News and Trends 25 Jan 2018 Novartis Will Bring US Gene Therapy for Blindness to Europe The Swiss pharma has bought into the gene editing therapy game in a deal with Spark worth $170M (€137M) for commercialization rights outside the US. Novartis first marked out its position as a gene therapy leader in 2012 when it threw its hat into the CAR-T ring. Just a few months after the FDA approved […] January 25, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Evelyn Warner Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 25 Jan 2018 What Happened to the Plans for a Smart Contact Lens for Diabetics? Originally projected to be on the market by 2020, excitement about the contact lens to measure glucose levels from Novartis and Google has waned. Why? In 2016, smart wearables growth was steady but a recent study predicts that the market will pick up this year introducing innovative products to the consumer market: according to CCS Insight, the market for […] January 25, 2018 - 5 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 Jan 2018 Researchers Take Aim at Pancreatic Cancer with a Modified Flu Virus In an early study at Queen Mary University in London, a modified flu virus has been able to block the growth of pancreatic cancer. For the first time, researchers at Queen Mary University, London, have shown that pancreatic cancer can be targeted using a modified flu virus. During a study, published in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, […] January 25, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 24 Jan 2018 New Retinitis Pigmentosa Treatments? This Blood-Retina Chip Could Help! A new ‘organ-on-a-chip’ device for the blood-retina barrier could speed up the development of treatments for eye diseases like retinitis pigmentosa. Researchers from Microelectronics Institute of Barcelona, Vall d’Hebron Research Institute, and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona have developed a microfluidic chip that mimics the human blood-retinal barrier in the eye. The study, published in Lab on a […] January 24, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 24 Jan 2018 Biotech and Pharma Boost R&D and Slow Sales to Beat Antibiotic Resistance To fight antibiotic resistance, the independent report found that companies are developing new drugs, discouraging their overselling, limiting their run-off into wastewater, and tracking the spread of superbugs. Antibiotics are becoming ineffective at an alarming rate due to our misuse in healthcare, animals, and crops. Antibiotic resistance is responsible for 700,000 deaths each year, which is expected to continue […] January 24, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 24 Jan 2018 No Entry! This Protein Could Stop Breast Cancer from Escaping to the Rest of the Body Spanish scientists have found genes that maintain breast cancer cells in a dormant state, which could be manipulated to control the spread of the disease. The time taken for breast cancer to spread varies among patients and not much is known about the mechanisms that control it. Researchers at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine […] January 24, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 23 Jan 2018 NASH Leader goes Pediatric with Clinical Trial Launch in US The FDA has cleared Genfit to kick off clinical trials to see if its NASH drug, elafibranor, can also help children. Genfit develops diagnostic and therapeutic tools for metabolic and inflammatory diseases, particularly those affecting the liver. Its lead candidate, elafibranor, targets Non-Alcoholic Stato-Hepatitis (NASH), and the company’s plan to begin testing it in children has been supported […] January 23, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 23 Jan 2018 Swedish Biotech Can Now Fast-Track its Metabolic Disorder Drug Sobi will enter the clinic after the Investigational New Drug application for its rare metabolic disorder candidate was accepted by the FDA. The Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (Sobi) will begin clinical trials for SOBI003, its candidate for the rare metabolic disorder, Sanfilippo syndrome type A. This was made possible as the FDA’s accepted the company’s Investigational New Drug […] January 23, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 23 Jan 2018 Another Huge Acquisition Sees CAR-T Stocks Jump – Except for Celyad Most CAR-T stocks rose on the news that Big Biotech Celgene has plans to acquire Juno: Cellectis rides the wave but Celyad misses it. Shortly after the mega-acquisition of Kite by Gilead, the second prettiest girl at the CAR-T party, Juno Therapeutics, has accepted the advances of Celgene in a $9Bn (€7.4Bn) acquisition. This represents a bullish […] January 23, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Evelyn Warner Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 23 Jan 2018 Walking with the Dinosaurs of European Biotech: Which of Them is Roaring the Loudest? Although biotech may seem like an industry that has only just gotten started, it was already up and running before the turn of the century. We took a look back at the pre-2000 companies to see how they’re faring. According to our biotech map, there were 219 biotechs in Europe in 1999. Today, our map […] January 23, 2018 - 10 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 22 Jan 2018 European Court Supports the Softening of CRISPR Gene Editing Rules The tough regulations that apply to genetically modified organisms may no longer affect plants and animals created using CRISPR gene editing technology. The European Court of Justice has ruled that crops and drugs developed using precise gene-editing techniques like CRISPR/Cas9 may not need to be regulated as strictly as genetically modified organisms (GMOs). So far, […] January 22, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 22 Jan 2018 New Triple Combination Therapy Boosts Colorectal Cancer Survival Pierre Fabre and Array BioPharma’s combination therapy for colorectal cancer has improved progression-free survival in a Phase III trial. French pharma Pierre Fabre and American biopharma Array BioPharma, has carried out an initial safety lead-in study for a Phase 3 trial evaluating a triple combination therapy for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer patients. The therapy was […] January 22, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email