Best in Biotech 22 Dec 2021 The Biggest European Biotech News of 2021 In spite of the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the European biotech industry has emerged stronger than ever this year. These were the key moments for the sector in 2021. The year 2021 has seen skyrocketing fortunes for many European biotech players. Investment firms, for instance, raised far more funding than in 2020, which […] December 22, 2021 - 10 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Infographics by Merck 15 Nov 2021 Gene therapy: Making Rare Disease Therapies Less Rare While individually uncommon, rare diseases collectively impact the lives of over 300 million people worldwide. Many rare conditions are chronic, progressive, and life-threatening with limited treatment options available. Advances in gene therapy provide hope to actual cures and could revolutionize treatment prospects for patients with rare genetic diseases. This infographic shows how we can unlock […] November 15, 2021 - 2 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 4 Nov 2021 Skilled Labor Shortages Impact Cell And Gene Therapy Manufacturing Despite vast amounts of funding entering the cell and gene therapy field, the manufacture of these therapies is held back by skill shortages. Increasing training programs and automation could form the solution. The cell and gene therapy fields enjoyed their best-ever funding yield in the first half of 2021, with €12.2B ($14.1B) netted globally. However, […] November 4, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Sponsored by OXGENE 26 Oct 2021 Plasmids: How to Solve a Bottleneck in Scalable Gene Therapy Manufacturing? As gene therapies become increasingly successful, companies are in a competitive race to deliver manufacturing technologies that can streamline large-scale production at reduced costs and faster turnaround times. However, plasmids, the building blocks of viral vectors, remain a bottleneck in gene therapy manufacturing. Two companies have united to provide exciting alternatives. With over 2,400 gene […] October 26, 2021 - 7 minutesmins - By Letícia Manosso Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 4 Oct 2021 Non-Viral Gene Therapies Get €51M Boost, Though Challenges Remain Although most gene therapy still relies on non-infectious viral vectors for delivery, a recent venture financing round for the Swiss company Anjarium Biosciences has shone the spotlight on alternative vectors, including lipid nanoparticles and electric pulses. Last month, Anjarium Biosciences raised €51M (CHF55.5M) in a Series A financing round to advance its gene delivery system […] October 4, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 12 Jul 2021 Sofinnova Taps into Italian Gene Therapy with Three Seed Financings The French investor Sofinnova Partners has injected a total of €6M into three Italian gene therapy companies, cementing Italy’s reputation as a European center for cell and gene therapies. Last month, the venture capitalist Sofinnova Partners used its Telethon fund to inject cash into AAVantgarde Bio, Borea Therapeutics, and Alia Therapeutics. The three firms will […] July 12, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 8 Jul 2021 The Top European Biotech Funding Rounds in June While oncology and psychedelics dominated European biotech’s biggest funding rounds last month, startup seed financing focused more on gene therapy and drug discovery. Last month saw some momentous events for Europe’s biotech heavyweights. GSK paid an impressive €524M ($625M) upfront to co-develop an immuno-oncology candidate with iTeos Therapeutics in Belgium. Meanwhile, the German antibody drug […] July 8, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 May 2021 Delayed IPOs and Market Drops Batter Biotech Stocks Stock markets worldwide have experienced painful instability in the last few months. As a result, the European biotech market has seen stock prices falling and IPOs postponed. The Covid-19 pandemic was a major disruption for stock markets across the globe at the start of 2020. However, markets like Euronext and the tech-focused Nasdaq rallied and […] May 25, 2021 - 6 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 4 May 2021 Bluebird Bio Withdrawal Raises Gene Therapy Doubts in Europe Last month, the US firm bluebird bio abandoned the sale of its gene therapy Zynteglo in Germany after a pricing dispute with health authorities — a blow that could have repercussions for the rollout of other gene therapies in Europe. Zynteglo was approved in the EU in 2019 as the first-ever gene therapy for the […] May 4, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 Mar 2021 Covid-19 Vaccine Approvals Bring Hope and Challenges for Adenoviral Technology The rise of adenoviral Covid-19 vaccines highlights the potential of companies using similar technology in other fields like cancer or gene therapy. However, complex challenges remain, such as circumventing immunity to adenoviral treatments. Earlier this month, Johnson & Johnson’s candidate became the first single-shot Covid-19 vaccine to get the EMA green light. The vaccine is […] March 25, 2021 - 6 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 8 Feb 2021 How Next-Generation Gene Therapy Tackles Complex Diseases Gene therapy has traditionally been applied to well-understood diseases where a single genetic mutation was to blame. A new generation of technology is expanding the potential of gene therapy to treat conditions that were previously unreachable. Since the first gene therapy clinical trials in the 1990s, the technology has made its way into the market […] February 8, 2021 - 8 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández 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