Startup Scout 23 Jun 2017 This Newly Founded French Biotech is All About Vaccines This week we visited the biotech hub Lyon, where one of our top biotechs Imaxio has recently founded Osivax to advance the development of its innovative vaccine candidates. Mission: Osivax was formed as a spin-off of Imaxio’s R&D department and develops a number of clinical and preclinical vaccine candidates based on its OligoDOM technology. This approach fuses specific immunogenic domains to […] June 23, 2017 - 1 minutemin - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 22 Jun 2017 Novartis Scores Major Phase III Win with New Cardiovascular Drug Novartis just announced that its anti-inflammatory drug, canakinumab, was able to clear a 10,000-plus patient Phase III trial for cardiovascular disease. Novartis most recently boasted impressive Phase III results for its AMD drug, RTH258, that could yield the company a new blockbuster. Now, the Swiss drug maker announced that its cardiovascular drug, canakinumab, was able to meet its primary endpoint in […] June 22, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 21 Jun 2017 Video: Can Synbio Cure Malaria? – Fireside Chat with Oxitec’s CEO Hadyn Parry In our fireside chat with Hadyn Parry, Clara had the chance to hear all about Oxitec’s exciting technology that could save us from Dengue and Zika. Oxitec’s GM mosquitoes have the potential to halt epidemics of mosquito-borne diseases such as Zika or Dengue, which according to Hadyn are actually causing more problems every year. As Hadyn explained, “we’re […] June 21, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 21 Jun 2017 British Biotech Tops up its Cancer Pipeline with New TCR Therapy Cell Medica just acquired Catapult Therapy TCR, set up by UK’s CGT Catapult, gaining the rights to its TCR therapy candidate to treat solid tumors. Cell Medica says it’s all set to leverage its Dominant T cell receptor (TCR) platform technology, which the company licensed from University College London (UCL) last year, to enhance existing T cell […] June 21, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 Jun 2017 Novartis Tops Ophthalmology Blockbuster Eylea in Phase III Trials Bayer’s and Regeneron’s blockbuster Eylea could be facing serious competition, as Novartis boasts with positive Phase III results for AMD. Novartis has been struggling on the age-related macular degeneration (AMD) market since its Roche-partnered VEGF-A inhibitor Lucentis was outperformed by Eylea from Bayer and Regeneron, which required a less-frequent dosing schedule and was placed at a lower […] June 20, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 19 Jun 2017 Video: “Biotech is still in its Infancy” – Keynote by Boston’s Prominent Biotech VC We were very excited that David Berry, General Partner at Flagship Pioneering, opened Refresh earlier this month with a keynote on how far biotech has come. David has extensive experience in the biotech field and holds over 200 patents and patent applications. He has co-founded and helped build more than 20 companies during his time at […] June 19, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 16 Jun 2017 Meet the Swedish Biotech that is Set to Cure a Rare Kidney Disease This week we visited the Scandinavian summer and had a look at the Swedish biotech Oxthera, which is developing cell- and enzyme-based therapies to treat hyperoxaluria. Mission: Stockholm-based Oxthera is currently advancing two late-stage clinical products for the treatment of primary and secondary hyperoxaluria, a kidney disease that is caused by the build-up of oxalate in plasma […] June 16, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 15 Jun 2017 UK-based VC Launches Massive $300M Fund to Fill Gap for Late-Stage Biotech The UK-based VC Medicxi has raised a massive $300M (€268M) fund backed by Novartis and Google’s Verily to invest in late-stage drug development. After the former life science branch of famous Index Ventures went solo in 2016 and became Medicxi, the VC was able to raise a huge sum of €210M in its first round to support early-stage, single-asset […] June 15, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Jun 2017 French Hepatitis Cure is on Track with Positive Phase I Results Enyo Pharma has announced that its lead candidate EYP001, indicated for the treatment of hepatitis B, successfully cleared a Phase Ia trial. Enyo Pharma is one of the hottest biotechs in Lyon that is developing new treatments against viruses, including hepatitis B or severe influenza infections. Its key asset, EYP001, is a farnesoid X receptor (FXR) agonist indicated […] June 14, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 Jun 2017 German Biotech Raises €25M to Fuel Diagnostics of Rare Diseases Centogene has raised €25M in a Series A round to support the global expansion of its genome analysis platform, which is specialized in rare diseases. The German biotech Centogene is pioneering the development of genetic diagnostic tests to address the challenges of personalized medicine in order to match therapies more effectively to patients. Founded in 2005, the […] June 13, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 13 Jun 2017 Will Gene Editing Bypass the GMO Struggle or Worsen Public Distrust? In the US, the first CRISPR-edited crops were able to bypass GMO regulations, but Europe’s plant scientists are still awaiting the final go ahead. In April 2016, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) gave the green light to the first CRISPR-edited crops, a mushroom that has been engineered to resist browning and a waxy corn from […] June 13, 2017 - 6 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 12 Jun 2017 Norwegian Biotech Hits €21M in Private Placement for its Immunotherapies Targovax has raised €21M (NOK200M) in a private placement, which the biotech will use to fund data read-outs from clinical trials and CMC development. Targovax, based in Oslo, is developing a number of immunotherapies for treatment-resistant tumors. The biotech’s pipeline is based on its two platforms, ONCOS, an oncolytic virus, which is being developed to treat melanoma, […] June 12, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email