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 20 Aug 2019 Nabriva Therapeutics Gets FDA Green Light for Pneumonia Antibiotic The US FDA has approved Nabriva Therapeutics’ Xenleta for treating community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, the first in a new class of antibiotics developed to treat this condition. Xenleta, also known as lefamulin, was discovered almost 10 years ago by Nabriva Therapeutics, a spinout company from Novartis split between Austria, Ireland and the US. The approval is […] August 20, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Aug 2019 First Potential Chlamydia Vaccine Shows Early Promise A vaccine targeting the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia, which would be the first of its kind if approved, has proved safe and able to stimulate the immune system in a phase I trial. In the phase I trial, the vaccine was injected into 35 healthy women. Blood samples from the volunteers were then measured to […] August 16, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 15 Aug 2019 Swiss Scientists Upgrade CRISPR to Edit Many Genes at Once A research group at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, has made it possible to edit hundreds of genes at once with CRISPR gene editing. CRISPR gene editing has revolutionized the biotech industry by providing an easy and quick way to genetically modify organisms. So far, however, CRISPR techniques have only managed to edit a maximum of seven […] August 15, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Aug 2019 Engineered Skin Shows Potential to Treat Burns in Phase I Engineered skin tissue, developed as a regenerative medicine by the UK-US pharma company Mallinckrodt, has reduced the need for skin grafts in burns victims in a phase Ib trial. The phase I trial tested Mallinckrodt’s engineered skin treatment in 29 patients suffering from deep second degree burns. Patients with these burns have damage to the […] August 14, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 Aug 2019 AskBio Acquires Scottish Biotech to Make Gene Therapies More Precise The US company AskBio has acquired the Edinburgh-based Synpromics to pool their gene therapy technologies and produce inducible gene therapies that target particular organs or cells. AskBio specializes in developing viral vectors that carry gene therapies into cells, such as adeno-associated virus, whereas Synpromics develops DNA sequences called promoters that drive the expression of gene […] August 13, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 12 Aug 2019 Manufacturing Delays Set Back Autolus’ CAR-T Programs by Five Months The UK biotech Autolus’ shares have slumped as construction delays from a new manufacturing site have pushed back its CAR-T cell immunotherapy programs. Autolus is developing treatments for blood cancer that involve engineering patients’ own immune cells to kill cancer cells, known as autologous CAR-T cell immunotherapies. Earlier this year, Autolus licensed a new manufacturing […] August 12, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 7 Aug 2019 Late-Stage Clinical Trial Troubles for Dry Eye Disease Drug A drug developed by the UK company Topivert Pharma has failed to reduce eyeball grittiness sensations in patients with dry eye disease in a phase II/III trial. The trial tested Topivert’s small molecule drug given as eyedrops to 202 patients suffering from dry eye disease, a condition where not enough tears are produced to lubricate […] August 7, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 6 Aug 2019 ADC Therapeutics and SOPHiA Genetics Team Up to Personalize Cancer Treatment Two companies based in Lausanne, Switzerland — ADC Therapeutics and the genomics company SOPHiA Genetics — have signed a deal to identify patients most likely to respond to a blood cancer drug. ADC Therapeutics will send SOPHiA Genetics blood samples collected from an ongoing phase II trial. The trial is testing a treatment for patients […] August 6, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 2 Aug 2019 Oncolytic Virus for Liver Cancer Ruled Futile in Phase III A phase III trial testing an oncolytic virus treatment for liver cancer, developed by the French biotech Transgene, has been discontinued after interim analyses concluded that the treatment was unlikely to succeed. Originally expected to finish in 2020, the phase III trial tested the oncolytic virus treatment Pexa-Vec in patients with the liver cancer hepatocellular […] August 2, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 31 Jul 2019 British Biotech Raises €11M to Market Personalized Medicine Test The UK biotech PredictImmune has raised €11M (£10M) in a Series B fundraising round to commercialize technology to predict the progress of inflammatory bowel disease in newly diagnosed patients. The funds will finance the global launch of PredictSURE IBD, a blood test that can identify patients with the most severe cases of inflammatory bowel disease, […] July 31, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 31 Jul 2019 Wellington Partners Raises €210M to Invest in European Life Sciences VC firm Wellington Partners has raised its fifth fund dedicated to investing in life science companies, with a major focus on those located in German-speaking countries. Wellington Partners has well surpassed its initial target of €150M for its fifth life sciences fund. With a total €210M raised, this new fund is more than double the […] July 31, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email