News and Trends 29 Aug 2019 Off-the-Shelf Kidney Cancer Immunotherapy More Than Doubles Recovery in Phase II An off-the-shelf cancer immunotherapy developed by the Swedish biotech Immunicum has eradicated kidney tumors in 11% of treated patients compared with just 4% of patients given standard treatments in a phase II trial. Immunicum is developing a cell immunotherapy to treat metastatic renal cell carcinoma. This advanced form of kidney cancer is particularly hard to […] August 29, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 28 Aug 2019 Type 1 Diabetes Immunotherapy Shows Promise in Phase I An immunotherapy designed by the Belgian biotech Imcyse to prevent type 1 diabetes has shown signs of clinical benefits and no major safety issues in a phase I trial. The phase I trial recruited 41 patients newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Imcyse injected the patients with different doses of its treatment and monitored the […] August 28, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 28 Aug 2019 Celgene and Immatics Sign Deal Worth Over €1.35B to Develop Cancer Immunotherapies The US company Celgene has obtained options to three cancer immunotherapy programs from the German biotech Immatics in a deal worth more than €1.35B ($1.5B). Immatics is to receive an upfront payment of €67.5M ($75M), along with up to €455M ($505M) in developmental milestones and royalties for each immunotherapy program. In each program, Immatics will […] August 28, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 27 Aug 2019 Swedish Ulcerative Colitis Treatment Makes Phase II Comeback InDex Pharmaceuticals’ ulcerative colitis drug candidate has achieved positive phase IIb results, suggesting work to improve its dosage after a previous phase III failure was successful. The Swedish company tested different doses of the small molecule drug cobitolimod against a placebo in patients with the inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis. The 213 patients in the […] August 27, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Best in Biotech 26 Aug 2019 15 Bioart Exhibitions to Check Out This Fall The beauty and complexity of biology makes it a fascinating subject for artists to explore. Here are 15 bioart exhibitions to check out that bask in the frontier of art and science. Science and art are often presented as opposites. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Creativity is essential for science to progress. […] August 26, 2019 - 8 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 22 Aug 2019 Two-Drug HIV Therapy Given Every 2 Months Proves Effective in Phase III An experimental HIV therapy being developed by GSK spinoff ViiV Healthcare in partnership with Janssen has proven it is as effective when given every two months as when given once a month. “For the first time since the AIDS epidemic started more than 30 years ago, our study has demonstrated that it is possible to […] August 22, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 22 Aug 2019 French Biotech Withdraws US Application for its Living Biocide The US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has stated it cannot grant registration to a biocide developed by Lyon-based company Amoéba for water treatment in cooling towers. Amoéba’s shares on Euronext Paris went down by 30% on Tuesday following the announcement. The biocide treatment consists of a live strain of amoeba called Willaertia magna C2c Maky. This […] August 22, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 22 Aug 2019 Austrian Vaccine Developer Signs Deal with MSD in ‘Blockbuster Indication’ Vienna-based Themis Bioscience will develop vaccine candidates against an undisclosed disease target in partnership with big pharma Merck Sharp & Dohme. As part of the agreement, MSD will provide research funding and make an equity investment in Themis Bioscience. In addition, Themis will be eligible to receive up to €200M in milestones, in addition to […] August 22, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 Aug 2019 Nabriva Therapeutics Gets FDA Green Light for Pneumonia Antibiotic The US FDA has approved Nabriva Therapeutics’ Xenleta for treating community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, the first in a new class of antibiotics developed to treat this condition. Xenleta, also known as lefamulin, was discovered almost 10 years ago by Nabriva Therapeutics, a spinout company from Novartis split between Austria, Ireland and the US. The approval is […] August 20, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Aug 2019 First Potential Chlamydia Vaccine Shows Early Promise A vaccine targeting the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia, which would be the first of its kind if approved, has proved safe and able to stimulate the immune system in a phase I trial. In the phase I trial, the vaccine was injected into 35 healthy women. Blood samples from the volunteers were then measured to […] August 16, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 16 Aug 2019 This Biotech Fights Alzheimer’s Disease by Targeting Support Brain Cells It’s time to go to London, UK, this week. The UK biotech AstronauTx is developing drugs that could slow the progress of Alzheimer’s disease by aiming at star-shaped cells in the brain called astrocytes. Mission: To develop small molecule drugs targeting astrocytes, whose inflammatory activity is linked to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease […] August 16, 2019 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 15 Aug 2019 Swiss Scientists Upgrade CRISPR to Edit Many Genes at Once A research group at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, has made it possible to edit hundreds of genes at once with CRISPR gene editing. CRISPR gene editing has revolutionized the biotech industry by providing an easy and quick way to genetically modify organisms. So far, however, CRISPR techniques have only managed to edit a maximum of seven […] August 15, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email