News and Trends 3 Jun 2019 Dutch Company Raises €28M to Push Cancer Cell Therapy to European Market The Dutch Kiadis Pharma has raised €27.6M in a private placement to fund the clinical development of immune cell therapies treating blood cancer. The money will fund phase III trials of Kiadis’ lead candidate cell therapy for blood cancer, aimed to get European approval by the end of 2019. In addition, the cash will boost […] June 3, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 May 2019 UK Immune Cell Therapy Biotech Founded with €40M Series A Quell Therapeutics, a London-based biotech developing immune cell therapies to target transplant rejection and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, launched today with €40M series A funding. UK life sciences trust Syncona is the lead investor, with a €38.8M stake in the company. Syncona will own a controlling 69% of the business, reflecting their large initial investment. […] May 20, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 16 May 2019 Taking a Drug to Market “Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint” Based in Zurich, Molecular Partners is developing a new class of drugs that can address the complexity of cancer. At Labiotech Refresh in Zurich, CEO Patrick Amstutz shared what he’s learned on the journey to take the company where it is today. After completing a PhD at ETH Zurich, Amstutz founded Molecular Partners with a […] May 16, 2019 - 4 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 May 2019 RNAi Therapy Smashes Solid Tumors in Preclinical Tests Developed by the UK biotech Celixir, a therapy based on silencing genes with RNA molecules in a process called RNAi has shrunk tumors by 50% in culture. Although there are lots of innovative cancer treatments in the market, such as CAR T-cell therapy for blood cancer, solid tumors remain difficult to tackle. For this reason, […] May 14, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 May 2019 ‘Guided Missile’ Cancer Immunotherapy Boosted by €62M Funding The Swiss-Italian biotech company Philogen has raised a private round of €62M to fund the phase III development of cancer immunotherapies that deliver immune cell-stimulating molecules directly to the tumor site. The money will push Philogen’s two lead cancer programs, currently in phase III, to the market. The funds will also help to expand the […] May 13, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 13 May 2019 Putting DNA Repair on the Map Niall Martin is on a mission to put DNA repair on the map. He has already gone pretty far along the way to doing this, as the leader of the team that developed the blockbuster cancer drug Lynparza. He is now seeking to repeat this early success at Artios, where he is CEO. Martin talked […] May 13, 2019 - 8 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 10 May 2019 This Biotech Destroys Cancer Proteins by Introducing Them to ‘Executioner’ Proteins Nestled in the biotech hub of Cambridge, UK, is Polyprox. Less than a year old, this company is developing a new class of protein-based drugs that could treat cancer by degrading key proteins in the cancer cell. Mission: Develop drugs that destroy proteins in cancer cells by recruiting executioner proteins, called ligases. Polyprox develops protein […] May 10, 2019 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 9 May 2019 A 20-Year Journey to Nail Down an Undruggable Cancer Target The ultimate goal of cancer research is to bring to the market a drug that improves the treatment of patients lacking options. Laura Soucek, CEO of the startup Peptomyc, shares the story of her journey to take a cancer treatment against an until now undruggable target to the clinic. It all started when Soucek was […] May 9, 2019 - 5 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Best in Biotech 8 May 2019 Top 10 Biotechs in Lausanne The Swiss city of Lausanne is perhaps best known as a hub of international sport, but what many outsiders may not realize is that it’s also one of Switzerland’s biggest biotech hubs. Many of the biotechs in the city are connected to the University of Lausanne (UNIL), as well as the renowned Swiss Federal Institute […] May 8, 2019 - 7 minutesmins - By David Cox Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 1 May 2019 Next-Generation CAR-T Therapy Shows Promise in Child’s Neuroblastoma Cell Medica’s next-generation CAR-T cell therapy has resulted in ‘extensive tumor regression’ in a child with high-risk neuroblastoma, one of the deadliest types of childhood cancer. Only available to cancer patients for the last couple of years, CAR-T cell therapy has had impressive results in treating patients for whom other available options do […] May 1, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 30 Apr 2019 Swiss Biotech Raises €11M to Develop Treatments for Liver Fibrosis Founded in March this year, Alentis Therapeutics has bagged a Series A round of €11.1M (CHF 12.5M) to develop antibody drugs treating liver fibrosis, which currently has no approved treatments. Liver fibrosis is the scarring of liver tissue, which can happen as a consequence of aging, chronic hepatitis or conditions such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). […] April 30, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 23 Apr 2019 Combining DNA and RNA Testing Could Improve Precision Medicine for Cancer An international clinical trial has shown that extending cancer testing beyond genetic mutations has potential to improve the personalized treatment of cancer. In recent years, the field of precision medicine has been rapidly growing and is bringing a lot of hope to both patients and physicians, especially in the diagnosis and treatment of […] April 23, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email