News and Trends 20 Apr 2017 Goodbye Glybera! The World’s First Gene Therapy will be Withdrawn The excitement about the therapy was undercut when it became clear Glybera would be a commercial failure. In October, it will officially be dead. uniQure has announced that it will not go for the renewal of its marketing authorization for Glybera in Europe, which is set to expire in October this year. Since Glybera missed approval in the […] April 20, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Evelyn Warner Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 Apr 2017 Norway Brings Another Cancer Vaccine to the Clinic Targovax has recruited its first patient in a Phase Ib trial for its new cancer vaccine TG02 targeting mutations of the RAS gene. Mutations of the RAS gene disrupt normal cell division and are a key driver of cancer progression and treatment resistance. The Norwegian biotech Targovax is developing peptide-based anti-cancer vaccines targeting these mutations found […] April 20, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 Apr 2017 New French Biotech Seed Fund Raises €65M in its First Closing Advent France Biotechnology has launched its first seed fund for Life Sciences with the support of Bpifrance and Advent Life Sciences. Advent France Biotechnology, founded in 2015, has exceeded its initial fundraising target at the first closing. Its Seed-Fund I now counts with €64.75M that will be invested predominantly in France. The funds will back entrepreneurs […] April 20, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 19 Apr 2017 Researchers Unmask How a New Diet can help Cure Cancer Researchers from the University of Glasgow and the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute found that cancer cells are dependent on specific amino acids. In a new study published today in Nature, researchers found that removing two non-essential amino acids – serine and glycine – from the diet of mice slowed the development of lymphoma and intestinal […] April 19, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 19 Apr 2017 Galapagos Shoots Past its IPO in a New Public Round of €315M After its record €277 IPO on Nasdaq in 2015, Galapagos announced the pricing of its new US public offering at a massive €315M ($338M). Galapagos is clinging to its position as one of the biggest biotechs in Europe. While the Belgian biotech is currently pushing its rheumatoid arthritis candidate filgotinib through Phase III, the new US public offering could give […] April 19, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 19 Apr 2017 UPDATE: Novartis broadens CAR-T onslaught with FDA endorsement UPDATE (19/04/2017): CTL019 has been granted Breakthrough Designation by the FDA for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Novartis and Kite have been in a tight race to bring the first CAR-T therapy to market: Novartis has staked out acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) while Kite has gone for DLBCL. With this “tacit endorsement,” Novartis is encroaching on […] April 19, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Evelyn Warner Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 19 Apr 2017 UPDATE: Verona sets terms & dials back its IPO goal to a still-hefty €75M UPDATE: Verona set the terms for its US IPO yesterday and knocked $10M (€9.3M) off its target, now shooting for $75M (€70M). The public shares are expected to hit the NASDAQ exchange next week. Original Publication 04/04/2017 British Verona Pharma has filed for an IPO on Nasdaq to raise up to €81M ($86M). The funds should be […] April 19, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 18 Apr 2017 Two Big Pharma Players Team up to Take Over the NASH Space Allergan has entered a clinical collaboration with Novartis to run a Phase IIb study combining its immunomodulator and Novartis’ FXR agonist for NASH. After Allergan snapped up Tobira’s cenicriviroc (CVC) last year in a €1.4B deal, the company is now taking the next step to advance its pipeline in the Non-Alcoholic SteatoHepatitis (NASH) race. The pharma company is going […] April 18, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 18 Apr 2017 Circassia Freezes its Allergy Portfolio after a Second Failed Clinical Trial Circassia Pharmaceuticals will stop investing in its allergy programs due to two failed clinical trials in which the placebo beat its allergy immunotherapy. Circassia Pharmaceuticals has released the results from a Phase IIb trial for a house dust mite allergy immunotherapy. Although the treatment greatly reduced allergy symptoms in the patients, so did the placebo, making […] April 18, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 18 Apr 2017 Patent Eligibility: How to Tell if your Life Science Invention is Patentable So you have an invention, but can you protect it with a patent? This primer will teach you about the criteria, from non-obviousness to inventiveness. How do we define “patent eligibility“? Broadly, the term means that an invention falls within a category of inventions for which the patent laws provide patent protection in general. Inventions […] April 18, 2017 - 5 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 Apr 2017 Next-Gen Cancer Antibody Technology from Germany enters the Clinic Apogenix’ partner AbbVie has started the first clinical trial for an immuno-oncology candidate with the potential to outperform antibody therapy. The German biotech Apogenix has announced that its partner AbbVie has initiated a Phase I trial testing its next-generation immuno-oncology technology in patients suffering from solid tumors, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The candidate […] April 13, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 Apr 2017 French Oncolytic Virus Vaccine for Breast Cancer enters Phase II After positive results in Phase I, Transgene has started Phase II with Pexa-Vec in combination with chemotherapy to treat breast cancer and sarcoma. After years of financial instability, Transgene is stepping up its game in cancer immunotherapies. Last year, its first Phase III trial and a deal with Merck and Pfizer brought the hopes of investors […] April 13, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email