In Depth 25 May 2020 Could Cell Therapy Target the Symptoms of Severe Covid-19? The excessive inflammatory response seen in the most serious cases of Covid-19, along with shortages of ventilators, has caused a healthcare crisis in many countries around the world. Could cell therapy provide an answer to this dilemma? Most people who become infected with Covid-19 experience symptoms such as a dry cough and mild fever, and […] May 25, 2020 - 5 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 29 Apr 2020 Pluristem Scores €50M From EIB to Develop Covid-19 Cell Therapy Israeli cell therapy biotech Pluristem Therapeutics has secured up to €50M in non-dilutive funding from the European Investment Bank to progress its coronavirus-targeting cell therapy to phase III. The partners plan to sign the funding agreement at the end of April and Pluristem will initially receive €20M followed by two further installments totaling up to […] April 29, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 24 Apr 2020 UK Startup to Manufacture Cell and Gene Therapies with Microfluidics The UK company MicrofluidX has closed a €1.6M (£1.4 M) seed funding round to develop a microfluidic platform that could produce cell and gene therapies more cheaply than conventional cell cultures. The funding round was led by UKI2S, a national seed investment fund targeting early-stage companies, as well as Longwall Ventures and Cambridge Angels. MicrofluidX […] April 24, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By David Kirk Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 23 Apr 2020 Mogrify Teams Up With Sangamo To Streamline Cell Immunotherapies The UK cell conversion startup Mogrify and the US genomic medicine company Sangamo have reached an exclusive license agreement that could allow Sangamo to scale up the production of off-the-shelf Treg cell therapies for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Under the terms of the agreement, Mogrify will receive an undisclosed upfront payment from Sangamo and will […] April 23, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Laura Cowen Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Apr 2020 Irish Biotech Raises €18M to Develop Non-Viral Cell Therapy Technology The Irish company Avectas has closed a Series C round to develop cell therapies that don’t need viral vectors — a common bottleneck in cell therapy manufacturing. The fundraise of approximately €18M brings Avectas’ total equity funding to around €37M. The round was led by the company’s current shareholders, which include the serial life sciences […] April 16, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 28 Feb 2020 This Startup Is Automating the Manufacture of Gene and Cell Therapies In London, the firm Ori Biotech is developing an automated way to manufacture gene and cell therapies, a bottleneck for many biotech companies. Mission: To develop a robotic system to automate the labor-intensive tasks involved in manufacturing cell and gene therapies, such as gene transduction and cell expansion. Gene and cell therapies are maturing as […] February 28, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 Feb 2020 Immatics Partners GSK in Deal Worth €1B to Develop Cancer Therapies The German biotech Immatics will partner with GSK and could receive more than €1B from the big pharma for developing cancer immunotherapies based on engineered immune T-cells. Immatics will collaborate with GSK to develop two T-cell therapies that express a protein engineered to detect cancer antigens and kill cancer cells. In return, Immatics will receive […] February 20, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 27 Jan 2020 UK Startup Snaps up Potential Universal Cancer Immunotherapy The cancer vaccine developer Ervaxx has licensed a preclinical-stage ‘universal’ cancer immunotherapy based on the recent discovery of a new strain of immune T-cells at Cardiff University, UK. Last week, a team led by researchers at Cardiff University published research about T-cells capable of hunting a wide range of cancers including leukemia and melanoma. Experiments […] January 27, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 21 Jan 2020 T-Cell Discovery Could Herald Universal Cancer Immunotherapy An international research team has found a new type of T-cell that could lead to cell immunotherapies able to treat cancers beyond the reach of current CAR T-cell therapies. Market-approved CAR T-cell therapies including Yescarta and Kymriah have revolutionized cancer treatment by modifying immune T-cells to hunt down cancer cells. However, these treatments are only […] January 21, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 15 Jan 2020 Adaptimmune to Take Off-The-Shelf CAR-T to Phase I with Astellas The UK biotech Adaptimmune Therapeutics has inked a deal worth up to €806M with Japanese Astellas Pharma to complete phase I trials of candidate off-the-shelf T-cell therapies for cancer including CAR T-cell and TCR therapies. According to the deal, Adaptimmune will collaborate with Universal Cells, a subsidiary of Astellas. The partners will aim to identify […] January 15, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Expert Advice 11 Dec 2019 What Makes a Successful Biotech? How does it feel to have co-developed the most successful drug in the world? This is something Jane Osbourn, now Chair of the Board at UK cell therapy biotech Mogrify, knows only too well. Early in her career, Osbourn was working as a postdoc in Cambridge and was persuaded to join a small, and at […] December 11, 2019 - 12 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 Nov 2019 Mass Layoffs as Dutch Biotech Cancels Phase III Cell Therapy Trial The Dutch company Kiadis Pharma has discontinued the development of a cell therapy in blood cancer, laid off half of its workforce, and switched focus to other, less advanced cell therapy programs. The abandoned phase III trial was testing Kiadis Pharma’s lead cell therapy for the treatment of graft-versus-host disease, a complication of stem cell […] November 13, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email