Victor Kotsev, Author at Labiotech.eu

About

Victor Kotsev is a reporter-at-large. He does all things business, technology, and international politics, with a special focus on health and biotech. He has spent most of the 2010s covering the Balkans and the Middle East for the likes of USA Today, Globe and Mail, and Fast Company, primarily out of Istanbul.

Articles by Victor Kotsev

News and Trends 1 Oct 2020

Medicxi to Shake up the Biotech VC Investment Model with €200M Fund

UK-based investment firm Medicxi aims to attract more investors to the life sciences with a new fund that lets them cash in on their investments earlier than conventional funds. Last week, Medicxi closed a €200M fund called Medicxi Secondary 1 (MS1), which was co-led by the UK’s Pantheon and Switzerland’s LGT Capital Partners. The aim […]

October 1, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev

News and Trends 14 Aug 2020

Record Funding for Gene and Cell Therapy Accompanies Turbulent Times

European companies developing advanced therapies such as gene and cell therapies secured at least €2.2B ($2.6B) in the first half of 2020. While this is encouraging in the face of Covid-19, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for all startups in the field, with many struggling to stay afloat during crippling national lockdowns. The funding received […]

August 14, 2020 - 5 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev

News and Trends 5 Aug 2020

Oxford Nanopore’s Portable Covid-19 Test Launched in UK

UK biotech Oxford Nanopore has launched a portable test that can detect both Covid-19 and seasonal flu viruses in saliva or swabs in a little over an hour. The quick output of Oxford Nanopore’s test, called LamPORE, is expected to be a huge improvement on existing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, considered the gold standard […]

August 5, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev

News and Trends 30 Jul 2020

Llama-Derived Nanobodies Join the Fight Against Covid-19

Newly-launched Belgian startup ExeVir Bio will develop ‘nanobodies’ that bind very precisely to key areas of the Covid-19 virus and other coronaviruses after raking in €23M in Series A. Based in Ghent, Belgium, ExeVir Bio is a spin-out of the research institute VIB established with the help of life sciences investor Fund+. Other investors include […]

July 30, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev

News and Trends 29 Jul 2020

Covid-19 Forces Gene Therapy Companies to Shift Strategy

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, gene therapy companies are suffering, with clinical trials delayed and investors remaining cautious in an increasingly volatile market. Yet many have set their sights on what could potentially turn into a gold mine: applying their technology to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. The UK’s Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult […]

July 29, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev

coronavirus COVID 19 Europe biotech lungs

News and Trends 22 Jul 2020

Inhaled Treatment Reduces Severe Covid-19 Risk by 79%

An experimental Covid-19 treatment that is delivered directly to the lungs via a nebulizer reduced the risk of mortality and the need for mechanical ventilation in a phase II trial. In the trial, the lead candidate of UK-based biotech Synairgen drove down by 79% the risk of severe disease symptoms such as requiring mechanical ventilation […]

July 22, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev

News and Trends 16 Jul 2020

European Biotech Stocks Shine Amid 2020 Market Slump

As the Covid-19 pandemic leads us to the worst financial crisis in decades, normally volatile biotech stocks are outperforming most other sectors of the economy. Experts say this trend is likely to continue. Financial markets are in flux and according to a recent study by the Boston Consulting Group, the global economic slump caused by […]

July 16, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev

News and Trends 14 Jul 2020

Amryt Makes Nasdaq Debut to Fund Rare Disease Treatments

UK-based biopharmaceutical Amryt Pharma has listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market in a move to increase its US presence as it commercializes treatments for rare diseases such as the skin condition epidermolysis bullosa. The company did not raise any extra capital by releasing new shares in this debut, as is typical for most listings. But it […]

July 14, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev

News and Trends 9 Jul 2020

€18M to Fund First-in-Class Systemic Sclerosis Drug

One of the largest biotech placements in the Nordic countries this year will accelerate the development of a first-in-class drug for chronic inflammation conditions such as systemic sclerosis that lacks the cardiovascular risks of current medications such as aspirin. Swedish biotech Gesynta Pharma raised €18.2M (SEK 190M) in a placement supported by returning investor Industrifonden […]

July 9, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev

News and Trends 8 Jul 2020

Remdesivir Becomes the First Covid-19 Treatment Approved in Europe

Remdesivir has received a one-year conditional marketing authorization from the European Commission due to the urgency of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has infected at least 2.5 million people in Europe, and killed more than 500,000. The intravenous drug, manufactured by US pharma company Gilead Sciences, is intended for adults and children over the age of […]

July 8, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev

News and Trends 3 Jul 2020

Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine Shows Phase I Promise

A vaccine made out of messenger RNA (mRNA), developed by the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, has produced antibodies against the Covid-19 pathogen in healthy volunteers. The results come from an interim analysis of an ongoing phase I clinical trial in 45 participants. So far, all test subjects who received two […]

July 3, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev

News and Trends 26 Jun 2020

UK Loosens Controls on GW’s Cannabinoid Epilepsy Drug

A cannabinoid medication marketed by GW Pharmaceuticals for the treatment of severe forms of epilepsy will be more easily available to patients in the UK after the drug was moved to the least strict classification by the country’s Home Office. The medication — branded as Epidyolex in the EU and Epidiolex in the US — […]

June 26, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev

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