News and Trends 20 Feb 2017 Alphamer Technology gets Seed Fundraising to Fight Antibiotic Resistance Centauri Therapeutics has raised £1.2M in the second part of its seed round, which will be directed at bringing its first alphamer to the preclinical stage. Centauri Therapeutics, a young British biotech, is developing alphamer technology to fights infectious disease and cancer. Today, the company has announced the addition of £1.2M from existing and new investors […] February 20, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Infographics 13 Feb 2017 Infographic: What’s in Europe’s Immuno-oncology Pipeline? While some might accuse the field of being over-hyped, immuno-oncology continues to attract attention and investment for its potential to cure cancer. What new therapies are European biotech cooking up? Since the dawn of immuno-oncology broke with checkpoint inhibitors, innovative therapies like Keytruda and Rituxan from big pharma have taken the world by storm. European biotech’s pipeline is […] February 13, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Evelyn Warner Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 7 Feb 2017 Cannabinoid Drug Prolongs the Life of Brain Tumor Patients in Phase II Trials GW Pharmaceuticals announced Phase II results for a cannabinoid drug combination with the potential to increase life expectancy in patients with an aggressive form of brain cancer. GW Pharmaceuticals, one of the coolest biotechs in Cambridge, is developing cannabinoid drugs. Its lead candidate, Epidiolex, could reach the market soon and help treat drug-resistant forms of […] February 7, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 7 Feb 2017 British Synbio’s Llama Antibodies recruited for Cancer T-Cell Therapy Isogenica has licensed its synthetic llama antibody library to Maverick Therapeutics, which develops cancer T-cell therapies designed to reduce side effects. Isogenica is a synthetic biology company near Cambridge that develops libraries of therapeutic antibodies. The biotech has granted US-based Maverick Therapeutics licenses to its llamdA VHH antibody library for the discovery, development and commercialization of […] February 7, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 6 Feb 2017 French Biotech’s Checkpoint Inhibitor Fails Phase II Leukemia Trial Innate Pharma’s checkpoint inhibitor candidate lirilumab missed its primary endpoint in a Phase II trial, which gave a hard blow to the company’s stock. When the stock market opened this morning, Innate Pharma‘s stock went down by almost 25%. The company had just announced the results of a Phase II trial that failed to prove its […] February 6, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 23 Jan 2017 French Biotech partners with Merck to Fight Tumor Resistance Domain Therapeutics and Merck have partnered up to develop immuno-oncology drug candidates that can boost the performance of checkpoint inhibitors. Domain Therapeutics has entered a collaboration and licensing agreement with German Merck in immuno-oncology. The big pharma is offering over €240M in milestones and will support research activities in exchange for worldwide rights to new drug candidates targeting […] January 23, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 23 Jan 2017 “Senior Staff Snobbery separates Academia from the Biotech Industry” We caught up with Mark Lowdell, Director of Cellular Therapeutics and the RFH/UCL Cancer Biobank. As one of the few successful scientist-entrepreneurs, he has some ideas about bridging academia and industry in biomedicine. Mark Lowdell was introduced to me by his business partner, RJ Tesi. Tesi co-founded INmune Bio, a promising California-based startup, on Lowdell’s […] January 23, 2017 - 6 minutesmins - By Evelyn Warner Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Jan 2017 German Antibody for Cancer Diagnostics catches an Australian Eye Wilex is selling Telix Pharmaceuticals its radiolabeled antibody for cancer applications, Redectane, to focus on the development of ADCs instead. The Australian Telix Pharmaceuticals has closed a license agreement with Wilex, in Germany, for the worldwide rights to Redectane, an antibody with diagnostic applications in renal cancer. The antibody, Rencarex (girentuximab), which binds to the […] January 16, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Jan 2017 Merck partners with Big Data Unicorn to help Cancer Patients Merck will use Palantir’s big data software to improve drug development and patient services, starting with cancer treatments. Merck will step up its data analytics capabilities in partnership with Palantir. The US company, co-founded by PayPal billionaire Peter Thiel, provides data integration and analysis software that Merck plans to use to improve patient care and […] January 16, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 13 Jan 2017 The Good, the Bad and the Cancer-Fighting Macrophage We decided to stick around England this week and made a short trip from London to visit the young biotech Macrophage Pharma. The company is developing immuno-oncology technology that could turn ‘bad’ tumor-associated macrophages into ‘good’, cancer-fighting cells. City: Berkhamsted, UK (near London) Founded: 2014 Employees: 1-10 Financial data: €10.38M total raised Mission: Macrophage Pharma develops next-generation immunotherapies […] January 13, 2017 - 1 minutemin - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 11 Jan 2017 Phase II Failure: CureVac’s CEO explains Missed Efficacy Endpoint Money doesn’t guarantee success, even if it’s heavy investment from the likes of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Ingmar Hoerr explains what it means for mRNA therapeutics. In a blow to the field of mRNA, the German billion-euro biotech CureVac has reported the Phase II failure of its lead candidate at JP Morgan. Aimed at prostate cancer, CV9104 did not […] January 11, 2017 - 4 minutesmins - By Evelyn Warner Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 11 Jan 2017 Merck expands its Oncology Pipeline beyond Checkpoint Inhibitors Merck is diversifying its oncology portfolio with four new programs licensed from Vertex Pharmaceuticals, including multiple DNA damage and repair drugs. Merck has entered a licensing agreement with Boston-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals for the worldwide rights to four oncology programs. Merck has paid €220M ($230M) upfront for two clinical-stage DNA damage and repair candidates and two additional […] January 11, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email