News and Trends 30 Sep 2019 €20M Series A Launches Cancer Immunotherapy Biotech in Denmark The Danish company STipe Therapeutics has been launched with a €20M Series A to develop immunotherapy drugs that sensitize the innate immune system against cancer. STipe Therapeutics was spun out from Aarhus University, Denmark, last year with a small grant, and has now completed its full launch with this Series A. The round was co-led […] September 30, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 30 Sep 2019 Taking Your Product Forward Against All Odds Having to let go of your flagship product after years of development is not easy. Nor is fundraising for another product after a major partner backs out — a challenge that Angela Hildreth had to confront when she joined the British company Futura Medical as Finance Director last year. Angela Hildreth had never worked in […] September 30, 2019 - 5 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 27 Sep 2019 This Biotech Can Screen CAR T-Cells Using Only Light and Microfluidics Based in Cambridge, UK, Lightcast Discovery is developing microfluidics technology that automates cell screening experiments by using lasers. Mission: To automate cell screening experiments, such as those used when screening CAR T-cell immunotherapies. This would let companies test therapies in complex cell experiments, such as cell-to-cell interactions, which are difficult with traditional drug-screening tools. Cell […] September 27, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 26 Sep 2019 Positive Phase III Results for Narcolepsy Drug with Low Cardiovascular Risk The narcolepsy drug, developed by Irish company Jazz Pharmaceuticals, has a lower salt content than the current treatment Xyrem, making it more suitable for patients at risk of cardiovascular disease. In a 200-patient phase III trial that finished in July, Jazz Pharmaceutical’s experimental drug was able to reduce the number of cataplexy attacks and the […] September 26, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 Sep 2019 Danish Smallpox Vaccine Gets FDA Approval to Fight Bioterrorism A vaccine developed by the Danish company Bavarian Nordic has received FDA approval to prevent infections by monkeypox, as well as protect against the threat of a smallpox bioterror attack. This approval makes Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine the only approved vaccine in the world for preventing monkeypox, a rare viral infection that is similar to smallpox […] September 25, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 Sep 2019 German Biotech Will Develop Carbohydrate-Targeting Cancer Treatments The German startup Tacalyx has raised €7M in a seed round to fund the preclinical development of first-in-class carbohydrate-targeting antibody drugs for the treatment of cancer. The round was co-led by the Germany-based Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and the French VC firm Kurma Partners. Tacalyx will use the money to generate a lead candidate antibody […] September 25, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 24 Sep 2019 Rare Metal Could Turbocharge Cancer Light Therapies A team of European and Chinese researchers has developed a light-activated cancer therapy containing the rare metal iridium that could potentially activate the immune system against cancer. In a study published in Nature Chemistry, the drug killed multiple types of cancer cells in a dish when activated by red light. The study also revealed that […] September 24, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 24 Sep 2019 Lab-Grown Skin as Good as Skin Grafts for Burns at Phase III Mallinckrodt’s treatment made of artificial skin tissue called Stratagraft closed over 80% of second-degree burn wounds in a phase III trial, matching the effectiveness of skin grafts. Mallinckrodt recruited 71 patients with second-degree burns who were eligible for skin grafts into the trial. Each patient received the artificial skin graft on some areas of burned […] September 24, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 23 Sep 2019 AC Immune Gets €28M from Eli Lilly as Alzheimer’s Drug Hits Phase I AC Immune will receive €27.6M (CHF 30M) from big pharma Eli Lilly as it begins a phase I trial of its first-in-class Alzheimer’s disease drug. This is the first milestone payment in a deal worth up to €1.6B (CHF 1.7B), which Eli Lilly and AC Immune signed to develop drugs for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative […] September 23, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 23 Sep 2019 FDA Greenlights First Oral Version of Novo Nordisk’s Type 2 Diabetes Drug The first oral drug for type 2 diabetes belonging to the class of GLP-1 agonists, developed by Novo Nordisk, has got the go-ahead from the FDA. The Danish company is known for its blockbuster injectable drug in the same class — liraglutide — that is now one of the most highly prescribed drugs in the […] September 23, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 20 Sep 2019 This Biotech Targets Mitochondria to Treat Inherited Diseases As we come to the end of the global Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week, it’s time to visit Khondrion. This Dutch company is developing drugs to treat rare diseases such as MELAS syndrome by targeting defective mitochondria. Mission: To develop small molecule drugs able to treat Mitochondrial Encephalomyopathy, Lactic Acidosis, and Stroke-like episodes (MELAS) syndrome. This […] September 20, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 19 Sep 2019 Dutch ‘Electronic Nose’ Predicts Cancer Immunotherapy Success A diagnostic device measuring chemicals in the breath, developed by the Dutch company Breathomix, was able to identify lung cancer patients that wouldn’t respond to cancer immunotherapy with unprecedented accuracy. Researchers at the University of Amsterdam tested the device on 143 lung cancer patients, who were going to receive immunotherapy in the form of the […] September 19, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email