News and Trends 24 Oct 2019 British AI Firm Gets €9M Boost to Develop Drug-Discovery Tech London-based LabGenius has secured €8.9M in Series A funding, which the company plans to use to scale up its AI- and robotics-based drug development technology. LabGenius focuses on developing protein-based therapeutics using its ‘robot scientist’ EVA. “By transforming how these drugs are discovered, we have a shot at improving the lives of countless people,” said […] October 24, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 24 Oct 2019 German Alzheimer’s Drug Backed with €43M After Biogen’s Surprise Turnaround The German company Vivoryon Therapeutics has raised €43M on Euronext Amsterdam to fund a phase IIb trial of a drug that could slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by blocking toxic forms of the protein amyloid-beta. Vivoryon Therapeutics, previously known as Probiodrug, raised the money using a rights offering and a private placement on Euronext […] October 24, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 23 Oct 2019 Channeling the Power of AI into Personalizing Medicine Artificial intelligence has been much discussed of late, but will it really help us solve important problems like how to bring personalized medicine to as many patients as possible? Kate Hilyard, COO of Healx in Cambridge in the UK, believes it can. Getting a drug to clinical trials currently requires a large investment of both […] October 23, 2019 - 7 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 22 Oct 2019 Austrian Biotech Will Develop Viral Protein For Vaginal Infection The Austrian biotech company PhagoMed Biopharma is developing a viral protein that could one day treat the common condition bacterial vaginosis without disrupting the microbiome as traditional antibiotics do. The preclinical drug candidate is derived from a protein called an endolysin. Endolysins are made by bacteria-hunting viruses called bacteriophages and kill bacteria by rupturing the […] October 22, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 21 Oct 2019 Update: Abivax’s Ulcerative Colitis Drug Effective Long-Term Update (21/10/2019): An extension of French biotech Abivax’s phase IIa trial shows its treatment for the inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis has good efficacy after a year of treatment, with 75% of the screened patients remaining symptom-free. Of the 32 patients in the original phase IIa trial, 19 patients were treated with Abivax’s drug in […] October 21, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 18 Oct 2019 This Biotech Fights Autoimmune Disease with Rare Immune Cells We come to the biotech hub of Paris, France, where the biotech Ermium Therapeutics is developing treatments for autoimmune diseases that don’t suppress the whole immune system as current treatments do. Mission: To develop small molecule drugs for autoimmune conditions such as lupus by selectively blocking the activity of a rare type of immune cells […] October 18, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
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