News and Trends 30 Jan 2020 Austrian Genomics Company Joins Fight Against Coronavirus Ares Genetics will use next-generation sequencing technology from the Chinese genomics company BGI Group to track and control the spread of a new coronavirus originating in China. A new strain of coronavirus, dubbed 2019-nCoV and originating in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has caused widespread concern in recent weeks. While only 20% of people with […] January 30, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 6 Jan 2020 €5M Investment to Fund French Biotech’s Resistance-Busting Antibiotic Mutabilis has received a €5M investment from the Danish VC Novo Holdings’ REPAIR Impact Fund to fuel the development of a new class of antibiotics that could kill drug-resistant strains of gram-negative bacteria. The French company will use the money to advance one of its preclinical drugs, a wide-spectrum intravenous antibiotic, to clinical trials. The […] January 6, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 3 Jan 2020 Update: CARB-X Grants Antabio Additional €4M to Develop Cystic Fibrosis Antibiotic Update (03/01/2020): The global non-profit partnership CARB-X has awarded Antabio €4M ($4.4M) as a second grant installment funding development of a novel antibiotic for use against Pseudomonas infections in patients with cystic fibrosis. This is the second installment of a grant worth up to €7.6M awarded to Antabio in 2017. The French biotech was awarded […] January 3, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 12 Dec 2019 Iterum Therapeutics Reels from Antibiotic Phase III Fail An antibiotic candidate developed by the Irish company Iterum Therapeutics has failed to meet the main goal of a phase III trial, a blow for efforts to meet the challenge of global antibiotic resistance. Iterum Therapeutics’ drug sulopenem was tested in a phase III trial that recruited 674 patients suffering from complicated intra-abdominal infections. These […] December 12, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 Oct 2019 EU Court Ushers in the Use of Phages Against Listeria in Food Amidst recent listeria outbreaks in Europe, the European Court of Justice has issued a court order in favor of the company Micreos Food Safety allowing the use of its phage technology to keep listeria at bay in food. Bacteriophages, or phages for short, are viruses that only kill specific bacterial strains and are harmless to […] October 25, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 22 Oct 2019 Austrian Biotech Will Develop Viral Protein For Vaginal Infection The Austrian biotech company PhagoMed Biopharma is developing a viral protein that could one day treat the common condition bacterial vaginosis without disrupting the microbiome as traditional antibiotics do. The preclinical drug candidate is derived from a protein called an endolysin. Endolysins are made by bacteria-hunting viruses called bacteriophages and kill bacteria by rupturing the […] October 22, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 17 Sep 2019 UK Biotech to Fight Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria with €8M Grant The UK biotech Procarta Biosystems has received a grant worth up to €8.3M from the nonprofit US partnership CARB-X to develop drugs that kill antibiotic-resistant pathogens while sparing benign bacteria in the gut. The total funding includes €2M upfront and up to an extra €6.3M that Procarta will receive if it hits unspecified milestones. Procarta […] September 17, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 4 Sep 2019 US Genomics Firm Combines with Curetis to Tackle Antibiotic Resistance The German biotech Curetis has been combined with the US genomics company OpGen to pool their molecular diagnostics expertise in the fight against antibiotic resistance. “After more than one year of intensive discussions and negotiations for many months, it feels great to be able to announce the transaction today,” Oliver Schacht, the CEO of Curetis, […] September 4, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 Aug 2019 Nabriva Therapeutics Gets FDA Green Light for Pneumonia Antibiotic The US FDA has approved Nabriva Therapeutics’ Xenleta for treating community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, the first in a new class of antibiotics developed to treat this condition. Xenleta, also known as lefamulin, was discovered almost 10 years ago by Nabriva Therapeutics, a spinout company from Novartis split between Austria, Ireland and the US. The approval is […] August 20, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 18 Jul 2019 Swiss Pneumonia Antibiotic Abandoned in Phase III The Swiss biotech Polyphor has discontinued two phase III trials of its antibiotic for treating pneumonia after halting both trials due to safety concerns in May. The two phase III trials were testing Polyphor’s intravenous antibiotic murepavadin in hospitalized patients with pneumonia. In May, Polyphor halted the two trials due to an unexpectedly high incidence […] July 18, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 17 Jul 2019 Scientists in Belgium Cure Anthrax in Mice by Smashing Bacteria’s Armor Belgian researchers have developed a potential treatment for anthrax that breaks down the bacteria’s thick protein armor. Anthrax is a deadly type of bacteria famous for its use in terrorist attacks in 2001. Although anthrax infections can be treated with antibiotics, they can prove hard to treat when the bacteria are inhaled or ingested. Scientists […] July 17, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 12 Jun 2019 Evotec to Reduce the Burden of Tuberculosis Treatment with €21M Grant The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has granted the German biotech Evotec €21M ($23.8M) to discover drug combinations that can reduce the duration of tuberculosis treatment, which normally takes over six months. Evotec will use the money to test different drug combinations for tuberculosis in the preclinical stage. The partnership will last for five years, […] June 12, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email