News and Trends 3 Jun 2020 What Did European Oncology Players Offer at ASCO 2020? Despite widespread clinical trial delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic, many oncology biotechs have been able to continue their fight against cancer. With advances in CAR T-cell therapies, cancer vaccines, RNA drugs, and more, European companies held a strong presence at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) this year. The huge ASCO conference has […] June 3, 2020 - 10 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 28 May 2020 French Startup Secures €2.3M to Advance Cancer RNA Immunotherapy Lyon-based biopharmaceutical company Tollys has closed a Series A funding round of €2.3M to bring its lead RNA immunotherapy candidate to clinical trials in people with bladder cancer. The round was closed on the basis of the company reaching preclinical proof-of-concept for the drug. It brings the total amount raised by Tollys to €6.4M since […] May 28, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Laura Cowen Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 2 Apr 2020 iTeos Therapeutics’ Cancer Immunotherapy Boosted with €114M Funding An oversubscribed Series B2 round has seen the biopharmaceutical company iTeos Therapeutics raise €114M, which will be used to advance the clinical development of its two lead cancer immunotherapies. The funds follow on from €65M raised by iTeos in Series B financing in 2018. Since then, the Belgian company has completed a phase I trial […] April 2, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Laura Cowen Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 27 Mar 2020 This Startup is Making a Cancer Vaccine out of Viruses Valo Therapeutics is operating both in the UK and Finland to develop a cancer vaccine based on a virus designed to kill tumors. Mission: To combine two different immunotherapy techniques — oncolytic viruses and cancer vaccines — into one treatment for solid tumors. Immunotherapy has transformed the cancer treatment landscape, offering therapies such as checkpoint […] March 27, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 13 Mar 2020 This Startup Hits Hidden Proteins to Make Cancer Immunotherapies With one foot in Belgium and another in the US, Orionis Biosciences combines US and European talent to develop cancer immunotherapies targeting difficult protein targets. Mission: To fight cancer with two technologies. The first is modifying immune proteins called cytokines to trigger the body to produce specific immune cells against a tumor. The second is […] March 13, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 26 Feb 2020 Bicycle Therapeutics Partners Genentech in Deal Worth €1.6B UK biotech Bicycle Therapeutics will collaborate with Genentech, now part of the Roche Group, to develop novel cancer immunotherapies and take them to market. Genentech will pay €28M upfront to Bicycle, but if discovery, regulatory and commercial milestones are met then the deal could be worth up to €1.6B for the Cambridge-based company. Bicycle’s technology […] February 26, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Best in Biotech 24 Feb 2020 Meet 20 European Immuno-Oncology Companies that are Fighting Cancer With the success of CAR T-cell therapies and other innovative medicines in this area, immuno-oncology has become a buzzword in biotech, with more and more companies starting up in Europe and elsewhere. With so many players involved, it can be hard to know who is doing what. Here are 20 European companies we think stand […] February 24, 2020 - 12 minutesmins - By Larissa Warneck-Silvestrin Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 5 Feb 2020 Harnessing Genetic Suppression to Treat Rare Disease Through quirks of genetics, some people are naturally resilient to heritable diseases. Thijn Brummelkamp, Managing Director and founder of the Dutch startup Scenic Biotech, explains how the company is using this genetic resilience to treat rare diseases and cancer. Heritable diseases result from genetic mutations that cause essential proteins in the body to malfunction. For […] February 5, 2020 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Startup Scout 31 Jan 2020 This Cancer Immunotherapy Attacks the Sugar Coat of Tumor Cells The Portuguese company CellmAbs is developing cancer immunotherapies that prevent tumor cells from evading the immune system by hitting sugar molecules on their surface. Mission: To develop drugs that bind with a type of sugar molecules only found on the surface of cancer cells called aberrant glycans. Some of these aberrant glycans are able to […] January 31, 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 22 Jan 2020 Off-The-Shelf Lung Cancer Vaccine Clinical Trial Gets €20M Boost The French-Belgian company PDC*Line Pharma has raised a €20M Series B round to fund an ongoing phase I/II trial of its off-the-shelf therapeutic vaccine for lung cancer. The total €20M consists of €13.9M in equity investments and €6.1M in loans and subsidies from the Walloon Region of Belgium. PDC*Line’s current investors took part in the […] January 22, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Jan 2020 BioNTech Expands Cancer Portfolio With US Biotech Acquisition German cancer specialist BioNTech will acquire US T-cell therapy biotech Neon Therapeutics in a deal worth €60M, both to expand its cancer therapy pipeline and establish a US base. The deal is expected to complete in the second half of 2020, after which Neon will operate as a subsidiary of BioNTech. BioNTech has arguably scooped […] January 16, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email