News and Trends 15 Jan 2020 Adaptimmune to Take Off-The-Shelf CAR-T to Phase I with Astellas The UK biotech Adaptimmune Therapeutics has inked a deal worth up to €806M with Japanese Astellas Pharma to complete phase I trials of candidate off-the-shelf T-cell therapies for cancer including CAR T-cell and TCR therapies. According to the deal, Adaptimmune will collaborate with Universal Cells, a subsidiary of Astellas. The partners will aim to identify […] January 15, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Jan 2020 Update: Horizon Discovery to Offer Partners Precise CRISPR Gene Editing Update (14/01/20): Horizon Discovery will offer partners access to a precise version of CRISPR gene editing technology it has licensed from researchers at Rutgers University in the US. After a year of research and development, the UK biotech has incorporated the base-editing technique into its drug discovery platform and will use it to develop better […] January 14, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Jan 2020 Bluebird Bio Launches First Gene Therapy for Beta Thalassemia in Germany The US company bluebird bio has launched the first gene therapy for the blood disorder transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia in the EU, with a hospital in Germany becoming its first qualified treatment center. Bluebird bio’s gene therapy, branded as Zynteglo, was given conditional market approval by the EU in June 2019. It was the first gene […] January 14, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 Jan 2020 KaNDy’s Menopause Treatment Tackles Hot Flashes in Phase II A non-hormonal menopause treatment that targets the brain’s ‘thermostat’, developed by the UK company KaNDy Therapeutics, has significantly reduced hot flashes and improved quality of life in postmenopausal women in a phase IIb trial. The 199 women recruited into the study were experiencing a minimum of seven hot flashes per day. After 12 weeks of […] January 13, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 10 Jan 2020 Eyevensys’ Gene Therapy for Blindness Boosted with €27M Series B The French company Eyevensys has raised €27M to fund the launch of a phase II trial for its lead candidate, a non-viral gene therapy for an eye condition called uveitis that can lead to blindness. The Series B round was led by the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund. New investors to Eyevensys in this round included […] January 10, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 9 Jan 2020 Emergex Vaccines Secures €10M to Advance Synthetic Vaccine Development The UK biotech Emergex Vaccines has raised over €9.9M in a Series A funding round, which will allow it to progress the development of vaccines against diseases such as dengue, influenza, and Ebola to phase I clinical trials. Emergex specializes in the development of ‘set-point’ vaccines, which company CEO and co-founder Thomas Rademacher describes as […] January 9, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 9 Jan 2020 French Biotech Raises €19M to Hit Phase I with Cancer Immunotherapy Alderaan Biotechnology has raised an €18.5M Series A round to push its lead cancer immunotherapy drug to phase I. The UK VC firm Medicxi and the returning French VC investor Advent France Biotechnology contributed to the round. Alderaan, whose name was inspired by a fictional planet in the Star Wars movies, will use part of […] January 9, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 8 Jan 2020 Therachon Founders Spin Out New Rare Disease Biotech With €31M Investment The founders of Swiss biotech Therachon have launched a new company called VectivBio, also based in Basel, with €31M funding to develop drugs for rare diseases. The spin-out comes after Therachon was acquired by Pfizer last year in a deal worth up to €700M. Therachon’s CEO, CBO, CFO and CMO will all move to the […] January 8, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 8 Jan 2020 NorthSea Therapeutics Raises €36M to Complete NASH Phase II Trial The Dutch biotech NorthSea Therapeutics has raised a €36M ($40M) Series B round to fund the end of a phase IIb trial of its lead fatty acid drug to treat the liver condition NASH, as well as advancing two other drugs to clinical trials. There were two newcomers to the round: the US investor venBio […] January 8, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 7 Jan 2020 Update: Chinese Pharma Enlists Synaffix’s ADC Technology for Second Drug Update (07/01/2020): Shanghai Miracogen has expanded its pre-existing license agreement with the Dutch biotech Synaffix. Under the terms of the new agreement, the Chinese pharma will use Synaffix’s antibody-drug conjugate technology to develop a second drug for the treatment of cancer. No financial details were disclosed. Published 10/04/2019: Shanghai Miracogen will pay up to €111M […] January 7, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 7 Jan 2020 AstraZeneca Recruits RNA Biotech to Develop Metabolic Disease Therapies The UK biotech MiNA Therapeutics has launched a collaboration with AstraZeneca to develop small activating RNA drugs, which could treat metabolic diseases using targets unreachable by current medications. According to the agreement, the two partners will carry out preclinical research with the aim of generating candidate drugs based on small activating RNA, or saRNA — […] January 7, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 6 Jan 2020 BioNTech’s RNA-Boosted CAR T-Cell Therapy Shrinks Tumors in Mice A CAR T-cell therapy amplified by RNA technology, developed by BioNTech, has shown preclinical potential for tackling solid tumors, which are hard to treat with current CAR T-cell therapies. In a study published in Science, the CAR T-cell and RNA combination therapy suppressed tumors in mice implanted with human ovarian cancer for longer than regular […] January 6, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email