News and Trends 3 May 2017
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News and Trends 3 May 2017
New Immuno-oncology Biotech Gets a €20M Series A Funding Boost
Imcheck Therapeutics from Marseille has just completed a €20M Series A funding round, backed by big investors like the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF). The French biotech Imcheck Therapeutics was founded in 2015 as a spin-off from the Paoli-Calmettes Cancer Institute (IPC) in Marseille and is developing next-generation immunomodulatory antibodies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. […]
News and Trends 3 May 2017
French Biotech gets a Second Opportunity to Fight Liver Fibrosis
Genkyotex, a French biotech with an eye on NASH, has received FDA approval to initiate a Phase II trial in primary biliary cholangitis. Genkyotex’s lead candidate, GKT831, failed to prove its efficacy in a Phase II trial for diabetic nephropathy a couple of years ago. Now, the company is taking a second shot by targeting liver […]
News and Trends 3 May 2017
Unexpected Side Effects: Are we Ready for the Rise of Immunotherapies?
As immunotherapies are moving from large academic centers to clinics across the world, doctors are realizing that releasing the breaks of the immune system comes with serious risks – and that research on its adverse effects is lagging behind. This week, AstraZeneca’s anti-PD-L1 antibody durvalumab received FDA approval to treat patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma, making […]
Interview 2 May 2017
Video Interview: Meet the Inventor of the Surgical Super-glue
At our second meetup in Basel last week, Philip had the chance to talk to Maria Pereira, one of Forbes’ 30 under 30 and the scientific inventor of the technology behind Gecko Biomedical. Apart from telling us about Gecko’s progress and future plans, Maria talked about her time in Boston and why she ended up […]
News and Trends 2 May 2017
Novartis Gains Access to Celyad’s allogenic CAR-T cell patents
Belgian Celyad is giving Novartis access to its IP for the production of allogeneic CAR-T cells in a non-exclusive license agreement, worth up to €88M. Celyad is developing “off-the-shelf” therapies, based on engineering donor-derived allogeneic T cells. Despite a recent public dispute with its key rival Cellectis regarding the validity of Celyad’s US patents, Novartis has now entered a non-exclusive […]
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News and Trends 2 May 2017
French HIV Cure Reduces Viral Reservoirs for the First Time Ever
Abivax has announced results from a Phase IIa trial that reveal the first proof in human of viral load reduction of hidden HIV reservoirs. Abivax is developing a functional HIV cure that, unlike current antiretroviral therapy (ART), could completely eliminate the virus and prevent it from coming back when the treatment is stopped. Results from a Phase IIa […]
News and Trends 2 May 2017
Entrepreneurs, Academics & Entrepreneurial Academics succeed in Berlin
With Berlin’s plethora of life science research and academia, opportunities abound for biotech entrepreneurs. Here’s how the city bridges the gap between science and business! So much research, so many opportunities for academics and entrepreneurs. Berlin boasts 35 large research institutions focused on life sciences, and around 130 hospitals — including Europe’s largest and most […]
Interview 1 May 2017
This Founder is using Synbio to Revolutionize Genetic Medicine
Oxford Genetics founder and CEO Ryan Cawood told me about his company’s improvements to DNA design for better biologicals. Last month at Synbiobeta, I caught up with Ryan Cawood, who created one of the most successful synthetic biology companies around, Oxford Genetics. “Our direction actually took off from this conference,” he told me. “We saw […]
News and Trends 29 Apr 2017
These Bioartists Turn Cell-to-Cell Communication in your Body into Sound
Thought Collider and David Young have developed an installation that transforms the faint communication signals between your skin cells into sounds. Artist duo Thought Collider is comprised of Mike Thompson, from the UK, and Susana Cámara Leret, from Spain. Based in Amsterdam and London, they experiment with the living nature of our bodies and microorganisms. Their […]
News and Trends 28 Apr 2017
The Tires of the Future will be made with… Dandelions?
Continental, famous producer of tires, is creating a research facility in Germany to investigate the use of rubber extracted from dandelions. An eventual switch to the material would mean less environmental impact, and maybe even better tires. The “green pet project” of Continental, a giant automotive manufacturer with almost €40Bn yearly revenues, consists of replacing conventional natural […]
Startup Scout 28 Apr 2017
This Dutch Biotech Could Boost Gene Editing of Primary Cells
Located in the charming town of Utrecht in the Netherlands, Ntrans Technologies was newly founded in 2015 based on a cutting-edge intracellular delivery technology developed at the Hubrecht Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences. Mission: NTrans is developing the iTOP technology for its use in research and as a therapeutical platform for the delivery of bioactive molecules into […]
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