News and Trends 14 Nov 2018 Parkinson’s Disease Vaccine Shows Preclinical Promise The biotech company United Neuroscience has developed a candidate Parkinson’s disease vaccine that targets a protein linked to the condition. The vaccine teaches the immune system to attack aggregations of alpha-synuclein. When this protein aggregates in neurons, it can lead to several neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson’s. In United Neuroscience’s preclinical study, the vaccine was able to prevent the […] November 14, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Nov 2018 CAR-T Promise for Patients with Solid Tumors A new CAR-T cancer therapy from the Belgian company Celyad has shown early positive results against solid tumors in two Phase I trials, including one trial that did not include add-on chemotherapy. In one ongoing Phase I trial, Celyad’s CAR-T therapy, combined with chemotherapy, successfully shrank tumors in three enrolled patients with aggressive colorectal cancer. One […] November 14, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 Nov 2018 Are Recent IPO Delays Bad News for European Biotech? Over the last two weeks, several biotech companies in Europe have decided to postpone IPOs on the stock markets — is this a sign that biotech stocks are underperforming? Since the end of October, several European biotech companies have delayed their IPOs — including Abacus Medicine on the Frankfurt stock exchange, Themis Bioscience on the […] November 13, 2018 - 4 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 10 Nov 2018 Stelarc — Making Art out of the Human Body From implanting a third ear on his arm to connecting his senses to the internet, Stelarc is an artist known for extreme performances that take the human body to the limit and blur the lines between technology and ourselves. On the inside of his left arm, Stelarc is in the process of ‘growing’ a third […] November 10, 2018 - 4 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 8 Nov 2018 Epigenetics Test Can Distinguish Between Huntington’s Disease Stages A study run by Oxford BioDynamics suggests that we could predict Huntington’s more easily by analyzing epigenetic changes in the patient’s DNA. Epigenetics describes the way that the expression of our genes is regulated, often influenced by environmental exposure, without changing the genetic code. Ways of modifying gene expression include attaching chemical groups to DNA […] November 8, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 7 Nov 2018 Belgian Biotech to Abandon Phase III Cell Therapy Trial for Bone Disease Bone Therapeutics is going to discontinue its cell therapy Phase III trial after finding little hope of success for patients with the bone disease osteonecrosis. If all had gone as planned, the full trial would have monitored 118 patients over 24 months. However, an interim analysis on 44 patients after 12 months found little evidence […] November 7, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 7 Nov 2018 Solid Phase II Performance for French Autoimmune Liver Disease Drug Genkyotex’s small molecule therapy had encouraging short-term effects on patients with the autoimmune liver disease primary biliary cholangitis in a Phase II trial. Over six weeks, the drug reduced the blood levels of a liver disease biomarker molecule by up to 23% in 92 participants. In patients with late-stage disease, who have few treatments available, […] November 7, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 6 Nov 2018 First Potential Vaccine for Chikungunya Virus Flies Through Phase II The mosquito-borne chikungunya virus may one day have a vaccine, as an Austrian biotech’s lead candidate gets positive results in Phase II. Themis Bioscience measured the blood levels of antibodies against the company’s vaccine in 263 healthy volunteers. Four weeks after injections of its lead candidate vaccine, the participants had produced antibodies to protect themselves […] November 6, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 6 Nov 2018 Potential HIV Treatment Shows Early Stage Promise According to Phase I/IIa trial results from an Israeli biotech, an HIV drug reduced patients’ HIV levels by up to 99%, and might one day become a new treatment for the infection. The trial, run by Zion Medical, found that the synthetic peptide drug reduced the level of viral RNA in patients’ blood by up to […] November 6, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 5 Nov 2018 Series C Bags German Company €17M for Irregular Heartbeat Treatment Omeicos Therapeutics has secured €17M in a Series C round to fund clinical development of its lead treatment for irregular heartbeat. Robert Fischer, CEO of the German biopharmaceutical company, told me that getting the attention of investors such as the Dutch company Forbion, which led the round, was just as helpful as the money itself. […] November 5, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 5 Nov 2018 DNA Repair Treatment Shows Early Promise for Treating Cancer Paris-based Onxeo has proved in humans the potential of a cancer treatment that interferes with DNA repair mechanisms. The therapy has potential to work in a wide range of tumors without cancer cells becoming resistant. Onxeo has reported preliminary results from an ongoing Phase I trial in which six different doses will be tested. […] November 5, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 2 Nov 2018 Gut Bacteria Treatment Shows Promise for Rare Genetic Kidney Condition The Swedish biotech Oxthera reported positive preliminary Phase II results using its gut bacteria treatment, Oxabact, in patients with a rare genetic condition that causes kidney failure. The results came from an interim analysis one year into a three-year trial, where Oxthera is testing its gut microbiome treatment on patients with primary hyperoxaluria type […] November 2, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email