Gamma Biosciences aims to acquire and invest in businesses developing gene and […] February 19, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 17 Feb 2020 UK Biotech Closes €50M Series A for GPCR Drug Discovery Oxford-based OMass Therapeutics has extended its Series A round by €33M to fund the spectrometry-assisted development of drugs targeting G protein-coupled receptors. OMass Therapeutics’s Series A initially raised €17M in late 2018. The new funds bring this up to €50M (£41.5M). Investors in the most recent fundraise included the UK VC firm Syncona — which […] February 17, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email