More News! 17 Oct 2019 Sofinnova Partners Raises €333M for its Newest Life Sciences-Focused Fund Sofinnova Partners, Europe’s largest VC focused on life sciences, has raised €333M to fund early-stage healthcare companies, bringing the total capital managed by the firm to €2B. Sofinnova Partners aims to invest around two-thirds of the new fund, called Sofinnova Capital IX, in European life science companies. The other third will be invested globally, with […] October 17, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 17 Oct 2019 Innate Pharma Raises €62M IPO to Develop Antibody Drugs for Cancer The French company Innate Pharma has raised a Nasdaq IPO of €62.1M ($68.8M) to fund the development of antibody immunotherapies for solid tumors and blood cancer. Innate Pharma’s lead candidate antibody monalizumab is being co-developed in phase II with AstraZeneca for the treatment of head and neck cancer and colorectal cancer. Monalizumab is a member […] October 17, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Oct 2019 GammaDelta Therapeutics Spins Out Cancer Immunotherapy Biotech The UK biotech GammaDelta Therapeutics has founded Adaptate Biotherapeutics to develop cancer immunotherapies based on antibodies that boost a rare type of immune cell. Adaptate Biotherapeutics is a spin-out of GammaDelta Therapeutics, a London company founded in 2016 that specializes in using a rare type of immune cells, known as gamma delta T-cells, to fight […] October 16, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Oct 2019 UK Firm Raises €51M to Repurpose Drugs for Rare Diseases Using AI The Cambridge-based artificial intelligence company Healx has raised a Series B round of €50.8M to launch an AI tool that reduces the time it takes to develop treatments for rare diseases by five years. The Series B round was led by the UK VC firm Atomico and includes the returning investor Jonathan Milner, the founder […] October 16, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 15 Oct 2019 German Cancer Virotherapy Biotech Launches with €12M Series A Abalos Therapeutics launches today with €12M in Series A funding to get the development of its arenavirus-based cancer therapies off the ground. Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Gründerfonds Ruhr co-led the investment round, with additional contributions from NRW.BANK and High-Tech Gründerfonds. Abalos, which is based in Essen, Germany, will focus on developing anti-cancer drugs with […] October 15, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 15 Oct 2019 Four New Technologies That Will Change Cancer Treatment New approaches to tame the immune system in the fight against cancer are getting us closer to a future where cancer becomes a curable disease. Personalized vaccines, cell therapy, gene editing and microbiome treatments are four technologies that will change the way cancer is treated. Curing cancer is certainly one of the big challenges of […] October 15, 2019 - 9 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 15 Oct 2019 Artificial Photosynthesis-Driven Chemical Plant Launched in Germany The German industrial giants Siemens and Evonik have launched a joint project to build and run a test plant to make valuable chemicals from water and waste carbon dioxide using bacteria — a process known as artificial photosynthesis. The test plant, which is currently under construction, will be based at Evonik’s site in Marl, Germany, […] October 15, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Oct 2019 Dutch Incubator Launched to Scale up Industrial Biotechs A collaboration involving the Dutch company DSM and other organizations in the Netherlands has launched Planet B.io, an incubator aimed at scaling up technology developed by industrial biotech startups such as the lab-grown meat developer Meatable. Planet B.io is based at the Biotech Campus Delft, the Netherlands, and contains a total of 3,000 m² of office […] October 14, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Oct 2019 Mogrify Raises €15M Series A to Chase the ‘Holy Grail’ of Cell Therapy Cambridge-based Mogrify has raised €14.5M to develop a technology that could allow scientists to transform any human cell into another cell type without the arduous process of turning them into a stem cell first. The Series A round was led by Ahren Innovation Capital, an investment firm founded by science entrepreneurs from the UK […] October 14, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 11 Oct 2019 RNA Therapy Improves Vision in Untreatable Genetic Blindness A phase I/II trial run by the Dutch company ProQR has found that its RNA therapy could significantly improve the vision of people with Leber’s congenital amaurosis, a rare genetic disease for which there is no treatment. The RNA drug, called sepofarsen, is designed to treat people with a specific mutation in a gene […] October 11, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 11 Oct 2019 This Biotech Is Developing a Stem Cell Therapy for Deafness Sheffield is one of the UK’s historic industrial bases. It also hosts the biotech Rinri Therapeutics, which is developing a stem cell therapy to treat deaf patients who are not eligible for cochlear implants. Mission: To develop a stem cell therapy for a rare form of deafness where the neuronal wiring underlying the auditory system […] October 11, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 10 Oct 2019 Update: BioNTech Files for €141M Nasdaq IPO BioNTech’s Nasdaq IPO has raised €141M ($155M), a lower sum than it initially anticipated. The timing of the IPO means it has likely been impacted by adverse market conditions, which are due to factors such as global manufacturing slowdowns and escalations in US and Chinese trade disputes. This same market volatility led several companies such […] October 10, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email