News and Trends 4 Oct 2018 This Year’s Nobel Prizes Highlight Advances in Biotechnology Immune system brakes, optical tweezers, and enzyme evolution. Three separate subjects that span this year’s Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine, Physics and Chemistry. Despite the differences in theory, however, the diverse discoveries have one thing in common: they have applications in the biotechnology industry, Labiotech’s favorite subject. Releasing the immune system’s brakes in cancer […] October 4, 2018 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 3 Oct 2018 Algorithm Proves Better Than Humans at Controlling Blood Sugar in Type 1 Diabetes A clinical trial has shown that letting an algorithm decide the amount of insulin a person with type 1 diabetes needs can help keep blood sugar levels under control. The algorithm, being developed at the University of Cambridge, is able to predict how much insulin is needed at each point in time based on the […] October 3, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 2 Oct 2018 Septic Shock Drug Shows Promise for Personalized Medicine Septic shock may no longer be as shocking in the future, as a Phase IIa trial brings hope for a personalized immunomodulatory treatment from the French biotech Inotrem. In sepsis, the immune system overreacts to the infection of a pathogen, causing uncontrolled inflammation throughout the body and organ failure. This can lead to septic […] October 2, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 1 Oct 2018 Update: Forbion’s Life Science Fund Tops Goal by €90M Update: The European venture capital firm Forbion closed fundraising for it’s fourth life sciences fund at €360M, a much greater amount than the anticipated €250M. The oversubscribed fund is great news for European medical biotech companies, which will be a strong focus for the fund, and shows that there is a strong interest in the […] October 1, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 1 Oct 2018 Cancer-Sniffing Diagnostics Company Secures €43.1M Funding Intoxication is not the only condition that we could diagnose with breathalyzers. The UK-US company Owlstone Medical has secured €43.1M funding to help commercialize its tech that ‘smells’ cancer in your breath. Owlstone’s breathalyzer kit diagnoses conditions by measuring volatile organic compounds in a person’s breath. Disease pathologies affect the types and amounts of these […] October 1, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 28 Sep 2018 Roche Acquires UK Cancer Immunotherapy Biotech in Deal Worth up to €655M Tusk Therapeutics has been acquired by Swiss pharma giant Roche, which aims to develop one of its lead immunological cancer treatments. Roche has given Tusk’s shareholders €70M upfront, with up to an additional €585M planned if Tusk achieves certain milestones. Roche seems particularly interested in one of Tusk’s lead programs, an antibody that reduces the […] September 28, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 27 Sep 2018 Update: Series A Boost Pushes Belgian Microbiome Spin-Off Forward Update (27/09/2018): New investment from Dutch venture capital fund Innovation Industries brings A-Mansia’s Series A round up to €18M. The company’s first human study of the effects of A. muciniphila in volunteers is currently underway at the University of Louvain. Published on 27/04/2018 A-Mansia Biotech has raised €13M in Series A financing led by Seventure Partners. The […] September 27, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Alexander Burik Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 26 Sep 2018 Spanish Biotech Raises €21.3M To Advance Rare Disease Pipeline Rare genetic diseases in the central nervous system may be less of a headache in future, as Barcelona-based biotech Minoryx has raised €21.3M in series B fundraising to test its lead drug candidate against other rare neurological conditions. According to Philippe Monteyne, partner at investor Fund+, “it is the largest investment in biotech in Spain […] September 26, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 26 Sep 2018 Fish Oils Finally Reel in Positive Results for Cardiovascular Disease Purified fish oil can reduce patients’ risks for adverse cardiovascular events by 25%, according to US-Irish Biotech Amarin’s Phase III trial results. The treatment, called Vascepa, significantly reduced the risk of strokes, heart attacks, and death. It also had a good safety profile in the over 8,000 enrolled patients, who were already taking statins. These […] September 26, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 24 Sep 2018 Gene Therapy Improves Eyesight of Patients With Inherited Blindness UK startup Nightstar Therapeutics has reported good safety and early signs of visual improvements in a Phase I/II trial with a gene therapy for a rare form of inherited blindness. One month after being treated with Nightstar’s gene therapy, five of the 18 patients enrolled in the trial have already shown improvements in their vision. […] September 24, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 22 Sep 2018 Art Made With Kombucha Explores the Science of the Microbiome Artist Alanna Lynch uses kombucha as an art medium to explore our relationship with the microbiome, which is now in the spotlight of human health. An ancient drink made of fermented tea, kombucha is now, over 2,000 years later, exploding in popularity. This week, Coca-Cola acquired an Australian kombucha company in an aim to enter […] September 22, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 Sep 2018 RNA Therapy Shows Promise for Treating Liver Cancer British biotech MiNA Therapeutics’ innovative RNA treatment may enhance liver cancer patients’ response to standard cancer therapies, suggest early results from a Phase I/IIa clinical trial. When they received the biotech’s small activating RNA (saRNA) treatment, two patients showed complete responses after being given the cancer treatment sorafenib and one showed a partial response to […] September 20, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email