Interview 23 Nov 2020 CDMOs Are the Unsung Heroes of the Gene and Cell Therapy Revolution Cell and gene therapy is booming amid the ongoing pandemic, and this is driving up demand for synthetic DNA products, often produced and delivered by CDMOs. Karen Fallen started her career at Celltech Biologics in the UK, which was acquired in 1996 by Swiss giant Lonza, a world leader in the pharmaceutical manufacturing space. She […] November 23, 2020 - 5 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 Nov 2020 Breakthroughs in Decentralized Testing Could Contain Covid-19 Hospital facilities in Europe are being pushed to their limits as the Covid-19 pandemic continues into winter. Coronavirus testing that doesn’t require a central lab is now arriving on the scene, and it could be the solution to effectively monitor and contain the disease. Despite the recent announcements of promising phase III data on Covid-19 […] November 20, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Kostas Vavitsas Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 19 Nov 2020 mRNA Stocks Soar with Final Results of BioNTech’s Covid-19 Vaccine The field of messenger RNA therapeutics is flying high as BioNTech and Pfizer conclude a phase III trial with their Covid-19 vaccine showing 95% effectiveness. The phase III trial recruited over 43,000 volunteers to gauge whether Covid-19 infections could be prevented by a vaccine made out of messenger RNA (mRNA). One group received two doses […] November 19, 2020 - 6 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Nov 2020 Innate Immunity in Cancer Gains Recognition with Affimed’s €1.8B Deal Last week’s €1.75B deal between the German biotech Affimed and Swiss giant Roivant backs up an emerging trend of harnessing our innate immune system to treat cancer. According to the deal’s terms, Affimed will receive €51M upfront to license to Roivant a preclinical-stage antibody drug for several undisclosed types of cancer. Roivant will handle the […] November 16, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Best in Biotech 16 Nov 2020 12 Biotech-Themed Online Courses to Try at Home During Lockdown With national lockdowns forcing millions to stay home in the Covid-19 era, this could be a big opportunity to take an online course about the biotech industry and how to run a business in this exciting field. Over the past decade, universities have started offering courses on online platforms such as Coursera and FutureLearn that are […] November 16, 2020 - 8 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 11 Nov 2020 GMO Regulations in Europe Are “Not Fit for Purpose” The controversial decision by the European courts in 2018 to regulate gene-edited organisms as GMOs has had a damaging effect on biotech companies working in this area. The current GMO regulations were established in Europe in 2001 and were designed to strictly regulate the introduction of DNA from other species into animals and plants. These […] November 11, 2020 - 8 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Reports 11 Nov 2020 Navigating the Immunotherapy Maze Today, the global immunotherapy drugs market is valued at €139B ($163B) and is estimated to reach a staggering value of €149.3B ($174.6B) by 2025. Without a doubt, it is a flourishing field with new research emerging as you read. Discover now how antibodies, T cells, and exosomes are changing the immunotherapy field! While antibodies have […] November 11, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Larissa Warneck-Silvestrin Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 9 Nov 2020 Gene Drives: A Controversial Tool to Fight Malaria The advent of CRISPR gene editing has enabled the creation of gene drives, a technology that can increase the odds of a certain gene being inherited. While the technology could help us tackle malaria and control invasive species, the scientific community is divided on whether it is ethical. The possibility of creating gene drives was […] November 9, 2020 - 12 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 4 Nov 2020 The Return of Gene Therapy Gene therapy is a hot area in the biotech industry right now, with many treatments in development and a number of recent approvals. However, the path has not always been a smooth one. Gene therapy has been one of the biggest success stories of the 21st century. Genetic diseases were once seen as incurable, etched […] November 4, 2020 - 8 minutesmins - By Farhan Mitha Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 3 Nov 2020 Kiadis’ Natural Killer Cell Therapies Earn €308M Acquisition by Sanofi The French big pharma Sanofi has offered €308M to acquire the Dutch firm Kiadis Pharma and get hold of cancer cell therapies based on a type of immune cells called natural killer cells. The offer comes not long after Sanofi inked a deal worth up to €857.5M to license a preclinical-stage cancer cell therapy from […] November 3, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 2 Nov 2020 Synthetic Biology: The Next Step in the Cannabinoid Revolution The recent relaxation of cannabis legislation in Canada, many parts of the US, and several European countries has attracted a lot of investment. While most endeavors focus on extracting cannabinoid compounds from cannabis plants, there’s a growing interest in producing them using engineered microbes. Nehtaji Gallage was first acquainted with cannabinoids when she was a […] November 2, 2020 - 6 minutesmins - By Kostas Vavitsas Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 30 Oct 2020 Bayer’s AskBio Acquisition Strong Statement For Gene Therapy in Europe This week, German big pharma Bayer announced a €3.5B takeover of Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, a well known US gene therapy specialist. This is only one of many examples of the funding windfall experienced by the gene therapy field in 2020. Despite the difficulties posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, 2020 has been a good year for gene […] October 30, 2020 - 6 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email