Best in Biotech 8 May 2019 Top 10 Biotechs in Lausanne The Swiss city of Lausanne is perhaps best known as a hub of international sport, but what many outsiders may not realize is that it’s also one of Switzerland’s biggest biotech hubs. Many of the biotechs in the city are connected to the University of Lausanne (UNIL), as well as the renowned Swiss Federal Institute […] May 8, 2019 - 7 minutesmins - By David Cox Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 3 May 2019 Drug Mopping Up Bacterial Toxins Shows Potential to Tackle Antibiotic Resistance in Phase I An antibiotic-enhancing drug developed by the Swiss biotech Combioxin to tackle antibiotic resistance showed promising effects in a phase I trial. Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem around the world, causing common infections such as pneumonia to become harder to treat. As standard antibiotics become less and less effective, we urgently need to find new […] May 3, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 30 Apr 2019 Swiss Biotech Raises €11M to Develop Treatments for Liver Fibrosis Founded in March this year, Alentis Therapeutics has bagged a Series A round of €11.1M (CHF 12.5M) to develop antibody drugs treating liver fibrosis, which currently has no approved treatments. Liver fibrosis is the scarring of liver tissue, which can happen as a consequence of aging, chronic hepatitis or conditions such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). […] April 30, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 29 Apr 2019 Viruses Evolve to Defeat CRISPR-Cas9 in Genetically-Modified Plants Researchers found that viral pathogens can quickly evolve to overcome transgenic cassava plants expressing the bacterial weapon CRISPR-Cas9, which could have major regulatory implications. Geminiviruses are pathogens that kill off crops such as beans, cotton and cassava plants. Past efforts to breed plants that are resistant to infection have not been successful. One potential method […] April 29, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 3 Apr 2019 Joint Venture First to Offer Seamless Manufacturing of Microbiome Therapies Lonza, a Swiss pharma supplier, and Chr. Hansen, a Danish supplier of bacterial products, are teaming up to enter the promising microbiome space. Together, the two companies will invest €90M in the creation of the first company that will offer a full supply chain to produce treatments made of live bacteria. Their 50/50 joint venture […] April 3, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 2 Apr 2019 Swiss Scientists Make Synthetic Bacterial Genome Using Computers Synthetic biology researchers at ETH Zurich are the first to construct a simplified artificial bacterial genome with the help of computer algorithms, which could lead to better-engineered microorganisms for the production of therapeutics and other chemicals. Back in 2008, US researchers led by the famous biologist John Craig Venter made headlines for synthesizing the genome […] April 2, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 28 Mar 2019 Swiss Biotech Raises €20M to Develop Decoy Drugs in Autoimmune Disease The biotech Polyneuron has raised a Series A round of €20.1M (CHF 22.5M) to start human testing with a treatment for a rare autoimmune disease. Based in Basel, Polyneuron is developing drugs to treat anti-MAG peripheral neuropathy. This debilitating disease is caused by the immune system producing autoantibodies that attack nerve support cells, which stops […] March 28, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 4 Mar 2019 Swiss Biotech Raises €8.8M to Progress Regenerative Stroke Treatment The Swiss company NovaGo has raised €8.8M (CHF 10M) in Series A funding to develop one of the first therapies to help the nervous system regenerate after a stroke. Novago develops antibodies that inhibit Nogo-A, a key molecule that stops nerve cells from growing new connections in the adult brain and spinal cord. This lets […] March 4, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 27 Feb 2019 How to Make Cancer Drug Resistance Futile For many solid tumors, treatments undergo a cycle: the drugs initially work well, the tumor shrinks, but then becomes resistant again. Stefanie Flückiger-Mangual, CEO of the Swiss biotech Tolremo, believes that this cycle can be stopped. Solid tumors often act like a recurring villain in a TV series. Whatever drug you throw at them, however […] February 27, 2019 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 26 Feb 2019 Swiss Scientists Find ‘Silver Bullet’ Against Bacterial Infections Using the gene editing tool CRISPR-Cas9, researchers in Lausanne have uncovered antimicrobial molecules in the fruit fly that can selectively kill certain bacteria. This could lead to new therapeutics combatting antimicrobial resistance, and even preventing infections before they start. The research shows the antimicrobial molecules, or peptides, have the potential to treat infections of pathogens […] February 26, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 Feb 2019 Inflammatory Disease Treatment Backed by €20M Series A The Swiss company Calypso Biotech has raised a sizeable €20M to fund its immunotherapy for an allergy-related inflammatory disease. The Series A round will help to develop Calypso’s antibody treatment for eosinophilic esophagitis, a condition where patients have an inflamed esophagus and difficulty swallowing. This condition is often linked with allergies to food, such as […] February 20, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 18 Feb 2019 Enormous Series A to Help Bring Epilepsy Drug to Market One of the biggest Series A rounds in European biotech, €159M ($180M), has been raised by the Swiss company Arvelle Therapeutics to help commercialize its epilepsy drug. Formed just this month, Arvelle plans to submit an application for EMA approval for the small molecule drug cenobamate, which it has licensed from the South Korean company […] February 18, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email