News and Trends 15 May 2019 €25M European Loan to Fund Diagnostics Tackling Antibiotic Resistance The Finnish biotech Mobidiag has received a loan of €25M from the European Investment Bank to commercialize diagnostic technology aimed at reducing antibiotic resistance. When patients get a bacterial infection, clinicians have to wait several days for traditional diagnosis techniques to tell them what kind of bacteria is causing the infection. While they wait, the […] May 15, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 10 May 2019 Swiss Biotech Halts Pneumonia Antibiotic Trial After Patient Safety Scare Polyphor has temporarily halted two phase III trials of an antibiotic treating pneumonia, after an unexpectedly high number of patients reported kidney problems in one of the trials. The phase III trial was testing the antibiotic murepavadin in 150 enrolled patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia, and who required mechanical breathing. The patients in the treatment group […] May 10, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 3 May 2019 Drug Mopping Up Bacterial Toxins Shows Potential to Tackle Antibiotic Resistance in Phase I An antibiotic-enhancing drug developed by the Swiss biotech Combioxin to tackle antibiotic resistance showed promising effects in a phase I trial. Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem around the world, causing common infections such as pneumonia to become harder to treat. As standard antibiotics become less and less effective, we urgently need to find new […] May 3, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 25 Apr 2019 European Biotechnology in 2019 and Beyond: What’s Hot and What’s Not? We spend a lot of time focusing on specific developments in biotechnology, but sometimes it’s good to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. With this in mind, I asked three experts at our recent Refresh event in Vienna to share what is hot in European biotech right now and what trends […] April 25, 2019 - 11 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 11 Apr 2019 Scientists Develop Treatment to Combat Antibiotic Resistance in Meningitis Researchers based in Sweden and Denmark are developing a meningitis treatment that could overcome antibiotic resistance by targeting white blood cells called neutrophils. Antibiotic resistance has become a pressing issue, as many easily treatable infections become harder to fight with traditional antibiotics. Bacterial meningitis is particularly concerning, as its already considerable mortality rate of 10-30% […] April 11, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 26 Feb 2019 Swiss Scientists Find ‘Silver Bullet’ Against Bacterial Infections Using the gene editing tool CRISPR-Cas9, researchers in Lausanne have uncovered antimicrobial molecules in the fruit fly that can selectively kill certain bacteria. This could lead to new therapeutics combatting antimicrobial resistance, and even preventing infections before they start. The research shows the antimicrobial molecules, or peptides, have the potential to treat infections of pathogens […] February 26, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 21 Feb 2019 Qiagen Gets Access to Largest Genetic Database on Antibiotic Resistance Under a new licensing deal, Qiagen will gain access to a big genetics database from Vienna-based Ares Genetics, which could help tackle the global health crisis of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance is a major health concern that is growing fast. One reason for this is that people are often prescribed the wrong antibiotic for […] February 21, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 18 Feb 2019 Tuberculosis Treatment Kills Bacteria with Their Own Suicide Toxin A European academic research collaboration has found a new potential weapon against antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis: its own toxins. Many types of bacteria, such as the pathogen responsible for the deadly lung disease tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, use toxins to stay alive. For example, these toxins can be useful when the bacteria are starved or infected by viruses, […] February 18, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 29 Jan 2019 Antibiotic Nasal Gel for Surgical Infections Cruises Through Phase I An antibiotic nasal gel, developed by the UK company Destiny Pharma to treat drug-resistant bacterial infections, has shown no adverse effects in healthy volunteers in a phase I trial. Destiny’s antibiotic nasal gel is designed to prevent post-surgical infections of the bacterial species Staphylococcus aureus, which can come in the dangerous drug-resistant strain MRSA. “About […] January 29, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 28 Jan 2019 New UK Policy Benefits Biotechs Waging War on Superbugs Among other measures, the new policy changes the way companies are reimbursed for antimicrobial drugs, which is expected to increase investment in biotech and the interest of big pharma in tackling antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial resistance is a huge problem. More and more pathogens are becoming resistant to antibiotics, as seen in the rising number of […] January 28, 2019 - 4 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 22 Jan 2019 MinervaX Latest Beneficiary of Novo’s Antimicrobial Resistance Fund The Novo Holdings REPAIR Impact Fund, launched to fight antimicrobial resistance, has invested €4.4M in the Danish company MinervaX to help fund the phase I trial of a vaccine that could protect newborn babies from streptococcal infections. The Novo Holdings REPAIR Impact Fund aims to combat the growing menace of pathogens resistant to antimicrobial drugs, such as […] January 22, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 30 Nov 2018 This Biotech Speeds Up Blood Infection Diagnosis In the city of Cardiff, UK, Momentum Bioscience aims to trim down the unnecessary use of antimicrobial drugs in hospitals. To do this, it is developing molecular diagnostics that, within hours, tell doctors when or when not to use antibiotics in patients with a suspected blood infection. Mission: When diagnosing blood infections, physicians often need […] November 30, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email