In Depth 9 May 2017 Rise of the Superbugs: How is Biotech Fighting Antibiotic Resistance? Fewer antibiotics are produced as development costs rise. We reached out to a few companies addressing the serious issue of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats to our societies and health systems, and the number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is growing at a disquieting rate. The estimated number of people killed by […] May 9, 2017 - 8 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 8 May 2017 Swedish Biotech Faces Another Phase III Flop in Multiple Sclerosis Teva and Active Biotech have failed Phase III with their Multiple Sclerosis drug laquinimod to treat the relapsing-remitting form of the disease. Teva and Active Biotech have faced another setback with their long-expected successor to Teva’s Copaxone, laquinimod, for the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The drug failed to meet the primary endpoint, trying to improve the […] May 8, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 8 May 2017 French Researchers Discover a Target to Prevent Zika Birth Defects Researchers from the Institut Pasteur and the Inserm have identified a protein target that, when overexpressed, can block Zika infections. The recent Zika epidemics in the Pacific and South America has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a state of global emergency. One of the biggest concerns at the moment is that the […] May 8, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 8 May 2017 Immunocore Boosts its Collaboration with GSK with new Lead Compound Immunocore has singled out a new lead candidate in its immuno-oncology discovery program with GSK, triggering an undisclosed milestone payment to Immunocore. Based in Oxford, Immunocore is one of the hottest biotechs in the immuno-oncology space, which was able to raise one of the largest European private funding rounds ever (€300M) and is backed by […] May 8, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 8 May 2017 Top 5 Mistakes that Will Doom a CRO-Supplier Partnership Before it Starts A healthy relationship between a trial sponsor and the CRO or supplier can be the key to success – here is a list of how to address the biggest challenges. By 2020, 72% of clinical trials are projected to be outsourced to contract research organizations (CROs), compared to just 23% in 2012. The main reason […] May 8, 2017 - 7 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 8 May 2017 Meet the co-developer of the first commercial mAb and gene therapy Sander van Deventer is now a managing partner at Forbion after playing a critical role in the development of the first commercial monoclonal antibody, Remicade, and the first market-approved gene therapy, Glybera. I was curious to know what he did to achieve such an impressive track record. Sander van Deventer was trained as an internist […] May 8, 2017 - 5 minutesmins - By Philip Hemme Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 6 May 2017 Color Patterns in the Clothes of the Future will be Made by Bacteria Natsai Audrey Chieza is an artist and researcher exploring the integration of life into the manufacturing of the materials of the future. Natsai Audrey Chieza wants to break with the current paradigm of fashion design and textile production with the help of microbiology. Her research focuses on developing bacterial biopigments for textiles to replace the […] May 6, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 5 May 2017 Forget Chemical Synthesis, Yeast can Now Synthesize Complex Antibiotics A new study presents a novel synthetic biology approach for antibiotic synthesis in yeast that could tackle the huge challenge of antibiotic resistance. Scientists at Imperial College London have hacked their way into introducing complex biosynthesis pathways in the baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In particular, they focused on the production of non-ribosomal peptides (Nrp), a group of […] May 5, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 4 May 2017 Video Interview: This Biotech Wants to Take Over the NOTCH Space Cellestia, based in Basel, is a biotech spin-off from EPFL, developing new compounds targeting the NOTCH pathway for the treatment of cancer. Its CEO, Michael Bauer, talked to Philip at our recent meetup in Basel and explained what sets Cellestia apart from other players in the field. Cellestia was founded in 2014, based on the […] May 4, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 4 May 2017 Solid First-in-Human Results from Vaccine against Birth Defects Hookipa has presented positive data from its first Phase I trial testing its vaccine technology against human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) infections. Hookipa, one of the top 10 biotechs we’re closely following this year, is developing a viral vaccine platform that has attracted big investments from both the private and the public sector. The company just announced […] May 4, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 4 May 2017 French Gene Therapy Biotech Raises a Huge €37.5M in Series A Vivet Therapeutics has raised a huge €37.5M in Series A to help bring a new gene therapy technology for rare liver diseases to the clinic. Vivet Therapeutics has managed to attract some of the hottest biotech investors in Europe in its Series A. Led by Novartis Venture Fund and Columbus Venture Partners, and also counting […] May 4, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 4 May 2017 Parent Bacteria Resist Antibiotics Better than their Offspring According to a new study, a phenomenon known as biased inheritance protects older bacteria from the wrath of antibiotics in low concentrations. Older bacteria in a mixed population of dividing E. coli cells inherit a larger number of drug-expelling membrane proteins and pump out antibiotics better than their younger counterparts in the presence of low […] May 4, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email