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Expert Advice 8 May 2019

Why It’s Important to “Think Big” When Raising Money for Your Company

There are not many people who can say they led one of Europe’s largest biotechs and launched the first approved gene therapy in Europe. Joern Aldag, now CEO at Austrian biotech Hookipa Pharma, has done both. Aldag got into biotech because he wanted to use his entrepreneurial skills to advance medicine. After 9 years of […]

May 8, 2019 - 9 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

biotechs in lausanne cover

Best in Biotech 8 May 2019

Top 10 Biotechs in Lausanne

The Swiss city of Lausanne is perhaps best known as a hub of international sport, but what many outsiders may not realize is that it’s also one of Switzerland’s biggest biotech hubs. Many of the biotechs in the city are connected to the University of Lausanne (UNIL), as well as the renowned Swiss Federal Institute […]

May 8, 2019 - 7 minutesmins - By David Cox

Confo Therapeutics GPCR

News and Trends 7 May 2019

Belgian Biotech Raises €30M Series A to Unlock Undruggable Targets

Confo Therapeutics has raised €30M in a Series A round that will take its unique technology to find drugs for historically undruggable targets to clinical trials. The fundraising was led by the VCs BioGeneration Ventures and Wellington Partners, and joined by several other private and public investors. With the money, Confo Therapeutics aims to […]

May 7, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

bees dying university of Cambridge vaccine virus

News and Trends 6 May 2019

Molecules in Bee Jelly Could Protect Whole Nests Against Viruses for Generations

A research team has discovered that honeybees pass molecules of RNA to each other by sharing it in edible jelly, which could lead to vaccines that can stop generations of bees from dying from viral infections. Honeybees don’t just give us honey. As the dominant pollinators of lots of food crops, around a third of […]

May 6, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

Partnerships Cover

Interview 6 May 2019

2019 Will Be a “Year of Realism” for Biotech Investments

Biotech investors regularly jump on new crazes, including the microbiome and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. At BIO-Europe Spring 2019, Regina Hodits, Managing Partner at German VC firm Wellington Partners Life Sciences, spoke to us about the firm’s realistic approach to biotech investment. Biotechnology is an industry with high risks and high rewards. Before a medical biotech […]

May 6, 2019 - 6 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

combioxin antibiotic resistance pneumonia

News and Trends 3 May 2019

Drug Mopping Up Bacterial Toxins Shows Potential to Tackle Antibiotic Resistance in Phase I

An antibiotic-enhancing drug developed by the Swiss biotech Combioxin to tackle antibiotic resistance showed promising effects in a phase I trial. Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem around the world, causing common infections such as pneumonia to become harder to treat. As standard antibiotics become less and less effective, we urgently need to find new […]

May 3, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

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green basilisk self healing concrete delft

Startup Scout 3 May 2019

This Biotech Makes Self-Healing Concrete Using Bacteria

Imagine walls and buildings that heal themselves just like your skin does. The Dutch biotech Green Basilisk is making this idea a reality by embedding special limestone-producing bacteria into concrete. Mission: To make concrete that can heal cracks and other kinds of damage using bacteria. This self-healing power cuts the maintenance the material requires, and […]

May 3, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

liver disease

News and Trends 2 May 2019

Drug for Autoimmune Liver Disease Yields Mixed Results in Hard-to-Treat Patients

Developed by the French biotech Genkyotex, a first-in-class treatment for the liver disease primary biliary cholangitis failed to reduce a key disease biomarker in a phase II trial, but showed potential for reducing liver scarring. Primary biliary cholangitis is an autoimmune disease that damages the liver and can lead to liver scarring (fibrosis) or the […]

May 2, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

Congenica series B DNA cover

News and Trends 1 May 2019

UK Genome Diagnostics Biotech Closes €27M Series B to Support NHS

Cambridge-based Congenica has closed a €27M (£23.3M) series B fundraising round to support the use of its rare disease diagnostics platform by the newly formed NHS Genomic Medicine Service, as well as to allow the company to expand internationally. The genomics diagnostic company received a €15.5M (£13.3M) investment, led by the London-based fund management firm […]

May 1, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

Cell Medica CAR NKT cell therapy

News and Trends 1 May 2019

Next-Generation CAR-T Therapy Shows Promise in Child’s Neuroblastoma

Cell Medica’s next-generation CAR-T cell therapy has resulted in ‘extensive tumor regression’ in a child with high-risk neuroblastoma, one of the deadliest types of childhood cancer. Only available to cancer patients for the last couple of years, CAR-T cell therapy has had impressive results in treating patients for whom other available options do […]

May 1, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

Early stage biotech funding

Interview 1 May 2019

What’s Driving the Boom in Early Stage Biotech Funding?

The biotech industry is seeing a massive increase in the amount of funding available to early-stage research. At Bio Europe Spring, we spoke to Nerida Scott, VP of New Ventures and Transactions at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, to learn more about what’s behind it. In the last five years, the total invested in seed and […]

May 1, 2019 - 4 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

orchard therapeutics

News and Trends 30 Apr 2019

Orchard’s Gene Therapy Shows Potential in Treating Patients with Beta Thalassemia

Patients with the life-threatening blood disorder beta-thalassemia required fewer blood transfusions after receiving a gene therapy developed by the UK company Orchard Therapeutics, with four out of nine no longer depending on transfusions. Beta thalassemia is a genetic disorder that affects hemoglobin, a protein that blood cells use to carry oxygen. In the most severe […]

April 30, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

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