News and Trends 14 May 2019 RNAi Therapy Smashes Solid Tumors in Preclinical Tests Developed by the UK biotech Celixir, a therapy based on silencing genes with RNA molecules in a process called RNAi has shrunk tumors by 50% in culture. Although there are lots of innovative cancer treatments in the market, such as CAR T-cell therapy for blood cancer, solid tumors remain difficult to tackle. For this reason, […] May 14, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 May 2019 First Potential Gene Therapy for Hemophilia B Restores Blood Clotting in Phase II A gene therapy developed by the Dutch biotech uniQure increased the activity of a blood clotting protein enough to stop bleeds in patients with the blood disorder hemophilia B. Hemophilia B is a rare genetic condition in which patients have a mutation in the blood clotting protein factor IX (FIX), reducing its activity below 6% […] May 14, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 May 2019 ‘Guided Missile’ Cancer Immunotherapy Boosted by €62M Funding The Swiss-Italian biotech company Philogen has raised a private round of €62M to fund the phase III development of cancer immunotherapies that deliver immune cell-stimulating molecules directly to the tumor site. The money will push Philogen’s two lead cancer programs, currently in phase III, to the market. The funds will also help to expand the […] May 13, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 13 May 2019 Putting DNA Repair on the Map Niall Martin is on a mission to put DNA repair on the map. He has already gone pretty far along the way to doing this, as the leader of the team that developed the blockbuster cancer drug Lynparza. He is now seeking to repeat this early success at Artios, where he is CEO. Martin talked […] May 13, 2019 - 8 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 May 2019 Cell Encapsulation Biotech Raises €7M to Target Cell Therapy Bottlenecks The French company Treefrog Therapeutics has raised over €7M in Series A investment to develop its encapsulation technology to improve the production of stem cells for cell therapies. Part of the Series A money will help Treefrog to automate its stem cell production process by 2021. The round will also fund the development of a […] May 13, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 10 May 2019 Swiss Biotech Halts Pneumonia Antibiotic Trial After Patient Safety Scare Polyphor has temporarily halted two phase III trials of an antibiotic treating pneumonia, after an unexpectedly high number of patients reported kidney problems in one of the trials. The phase III trial was testing the antibiotic murepavadin in 150 enrolled patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia, and who required mechanical breathing. The patients in the treatment group […] May 10, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 10 May 2019 This Biotech Destroys Cancer Proteins by Introducing Them to ‘Executioner’ Proteins Nestled in the biotech hub of Cambridge, UK, is Polyprox. Less than a year old, this company is developing a new class of protein-based drugs that could treat cancer by degrading key proteins in the cancer cell. Mission: Develop drugs that destroy proteins in cancer cells by recruiting executioner proteins, called ligases. Polyprox develops protein […] May 10, 2019 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 9 May 2019 A 20-Year Journey to Nail Down an Undruggable Cancer Target The ultimate goal of cancer research is to bring to the market a drug that improves the treatment of patients lacking options. Laura Soucek, CEO of the startup Peptomyc, shares the story of her journey to take a cancer treatment against an until now undruggable target to the clinic. It all started when Soucek was […] May 9, 2019 - 5 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 9 May 2019 Pfizer Pays up to €700M to Acquire Swiss Biotech Restoring Bone Growth in Achondroplasia Pharma giant Pfizer is acquiring the Swiss biotech Therachon, which is developing a protein drug to boost bone growth in the genetic condition achondroplasia. Pfizer will pay €303M ($340M) upfront, and up to €420M ($470M) dependent on Therachon reaching milestones in the development of its drug improving bone growth in achondroplasia. This genetic condition inhibits […] May 9, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 8 May 2019 Schizophrenia Treatments Could be Tested and Personalized Using Patients’ Blood Scientists at the University of Cambridge have developed a way to screen treatments for schizophrenia on single cells from a patient’s blood sample, which could speed up drug discovery and help to personalize treatments for people with the condition. Around 21 million people worldwide suffer from schizophrenia, and this is likely to get worse with […] May 8, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
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 Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
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 Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email