More News! 19 Jul 2019 Mallinckrodt Teams up with UK RNAi Biotech in Deal Worth up to €553M The UK-based biotech Silence Therapeutics has signed a deal worth up to €553M ($693M) with the UK pharma company Mallinckrodt to develop RNA interference (RNAi) therapies for autoimmune diseases. Mallinckrodt will pay Silence Therapeutics €17.8M ($20M) upfront, and up to €600M ($673M) in developmental milestone payments. In exchange, it will get a license for an […] July 19, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 19 Jul 2019 This Biotech Breaks Down ‘Undruggable’ Proteins to Treat Cancer In the Polish city of Wrocław, Captor Therapeutics is developing cancer treatments that destroy disease-causing proteins. Mission: To develop cancer treatments able to degrade proteins that are normally outside the reach of traditional drugs, called the ‘undruggable proteome’. Small molecule drugs are able to target a small minority of proteins in the cell, such as […] July 19, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 19 Jul 2019 UK VC Medicxi Closes Third Fund with €400M to Boost European Biotech The UK-based venture capital investment firm Medicxi has closed its third fund, totaling €400M, to nurture early- and late-stage healthcare biotech companies in Europe. The firm will begin investing in the first beneficiary companies of this fund in the next few months. The big round was raised in just six weeks, and dwarfs Medicxi’s previous […] July 19, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 18 Jul 2019 Genmab’s Huge IPO Raises €450M to Develop Antibody Drugs The Danish biotech Genmab has made a big splash on the Nasdaq, raising a €450M ($506M) IPO to fuel its antibody drug programs in cancer, autoimmune diseases, and more. This IPO is one of the biggest in biotech history, behind the whopping €530M Nasdaq entry from US mRNA biotech Moderna last year. It’s also to […] July 18, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 18 Jul 2019 Swiss Pneumonia Antibiotic Abandoned in Phase III The Swiss biotech Polyphor has discontinued two phase III trials of its antibiotic for treating pneumonia after halting both trials due to safety concerns in May. The two phase III trials were testing Polyphor’s intravenous antibiotic murepavadin in hospitalized patients with pneumonia. In May, Polyphor halted the two trials due to an unexpectedly high incidence […] July 18, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 17 Jul 2019 Scientists in Belgium Cure Anthrax in Mice by Smashing Bacteria’s Armor Belgian researchers have developed a potential treatment for anthrax that breaks down the bacteria’s thick protein armor. Anthrax is a deadly type of bacteria famous for its use in terrorist attacks in 2001. Although anthrax infections can be treated with antibiotics, they can prove hard to treat when the bacteria are inhaled or ingested. Scientists […] July 17, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Jul 2019 Boehringer Ingelheim Acquires Cancer Vaccine Biotech in €325M Deal The German giant Boehringer Ingelheim has acquired the Swiss company AMAL Therapeutics and its cancer vaccine technology in a deal worth up to €325M. The deal includes €225M in upfront and developmental milestone payments, as well as up to €100M in undisclosed commercial milestone payments. AMAL’s vaccine development pipeline includes five preclinical programs. The lead […] July 16, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Opinion 16 Jul 2019 The Business of Biotech: What to Do When the S*#t Hits the Fan From CEO-itis to FDA-itis, the path of a biotech company is never dull. Whether the oft-repeated saying, “may you live in interesting times,” is a blessing or a curse depends entirely on your perspective. As a life science venture capital investor with close to 25 years of experience, I have encountered many unexpected and interesting […] July 16, 2019 - 5 minutesmins - By Antoine Papiernik Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 15 Jul 2019 Dutch-US Scientists Use Bacteria to Produce Graphene for Electronics An international group of researchers has made graphene more affordably and with a lower environmental impact than current chemical methods by using bacteria. Graphene is a very strong and conductive material that could revolutionize electronics and engineering. However, producing graphene in large quantities requires lots of energy and involves toxic chemicals, such as hydrazine, which […] July 15, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 15 Jul 2019 Gilead Pays Billions for Access to Galapagos’ Pipeline Gilead has launched a 10-year collaboration with the Belgo-Dutch biotech Galapagos, paying at least €4.5B ($5.1B) for commercial rights to Galapagos’s whole pipeline, including a phase III drug for pulmonary fibrosis. As part of the deal, Gilead will pay Galapagos €3.5B ($3.95B) upfront, with a further €1B ($1.1B) in equity investment. In return, Gilead gets […] July 15, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 12 Jul 2019 This Biotech Uses ‘Omics’ to Develop Treatments for Drug-Resistant Cancer Next time you travel to Barcelona, Spain, check out Aromics, a biotech that is using genomics and proteomics to develop treatments for cancers such as malignant mesothelioma, which can be caused by asbestos. Mission: To use omics technology to treat drug-resistant cancers, as well as to identify cancer biomarkers that could improve monitoring in clinical […] July 12, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 11 Jul 2019 Bayer Launches Israeli Company to Develop Viruses Against Crop Disease Bayer is backing the launch of the Israeli biotech Ecophage, which will develop environmentally friendly crop disease treatments based on bacteria-hunting viruses called bacteriophages. Bacteria can cause a range of diseases in crops, including blight and root rot. These infections are often hard to control because they happen faster than fungal infections. The treatments used […] July 11, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email