News and Trends 18 Jun 2019 Dutch Biotech Boosts Hepatitis B Vaccine Effectiveness Phase II results from Dutch biotech CyTuVax show its enhanced hepatitis B vaccine reduces non-responders by 13%. Around 15% of people receiving vaccines for hepatitis B fail to produce antibodies that protect them against the infection. These non-responders are often given more injections of the vaccine in an attempt to trigger the immune system, but […] June 18, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 17 Jun 2019 Swiss Anti-Aging Treatment Gives the Elderly Healthier Muscles An anti-aging dietary supplement developed by the Swiss biotech Amazentis to combat age-related muscle weakening has improved the health of muscle cells in a first-in-human study. Mitochondria are parts of the cell that generate energy, and are important for muscle movement. As we age, damaged mitochondria begin to build up in muscle cells, possibly contributing […] June 17, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Jun 2019 First Gene Therapy for Beta Thalassemia Will Cost Over €1.5M Zynteglo, a gene therapy developed by the US company bluebird bio for the treatment of beta-thalassemia, will cost European healthcare systems more than €1.5M per patient. Following the approval of the treatment earlier this month, bluebird bio has now released the pricing plan of Zynteglo. Healthcare systems in Europe will need to pay €315,000 upfront, […] June 14, 2019 - 1 minutemin - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Jun 2019 French Biotech Raises €20M to Prevent Hearing Loss The hearing loss biotech Sensorion has issued bonds to raise €20M, which it will use to fund the phase II development for first-in-class drugs treating hearing loss and severe vertigo. The money will pay for phase II trials of Sensorion’s two most advanced treatments, which are small molecule drugs to treat sudden deafness and acute […] June 14, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 14 Jun 2019 This Biotech Reduces Drug Side Effects Using Silica Gel Implants DelSiTech is a Finnish company developing injectable silica gel implants that release drugs slowly over time, causing fewer side effects and helping patients stick to their treatment regimen. Mission: To develop silica gels that slowly release drugs over time to treat conditions including HIV, hepatitis B, retinal disease and cancer. One big problem in chronic […] June 14, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 Jun 2019 French Startup to Produce Sustainable Textile Dyes Using Microbes Paris-based PILI has raised €3.6M that will take its technology to produce dyes through microbial fermentation to an industrial scale. Founded in 2015, PILI seeks to disrupt the unsustainable production of dyes. Just in the textile industry, dyes are a €8B market. However, the production of these chemicals relies on petrochemical processes that require toxic […] June 13, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 12 Jun 2019 How Vaccines Could One Day Beat HIV Vaccines are humanity’s biggest achievement against infectious diseases. But could they defeat HIV, a particularly crafty virus? José Luis Cabero, CEO of Spanish biotech AELIX Therapeutics shared his experience developing an HIV vaccine at Labiotech Refresh in Barcelona. The concept of a vaccine is simple — priming the immune system against a pathogen so that […] June 12, 2019 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 12 Jun 2019 Evotec to Reduce the Burden of Tuberculosis Treatment with €21M Grant The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has granted the German biotech Evotec €21M ($23.8M) to discover drug combinations that can reduce the duration of tuberculosis treatment, which normally takes over six months. Evotec will use the money to test different drug combinations for tuberculosis in the preclinical stage. The partnership will last for five years, […] June 12, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 11 Jun 2019 Janssen and Genmab Team Up Again for Another Potential Cancer Blockbuster Janssen and the Danish biotech Genmab will collaborate to develop a new antibody that could outperform their blockbuster cancer drug Darzalex in certain types of blood cancer. Genmab will develop the antibody treatment until it completes clinical proof-of-concept studies in the blood cancers multiple myeloma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. At that point, Janssen will […] June 11, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 11 Jun 2019 Gamma Delta T Cells: A New Hope Against Cancer A new wave of therapies based on a unique type of immune cells, called gamma delta T cells, has the potential to treat cancer with stronger responses and fewer side effects. Immunotherapies based on T cells are becoming a huge trend in the treatment of cancer, especially CAR-T cells. These genetically-modified T cells have shown […] June 11, 2019 - 5 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Best in Biotech 10 Jun 2019 The 10 Biotech Companies in London to Keep an Eye on in 2019 Which biotechs will be stealing the show this year? These are some of the most exciting biotech companies in London right now. London is undoubtedly one of the biggest hubs for biotech companies in the U.K. and in Europe. The British capital was the one that received the most life sciences investment in Europe in […] June 10, 2019 - 5 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Expert Advice 8 Jun 2019 Why Sticking to Your Beliefs is Important for Biotech Success Galapagos is an undeniable success story. Set up in 1999, it is now one of the largest and most successful biotechs in Europe. A key driving force behind the company is Onno van de Stolpe, its founder and CEO. After doing an internship at Biogen while at university, van de Stolpe knew he wanted to […] June 8, 2019 - 11 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email