News and Trends 13 Dec 2019 Transgene’s Cancer Vaccine Abandoned after Phase II Fail French biotech Transgene has ceased the development of a therapeutic cancer vaccine that failed to shrink tumors in patients with lung cancer in a phase II trial. In the phase II trial, Transgene tested its therapeutic cancer vaccine in combination with chemotherapy and the checkpoint inhibitor drug nivolumab, marketed as Opdivo. The treatment failed to […] December 13, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 6 Nov 2019 UK Biotech Launched to Target ‘Dark Antigens’ with Cancer Vaccines The London-based startup Ervaxx has launched with a €15.8M Series A round to develop cancer vaccines and cell therapies that target ‘dark antigens’ — normally silent genes in the genome that are expressed in cancer cells. Ervaxx’s Series A round was funded by the transatlantic venture capital firm SV Health Investors, as well as an […] November 6, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 Sep 2019 Danish Smallpox Vaccine Gets FDA Approval to Fight Bioterrorism A vaccine developed by the Danish company Bavarian Nordic has received FDA approval to prevent infections by monkeypox, as well as protect against the threat of a smallpox bioterror attack. This approval makes Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine the only approved vaccine in the world for preventing monkeypox, a rare viral infection that is similar to smallpox […] September 25, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 4 Sep 2019 Overcoming Clinical Setbacks to Fight Insect-Borne Diseases Sometimes things don’t go your way in the biotech industry. The CEO of Valneva, Thomas Lingelbach, shared his experience of migrating from big pharma to biotech, and how his first biotech company weathered phase III failures to develop vaccines for neglected diseases. Once confined to the less developed regions of the world, many insect-borne diseases […] September 4, 2019 - 9 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 22 Aug 2019 Austrian Vaccine Developer Signs Deal with MSD in ‘Blockbuster Indication’ Vienna-based Themis Bioscience will develop vaccine candidates against an undisclosed disease target in partnership with big pharma Merck Sharp & Dohme. As part of the agreement, MSD will provide research funding and make an equity investment in Themis Bioscience. In addition, Themis will be eligible to receive up to €200M in milestones, in addition to […] August 22, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Jul 2019 Boehringer Ingelheim Acquires Cancer Vaccine Biotech in €325M Deal The German giant Boehringer Ingelheim has acquired the Swiss company AMAL Therapeutics and its cancer vaccine technology in a deal worth up to €325M. The deal includes €225M in upfront and developmental milestone payments, as well as up to €100M in undisclosed commercial milestone payments. AMAL’s vaccine development pipeline includes five preclinical programs. The lead […] July 16, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 10 Jul 2019 French Startup’s Universal Flu Vaccine Development Boosted by €8M Series A The French biotech Osivax has advanced in the race to develop a universal flu vaccine, raising €8M to achieve clinical proof-of-concept. Osivax will use most of the funding to progress its lead candidate vaccine towards market approval. Targeting all strains of influenza A viruses, the vaccine is currently in a phase I trial, with results […] July 10, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 7 Jul 2019 European Biotech: The Insider View How has CRISPR changed drug development? How do you negotiate a good partnership? What are some of the hard decisions to make in founding a biotech? These are some of the questions that industry experts answered at Labiotech’s first Insider Day. Held exclusively for members, Labiotech’s first Insider Day aimed to explore the different aspects […] July 7, 2019 - 10 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 18 Jun 2019 Dutch Biotech Boosts Hepatitis B Vaccine Effectiveness Phase II results from Dutch biotech CyTuVax show its enhanced hepatitis B vaccine reduces non-responders by 13%. Around 15% of people receiving vaccines for hepatitis B fail to produce antibodies that protect them against the infection. These non-responders are often given more injections of the vaccine in an attempt to trigger the immune system, but […] June 18, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 12 Jun 2019 How Vaccines Could One Day Beat HIV Vaccines are humanity’s biggest achievement against infectious diseases. But could they defeat HIV, a particularly crafty virus? José Luis Cabero, CEO of Spanish biotech AELIX Therapeutics shared his experience developing an HIV vaccine at Labiotech Refresh in Barcelona. The concept of a vaccine is simple — priming the immune system against a pathogen so that […] June 12, 2019 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 5 Jun 2019 Highlights from European Biotech at ASCO 2019 European biotech companies gathered in Chicago, USA, to share the latest advances in cancer research at the biggest cancer conference of the year, ASCO 2019. This year’s conference has drawn fewer big blockbuster headlines than other years, but there was plenty to see nonetheless. There were results from many different clinical trials by big pharma […] June 5, 2019 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 28 May 2019 Viral Vaccines Could Be Weapons Against Alzheimer’s Disease Scientists in Sweden have found that some viruses can increase the buildup of protein ‘plaques’ linked to Alzheimer’s disease, a discovery that could lead to new vaccines treating the condition. According to Kariem Ezzat, one of the lead researchers based in Stockholm University, the group is looking for industrial collaborators to develop vaccines against viruses […] May 28, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email