News and Trends 1 Apr 2019 Cambridge Fund Raises €175M to Supercharge Local Life Sciences Ecosystem The UK venture capital fund Cambridge Innovation Capital, backed by the University of Cambridge, has raised €175M (£150M) to spend on life science and technology companies in the Cambridge area. The money will support the 25 companies in the fund’s portfolio, including the biotech Bicycle Therapeutics, whose peptide-toxin molecules are in clinical trials for the […] April 1, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 1 Apr 2019 Chasing the Holy Grail of Cell Therapy Biotech entrepreneur Darrin Disley, ex-CEO and co-founder of the successful Cambridge gene editing biotech Horizon Discovery, has a new quest — creating the perfect cell therapy. He spoke to me about his position as CEO of new biotech Mogrify and why he thinks now is a good time to get into cell therapy. Following the […] April 1, 2019 - 7 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 29 Mar 2019 Liquid Biopsy for Lung Cancer Gets €46M Boost Inivata has raised a €46M (£40M) Series B round that will further advance the commercialization of the company’s blood test for lung cancer as well as the development of new tests. Investors include Woodford patient Capital Trust, IP Group, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Johnson & Johnson Innovation and RT Ventures. Based in both the US and […] March 29, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 29 Mar 2019 French Diabetes Company Cellnovo Goes into Administration Paris-based Cellnovo has cut down on staff as well as stopped manufacturing and selling its diabetes management system as the company found itself unable to scale up. Until this week, Cellnovo was selling a diabetes management system consisting of a small insulin pump that was controlled via smartphone. Hundreds of diabetics using this technology have […] March 29, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 29 Mar 2019 Galapagos Nears First Drug Approval with Phase III Success in Rheumatoid Arthritis Galapagos has released positive data from two phase III trials testing its flagship drug candidate, filgotinib, that will let the company and its partner Gilead apply for marketing approval. 20 years after its foundation, Galapagos is finally approaching the finish line. Yesterday, the company has shared positive data from two clinical trials that together enrolled […] March 29, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 29 Mar 2019 This Biotech Repurposes Drugs to Fight Huntington’s Disease Barcelona-based SOM Biotech is developing treatments for incurable diseases such as Huntington’s disease with drugs that are already on the market for other diseases. Mission: To repurpose commercially available drugs for the treatment of neurological diseases lacking effective treatments. Using existing drugs to treat these rare, orphan diseases lets the company get the treatments to […] March 29, 2019 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 28 Mar 2019 Gene Therapy Exceeds Expectations in Treating Children’s Neurological Disease A gene therapy developed by the UK company Orchard Therapeutics has greatly improved the motor symptoms of children with an incurable neurological disease. The 20 children in the phase II trial suffered from metachromatic leukodystrophy, a rare genetic disease caused by the mutation of a protein that breaks down sulfur-containing molecules in cells. This leads […] March 28, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 28 Mar 2019 Swiss Biotech Raises €20M to Develop Decoy Drugs in Autoimmune Disease The biotech Polyneuron has raised a Series A round of €20.1M (CHF 22.5M) to start human testing with a treatment for a rare autoimmune disease. Based in Basel, Polyneuron is developing drugs to treat anti-MAG peripheral neuropathy. This debilitating disease is caused by the immune system producing autoantibodies that attack nerve support cells, which stops […] March 28, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 27 Mar 2019 Genfit Gets Ready to Launch Drug for Untreated Liver Disease Raising €120M After some big failures from its top competitors earlier this year, French company Genfit has done an IPO to prepare the launch of its drug for NASH, a chronic liver disease for which there is currently no treatment. Today, Genfit has started trading on Nasdaq. Together with issuing new shares in its existing Euronext Paris […] March 27, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 27 Mar 2019 Artificial Intelligence Could Beat Tumors Resistant to Immunotherapy The French company OSE Immunotherapeutics has signed a partnership to use artificial intelligence to develop treatments for tumors that don’t respond to checkpoint inhibitor drugs. In the last five years, checkpoint inhibitor drugs have become a potentially life-saving option for people that don’t respond to traditional cancer treatments. These antibody drugs have shown promise in […] March 27, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 25 Mar 2019 Swedish Biotech’s Stock Severely Hit by Failure of Biogen’s Alzheimer’s Drug The failure of Biogen’s Alzheimer’s disease drug in a phase III trial last week caused BioArctic’s stock price to plummet by 35% on Nasdaq Stockholm. The Swedish company has just begun a phase III trial of its own Alzheimer’s treatment. Last week, Biogen and its pharma collaborator Eisai discontinued the phase III development of an […] March 25, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 25 Mar 2019 Where Does Brexit Leave European Biotech? In the next couple of months, the UK will officially exit the EU, in a move that is popularly known as Brexit. With this date fast approaching, companies, organizations and individuals all over the world have speculated about how Brexit might impact them. According to the UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, at the launch of […] March 25, 2019 - 9 minutesmins - By Karen O’Hanlon Cohrt Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email