News and Trends 6 Aug 2020 €112M Fund Launched to Commercialize UCL’s Gene Therapy Research The leading UK institution University College London and the firm AlbionVC have made the first closing of a €112M (£100M) fund with the aim of investing in UCL research and spinouts with a focus on gene and cell therapy. This is the second so-called UCL Technology Fund and could double the size of the first, […] August 6, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Antara Mazumdar Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 17 Jul 2020 Russian Hackers Launch Cyber Attack on Covid-19 Vaccine Developers The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in the UK stated this week that several organizations involved in Covid-19 vaccine development in the UK, US, and Canada have been targeted in a cyber attack by a Russian hacking group known as APT29. The NCSC says that APT29, also known as ‘the Dukes’ or ‘Cozy Bear,’ is […] July 17, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 7 Jul 2020 UK Launches Clinical Trial Platform to Speed up Covid-19 Drug Development Researchers in the UK have set up a drug testing platform to bridge the gap between preclinical testing and large-scale trials for drugs being tested to treat Covid-19. The AGILE platform is a collaboration between the University of Liverpool, the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit that aims to speed […] July 7, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 3 Apr 2020 Lilly Partners UK Immunometabolism Biotech in Deal Worth €811M Eli Lilly will partner Oxford-based Sitryx to develop up to four drug candidates to treat autoimmune disease in a deal worth €811M if development milestones are met. The UK biotech will receive an upfront payment of €46M from the US big pharma, which will also buy €10M of equity in the company. Sitryx can also […] April 3, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 27 Mar 2020 This Startup is Making a Cancer Vaccine out of Viruses Valo Therapeutics is operating both in the UK and Finland to develop a cancer vaccine based on a virus designed to kill tumors. Mission: To combine two different immunotherapy techniques — oncolytic viruses and cancer vaccines — into one treatment for solid tumors. Immunotherapy has transformed the cancer treatment landscape, offering therapies such as checkpoint […] March 27, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 28 Feb 2020 Lasers Used To Make Rapid Antibiotic Resistance Test Researchers from the University of Southampton in the UK have used laser technology to create a paper-based test that can identify bacteria in a urine sample and tell whether the species is showing antibiotic resistance. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most commonly diagnosed infections worldwide and are typically caused by bacteria such as Escherichia […] February 28, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Laura Cowen Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 28 Feb 2020 This Startup Is Automating the Manufacture of Gene and Cell Therapies In London, the firm Ori Biotech is developing an automated way to manufacture gene and cell therapies, a bottleneck for many biotech companies. Mission: To develop a robotic system to automate the labor-intensive tasks involved in manufacturing cell and gene therapies, such as gene transduction and cell expansion. Gene and cell therapies are maturing as […] February 28, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 27 Feb 2020 Scientists Connect Brain Cells to Machines Over the Internet An international group of researchers has set up a brain-machine interface between cultured nerve cells and electronic chips linked over the internet, which could lead to the development of AI implants for treating neurological disorders. As described in a study published in Nature Scientific Reports, the team set up a system where cultured rat nerve […] February 27, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 Feb 2020 UK-Swiss Collaboration to Boost Biotech Profits with Automation A partnership between the UK lab automation company Arctoris and Swiss software firm Molecule aims to make it easier to share drug intellectual property in a time of declining returns in pharma. The pharmaceutical industry is struggling with the rising costs of developing new drugs. In fact, the return on investment for drug discovery is […] February 13, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 6 Feb 2020 Camena Bioscience Hits DNA Synthesis Milestone Camena Bioscience has achieved a significant DNA synthesis milestone by reproducing the DNA sequence of a whole plasmid, which could be used in synthetic biology applications such as protein production and bacterial engineering. DNA synthesis is a field that, until recently, had not been a focus for companies developing innovative technologies, with greater importance being […] February 6, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 31 Jan 2020 AI-Designed Drug Enters Phase I to Treat OCD A drug designed by the UK firm Exscientia using AI-powered software has entered into a phase I clinical trial for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder, commonly known as OCD. The clinical development of the drug will be carried out by Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, Exscientia’s Japanese collaborator. The drug took just 12 months to get to […] January 31, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 27 Jan 2020 UK Startup Snaps up Potential Universal Cancer Immunotherapy The cancer vaccine developer Ervaxx has licensed a preclinical-stage ‘universal’ cancer immunotherapy based on the recent discovery of a new strain of immune T-cells at Cardiff University, UK. Last week, a team led by researchers at Cardiff University published research about T-cells capable of hunting a wide range of cancers including leukemia and melanoma. Experiments […] January 27, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email