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
Interview 23 Aug 2021 Behind the Scenes at Novo Seeds: Building Startups from the Ground up Søren Møller, Managing Investment Director at Novo Seeds, discusses how the firm’s investment strategy has changed over time to support the creation of biotech startups in the Nordics. Søren Møller has a PhD in molecular biology from the Technical University of Denmark. After spending some time as a postdoc at Stanford University in the US […] August 23, 2021 - 9 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 19 Aug 2021 Chikungunya Vaccine First to Succeed in Phase III Trial In a significant step in the fight against tropical disease, the mosquito-borne viral disease chikungunya may become preventable with a new vaccine candidate from French biotech Valneva that just passed phase III trials. The results of the phase III trial revealed that a single dose of the live attenuated vaccine developed by Valneva induced the […] August 19, 2021 - 3 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Expert Advice 18 Aug 2021 How to Pitch Your Biotech Startup to a Life Sciences Investor You’ve got the idea. You’ve got the science. You’ve got the team. Now all you need is the money, but that can be a tricky step for a new biotech entrepreneur. In any field, getting in front of the right investors is a challenge of its own. Once you’re pitching, experienced investors and entrepreneurs say […] August 18, 2021 - 9 minutesmins - By Mark Zipkin Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 17 Aug 2021 Sanofi’s Translate Bio Buyout Shows Growing Hunger for mRNA Technology Sanofi’s acquisition of its partner Translate Bio is a clear sign that pharmaceutical companies are interested in messenger RNA technologies beyond Covid-19. Based in Boston, US, Translate Bio develops mRNA therapies for a range of conditions, including respiratory, liver, and infectious diseases. The company’s €2.7B ($3.2B) buyout, announced by Sanofi earlier this month, seems a […] August 17, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Mark Zipkin Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 16 Aug 2021 Plants Allow Astronauts to Make Medicines in Space As humans venture into deep space travel, plants might become essential to keep astronauts healthy on years-long trips to Mars. Astronauts have been taking medicines with them on space missions since the beginning of space travel. The crew on the Apollo 11 mission that landed on the Moon carried antibiotics, painkillers, nasal sprays, and sleeping […] August 16, 2021 - 7 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 12 Aug 2021 European Biotechs Fire up Deals to Develop Parkinson’s Treatments Last month, European biotechs Ipsen and AC Immune announced multi-million euro deals to acquire or license treatments for Parkinson’s disease. For some experts, this increasing interest in the brain disease with the fastest growing prevalence is long overdue. In July, Swiss company AC Immune bought assets and intellectual property for investigational Parkinson’s vaccines valued at […] August 12, 2021 - 4 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Opinion 11 Aug 2021 Investors Turn to Biotechnology for a Sustainable Future The next industrial revolution is going to be a bio-revolution. It has to be, given that the byproducts of the original industrial revolution created the major pollution problems we now have to solve. But alongside the fixes, we also need to feed and heal a growing population efficiently and sustainably. The bio-revolution is already well […] August 11, 2021 - 6 minutesmins - By External Contributor 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 6 Aug 2021 Artios’ €129M Series C Pushes Limits of DNA Repair in Cancer The UK firm Artios Pharma raised a huge Series C round last week in one of many efforts to develop cancer drugs that target the DNA repair systems of our cells. Artios Pharma bagged €129M (£110M) last week in a venture capital round led by the US-based firms Omega Funds and TCG X. The proceeds […] August 6, 2021 - 4 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 4 Aug 2021 Ditch the VC: Alternative Funding Options for Biotech Startups Getting money for a biotech startup can be a daunting task. Venture capital is not the only — and not always the best — option to fund a life sciences company. “A lot of entrepreneurs, particularly young first-time entrepreneurs, think venture capital is the only way to build up a company,” said Andreas Schmidt. Ten […] August 4, 2021 - 9 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 3 Aug 2021 Oral and Nasal Covid-19 Vaccines Hit Clinical Testing Oramed’s jab-free oral Covid-19 vaccine is one of many in the form of pills, powders, or sprays that may hit the market in the next few years, which could dramatically expand vaccine rollout and uptake. An Israeli team is preparing to start trials of what could be the first Covid-19 vaccine pill. The vaccine consists […] August 3, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email