News and Trends 18 Dec 2017 Belgian Biotech’s Crohn’s Disease Cell Therapy Gets Recommended for Approval An EMA committee has supported an allogeneic stem cell therapy for the first time, as TiGenix’s Crohn’s disease candidate is backed for approval. TiGenix and its Japanese partner, Takeda, are developing a stem cell therapy for Crohn’s disease – an autoimmune disease affecting the gastrointestinal tract. This morning, the companies have revealed that their candidate, Cx601, has received the backing […] December 18, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 18 Dec 2017 Dutch and US Biotechs Team Up Against HPV-related Cancer ISA Pharmaceuticals will work together with Regeneron to combine its immunotherapy against cancer induced by HPV infection with its partner’s PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor. The human papillomavirus (HPV) is known for its ability to cause cancer, including cervical and head and neck cancer. Based in Leiden, the Netherlands, ISA Pharmaceuticals’ target choice is type 16 HPV, which […] December 18, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Dec 2017 Science and Art Join Forces to Challenge our Anthropocentric Worldviews Western culture seems to revolve exclusively around humans. It seems that we have forgotten the existence and the needs of all other organisms, from microscopic bacteria and fungi that make our food and medicines to the chickens and cows that feed us. But is this anthropocentric behavior justified? What are the consequences of our destructive attitude […] December 16, 2017 - 6 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 15 Dec 2017 Signed, Sealed. Will GW Pharma’s Epilepsy Treatment Be a 2018 Blockbuster? GW Pharma might be about to join the likes of Genmab in the biotech blockbuster club, with its epilepsy drug predicted to achieve sales of close to $1B in 2018. GW Pharma develops therapies for a range of diseases, including autism, epilepsy and brain cancer using its cannabinoid product platform. In a rundown of the top 10 […] December 15, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 15 Dec 2017 Abivax Spots an Extra Benefit of its Potential HIV Cure Phase IIa data confirms that Abivax’s potential HIV cure not only reduces viral reservoir but it also has anti-inflammatory effects. Abivax targets the immune system to fight viral infections, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as well as autoimmune diseases. The company has now confirmed the preliminary results from its first cohort of patients in a […] December 15, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Dec 2017 The FDA Fast Tracks Therapy for Rare Disease Causing Copper Accumulation The FDA is speeding up the process for regulatory approval of WTX101, a therapy for Wilson’s disease that could significantly improve the standard of care. Wilson Therapeutics, in Stockholm, has convinced the FDA to include its drug WTX101 (bis-choline tetrathiomolybdate) in its Fast Track program. This move will speed up the approval of the drug, […] December 14, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Dec 2017 Someone’s Popular! Gilead is Just One Big Name Investing in this Vaccine Biotech Gilead has joined a growing list of powerful investors that want to help Hookipa Biotech develop its vaccine technology by participating in its Series C fundraising. Hookipa Biotech, one of October’s biotechs of the week, develops vaccines for cancer and infectious diseases. Its pipeline includes two platforms: Vaxwave and TheraT, which are targeted at cytomegalovirus infections and […] December 14, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Dec 2017 A Breath of Fresh Air for Biotechs Working on Cystic Fibrosis Therapies? Researchers from the University of Zurich have determined the structure of a chloride channel, which could be a target for new drugs to treat cystic fibrosis. Researchers at the University of Zurich have found a new target for future cystic fibrosis treatments. The study, published in Nature, has uncovered the structure of a protein that could help to […] December 14, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Dec 2017 German Biotech’s Gene Therapy for Osteoarthritis Plucked by US Pharma GeneQuine’s gene therapy for osteoarthritis in the knee has been acquired by US pharma company Flexion Therapeutics for up to $64M. GeneQuine is developing a gene therapy for the treatment of osteoarthritis. It uses helper-dependent adenoviruses, which provide long-term expression, a higher packaging capacity, reduced immunogenicity and they do not integrate into the host genome. It seems like yesterday […] December 14, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Dec 2017 Belgian Biotech Raises $231M to Continue Developing its Antibody Therapies Argenx has smashed its target of $150M for its US offering, which will support its cancer and autoimmune disease antibodies through the clinic. Argenx develops antibody-based therapies for the treatment of severe autoimmune diseases and cancer. Today, the Belgian biotech has announced that it has raised a very impressive $231M (€195M) following positive results at ASH. The company […] December 14, 2017 - 1 minutemin - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 Dec 2017 Biotech and Pharma Giants Make a Good Start to Phase II Trial for Skin Cancer Regeneron and Sanofi have announced positive early results from a Phase II study investigating their skin cancer antibody, cemiplimab. Despite deciding to end their antibody partnership at the end of the year, Regeneron and Sanofi are still committed to pushing through a number of candidates. One of these, cemiplimab, is a programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) checkpoint […] December 13, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 Dec 2017 Off-the-Shelf CAR-T Cells Struggle to Improve Cancer Treatment Data presented at ASH 2017 shows that Servier and Pfizer’s UCART19, an allogeneic CAR-T therapy originally developed by Cellectis, might struggle to outperform autologous CAR-T cells. CAR-T cell therapy has proved to be effective at treating cancer in patients for whom scarce hope was left. Yet pricing is still a big concern. Companies like Cellectis are trying […] December 13, 2017 - 4 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email