News and Trends 22 Oct 2021 Gene-Edited T Cell Therapy Players Battle Safety Doubts Confidence in gene-edited T cell therapies from donor cells has faltered as Allogene Therapeutics paused all clinical development following the detection of an unexpected genetic change in a clinical trial. Industry experts see these events as a reality check for the nascent field. Off-the-shelf treatments that use genetically engineered T cells to treat diseases suffered […] October 22, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 13 Oct 2021 Thinking About Risk Early on Is Key for Cell Therapy Success For cell therapy to become mainstream, important issues such as management of risk and quality control need to be addressed, argues Duncan Borthwick, Global Marketing Manager at cell therapy manufacturing firm Solentim. Research and development of cell therapies, along with other advanced medicines like gene therapies, has increased exponentially over the last few years. According […] October 13, 2021 - 7 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 17 Sep 2021 Cell Therapy Firm Raises €64M to Revolutionize Manufacturing This week’s €64M Series B fundraise from the French firm TreeFrog Therapeutics is the latest in a thriving movement to make the manufacture of gene and cell therapies easier and cheaper. Cell and gene therapies offer huge potential to treat a wide range of diseases including cancer, neurological, and genetic diseases. They have even shown […] September 17, 2021 - 8 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 15 Sep 2021 Blood Cells: The Future of Drug Delivery From red blood cells to platelets, the cells in our own blood could prove an effective way of delivering drugs to their target and improving their safety. Many pharmaceutical drugs in the market come with side effects that generally arise from their effects on parts of the body other than their intended target. Even when […] September 15, 2021 - 7 minutesmins - By Sachin Rawat Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 26 Jul 2021 Europe’s TCR Therapy Scene Gains Traction with €40M Series B Swedish firm Anocca’s fundraising is the first major venture capital round to go to a European TCR therapy developer this year; another sign that the technology is gaining momentum. Last year was a busy one for companies developing cell therapies for cancer based on engineering T-cell receptors (TCRs), known as TCR or TCR-T cell therapies. […] July 26, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Best in Biotech 28 Dec 2020 A Year to Remember: The Biggest European Biotech News in 2020 The Covid-19 pandemic caused huge disruption for European biotech in 2020, but the industry pulled through. Let’s look back at some of the top moments in the last 12 months. After the many drug approvals, startup foundations, and venture capital highs we saw in 2019, it looked like 2020 was going to be a comfortable […] December 28, 2020 - 12 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 30 Nov 2020 Can Anti-Aging Research Keep Us Healthy in the Long Run? Searching for the fountain of eternal youth has been the dream of humanity for millennia. While this is still in the realm of science fiction, anti-aging companies are hoping to tackle age-related diseases by targeting the underlying biology of aging. While we’ve been hunting for immortality for millennia, there hasn’t been much success. However, an […] November 30, 2020 - 10 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 3 Nov 2020 Kiadis’ Natural Killer Cell Therapies Earn €308M Acquisition by Sanofi The French big pharma Sanofi has offered €308M to acquire the Dutch firm Kiadis Pharma and get hold of cancer cell therapies based on a type of immune cells called natural killer cells. The offer comes not long after Sanofi inked a deal worth up to €857.5M to license a preclinical-stage cancer cell therapy from […] November 3, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 28 Sep 2020 From Big Pharma to Startup CEO: Lessons from Kymriah Developer Gaurav Shah Novartis’ Kymriah, one of the first CAR T-cell therapies to be approved to treat blood cancer, has revolutionized both oncology and gene therapy. Gaurav Shah, now CEO of Rocket Pharmaceuticals, led the team that developed it. Shah began his career as a clinician, but soon moved over into the biotech sector to work at ImClone, […] September 28, 2020 - 9 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Sep 2020 T-Cell Therapy Firm Wins Massive €93M Series A to Treat Solid Tumors The Dutch startup Neogene Therapeutics has become the second T-cell therapy developer to raise a spectacularly large Series A round in Europe this year. The Series A round was co-led by the VC firms EcoR1 Capital, Syncona, and Jeito Capital. Neogene Therapeutics will use part of the €93M proceeds to advance its T-cell therapy immuno-oncology […] September 14, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Aug 2020 Record Funding for Gene and Cell Therapy Accompanies Turbulent Times European companies developing advanced therapies such as gene and cell therapies secured at least €2.2B ($2.6B) in the first half of 2020. While this is encouraging in the face of Covid-19, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for all startups in the field, with many struggling to stay afloat during crippling national lockdowns. The funding received […] August 14, 2020 - 5 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 11 Aug 2020 How European Startups Have Advanced Cancer T-Cell Therapy in 2020 With the help of a huge €66M Series A round last week, the German startup T-knife is developing cancer T-cell immunotherapies with the help of genetically modified mice. However, this is just one of several cancer T-cell therapy startups making advances this year, with other innovations including off-the-shelf treatments and a potential universal cancer therapy. […] August 11, 2020 - 8 minutesmins - By Kostas Vavitsas Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email