News and Trends 9 Jan 2018 Scancell and BioNTech Will Combine Their Expertise to Fight Cancer Scancell has brought in BioNTech to develop T-cell receptors against specific target proteins in cancer cells, opening the door to new cancer treatments that target them. Scancell works on immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and it has announced that it will come together with Europe’s largest private biopharma, BioNTech, to develop T-cell receptor (TCR)-based therapies. […] January 9, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 4 Jan 2018 Boehringer Ingelheim Doubles its Venture Fund for Exciting Biotech Boehringer Ingelheim has committed to continue helping young companies grow by doubling the size of its venture fund to €250M, which will allow it to expand its focus. Boehringer Ingelheim is a big pharma hoping to drive the development of new and effective medicines. Today, the company announced that it has more than doubled the size of […] January 4, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 4 Jan 2018 German Biotech Raises Record $270M Series A for Individualized Cancer Therapies BioNTech will dedicate its huge fundraising to develop personalized cancer immunotherapies using CAR-T, TCR and mRNA technologies. BioNTech is kicking off the new year with great news. The company has closed its Series A with $270M (€225M) — a record amount in Germany for such an early funding round. The fundraising was led by the […] January 4, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 21 Dec 2017 Scientists Find New Immune Target to Stop Progression of Alzheimer’s Scientists have described a new mechanism by which the immune system can drive Alzheimer’s and shown that blocking it can prevent the disease in mice. A study published yesterday in Nature details how a molecule involved in the innate immune response can promote the aggregation of amyloid-β plaques that appear in the brains of patients […] December 21, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 19 Dec 2017 Schizophrenia and Drug Delivery Biotechs Sign a Major Pharma Partner Santa Claus is not the only busy one in the weeks leading up to Christmas this year, with Boehringer Ingelheim signing collaborations with Autifony and Evox Therapeutics. In the last couple of days, Boehringer Ingelheim has agreed to collaborate with two exciting British biotechs. On Monday, a deal worth up to €627.5M was agreed with CNS disorders specialist, […] December 19, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Dec 2017 German Biotech’s Gene Therapy for Osteoarthritis Plucked by US Pharma GeneQuine’s gene therapy for osteoarthritis in the knee has been acquired by US pharma company Flexion Therapeutics for up to $64M. GeneQuine is developing a gene therapy for the treatment of osteoarthritis. It uses helper-dependent adenoviruses, which provide long-term expression, a higher packaging capacity, reduced immunogenicity and they do not integrate into the host genome. It seems like yesterday […] December 14, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 7 Dec 2017 Taking Aim at Lung Cancer: New Triple Combination Therapy Boosts Survival A new first-line combination therapy for advanced non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer improved progression-free survival during a Phase III trial. Scientists based at the Lung Clinic Grosshansdorf, Hamburg, and Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, have presented the results of a Phase III study at the ESMO Immuno Oncology Congress 2017. The study was the first to investigate a combination […] December 7, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 23 Nov 2017 Janssen’s Psoriasis Drug is Given a Thumbs Up for Use in Europe Following its FDA approval in July, MorphoSys’ anti-IL23 antibody has been approved to treat moderate-to-severe psoriasis by the European Commission. German biotech, MorphoSys, is a leader in the field of therapeutic antibodies for series diseases including cancer, arthritis and Alzheimer’s. Today, the company has announced that the licensee, Janssen, has received approval from the European Commission […] November 23, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 21 Nov 2017 German Biotech Reels in €34M for its Cancer-Killing Technology Heidelberg Pharma is developing Antibody Targeted Amanitin Conjugates (ATACs), which combine antibody-drug conjugate technology with the toxin, Amanitin. Heidelberg Pharma has attracted over €34M of investment to support the development of its Antibody Targeted Amanitin Conjugates (ATACs) technology. The biotech, formerly Wilex, is developing drugs for cancer and autoimmune diseases, with the hope that the addition of Amanitin to antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology could produce […] November 21, 2017 - 1 minutemin - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 Nov 2017 British and German Scientists Chuck Proteins in the Trash to Uncover their Function Trim-Away removes a protein to uncover its true function, which will support disease research and potentially the development of new therapies. Scientists at the Medical Research Council in the UK and the Max Planck Institute in Germany have discovered Trim-Away, a new technique that can remove a protein from a cell so that its true function can […] November 20, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 20 Nov 2017 Thinking of Leaving Academia? Read this VC Partner’s Story Anne Portwich, Partner at venture capital firm LSP, told me about her career path and how to succeed in the life science industry. Anne Portwich became the first woman partner at LSP in 2011. The fund has raised more than $1B since it was founded more than 25 years ago, and the cash goes mainly to […] November 20, 2017 - 9 minutesmins - By Evelyn Warner Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Nov 2017 German Cancer Sensor Raises the Alarm and Puts the Fire Out No need to call the fire brigade! The University of Dresden’s cancer sensor spots a mutation to p53, the most important cancer gene, and kills the cell. Researchers at the University of Dresden, Germany, have developed a molecular sensor that detects a mutation in tumor protein p53 – implicated in 50% of cancers – and kills […] November 16, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email