Startup Scout 13 Jan 2017 The Good, the Bad and the Cancer-Fighting Macrophage We decided to stick around England this week and made a short trip from London to visit the young biotech Macrophage Pharma. The company is developing immuno-oncology technology that could turn ‘bad’ tumor-associated macrophages into ‘good’, cancer-fighting cells. City: Berkhamsted, UK (near London) Founded: 2014 Employees: 1-10 Financial data: €10.38M total raised Mission: Macrophage Pharma develops next-generation immunotherapies […] January 13, 2017 - 1 minutemin - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 11 Jan 2017 Phase II Failure: CureVac’s CEO explains Missed Efficacy Endpoint Money doesn’t guarantee success, even if it’s heavy investment from the likes of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Ingmar Hoerr explains what it means for mRNA therapeutics. In a blow to the field of mRNA, the German billion-euro biotech CureVac has reported the Phase II failure of its lead candidate at JP Morgan. Aimed at prostate cancer, CV9104 did not […] January 11, 2017 - 4 minutesmins - By Evelyn Warner Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 11 Jan 2017 Merck expands its Oncology Pipeline beyond Checkpoint Inhibitors Merck is diversifying its oncology portfolio with four new programs licensed from Vertex Pharmaceuticals, including multiple DNA damage and repair drugs. Merck has entered a licensing agreement with Boston-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals for the worldwide rights to four oncology programs. Merck has paid €220M ($230M) upfront for two clinical-stage DNA damage and repair candidates and two additional […] January 11, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 9 Jan 2017 German Immuno-Oncology Biotech partners up with Biotech Giant Amgen Immatics and Amgen have inked a deal to develop bispecific drug candidates for cancer that could reach over €1B in milestones. Immatics, an immuno-oncology biotech in Tübingen, Germany, has signed an agreement with biotech giant Amgen. Immatics will receive €28.5M ($30M) upfront and up to €475M ($500M) per program and Amgen will be responsible for clinical development, manufacturing and […] January 9, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 6 Jan 2017 Servier offers up to €1.7B for Dual Cancer Checkpoint Inhibitors Servier has signed a deal that could give it access to up to eight bispecific drug candidates with immuno-oncology applications from Pieris Pharmaceuticals. Servier, one of France’s biggest pharma companies, is offering up to €1.7B to US-based Pieris Pharmaceuticals. The team will initially develop five programs that can be later expanded to up to eight. For […] January 6, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 3 Jan 2017 New German Immuno-oncology Partnership takes on Solid Tumors TCR2 Therapeutics is initiating a partnership with academia to boost its TCR technology with the aim of overcoming the huge challenges of treating solid tumors. TCR2 Therapeutics, a Boston immuno-oncology startup launched in 2015 and funded by the Munich biotech mafia, is starting the year with a multi-year collaboration with the University Hospital of Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) in, […] January 3, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 28 Dec 2016 Discussing the Future of Personalized Medicine with Biotech Experts Personalized medicine has been a popular topic in the last few years, but when will it materialize? Experts discussed the current challenges at Labiotech Refresh. Jean-Pol Detiffe is the CEO of OncoDNA, a company using next-generation sequencing to match patients with a personalized cancer treatment. In his opinion, one of the main challenges in the […] December 28, 2016 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 23 Dec 2016 The 8 Biggest Biotech Medical Fails of 2016 in Europe Although 2016 has brought plenty of good news in medical advances, biotech is an industry where failure is part of the game. Here’s a list of medical fails in biotech to learn from this year. Unfortunately, 2016 has not been a good year for pharma, with revenues in the top companies falling, the lowest number […] December 23, 2016 - 5 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 22 Dec 2016 BMS Offers €850M for a British Oncolytic Virus better than CAR-T BMS is offering PsiOxus Therapeutics a massive deal to get exclusive rights of an oncolytic virus that could outperform the promising CAR-T therapies. PsiOxus Therapeutics, based in Oxford, develops immuno-oncolytic viruses to treat solid tumors. Its technology attracted a partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb earlier this year, which is now offering the British biotech an impressive €850M […] December 22, 2016 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Best in Biotech 22 Dec 2016 The 10 Biggest Clinical Success Stories of 2016 in European Biotech What are the most impressive advances in medical biotechnology this year? From cancer to peanut allergy, here’s a list of the best success stories of 2016. Biotech is becoming a powerful driving force in medicine, providing innovative therapies that could end some of the most severe diseases. To celebrate the advances in the area of […] December 22, 2016 - 5 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Dec 2016 Mini-Organs grown in Switzerland are Here to Change Drug Discovery This week we travel to Lausanne, a thriving biotech hub in Switzerland. Here, QGel is working to replicate the complexity of life in vitro in lab-grown mini-organs to improve drug discovery. Cool, right? City: Lausanne, Switzerland Founded: 2009 Employees: 11-50 Financial data: Total of €12M raised (12/2016) Mission: QGel creates personalized arrays that can mimic the cellular architecture of different organs. […] December 16, 2016 - 1 minutemin - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Dec 2016 Young Immuno-Oncology Biotechs attract Funding to Cure Metastasis Amcure and TILT Biotherapeutics announced yesterday new financing rounds supporting the development of unique strategies to cure cancer metastasis. Amcure, in Germany, is fighting highly metastatic forms of cancer by targeting angiogenesis. The company just closed a Series B round with a total of €6M from already existing investors. With the funds, Amcure plans to accelerate […] December 16, 2016 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email