Helen Albert, Author at Labiotech.eu

About

Freelance science and health journalist with lots of experience writing about all aspects of life sciences and biotech. Recovering geneticist and evolutionary biologist. I am half German and half British and spend most of my time in Berlin while not hiding out in the Norfolk countryside in the UK. When not writing or editing, I like to spend my time taking photos, knitting, reading fiction, eating and making good food and travelling (when global conditions allow!).

Articles by Helen Albert

News and Trends 2 Jul 2020

Freeline Closes €106M Series C to Progress Hemophilia Gene Therapy

UK biotech Freeline Therapeutics has extended its Series C round to take its gene therapy for hemophilia B to a pivotal trial, while hinting at the possibility of an IPO in the US later this year. This final closing adds an additional €70M to a €36M Series C investment by London-based VC Syncona in December […]

July 2, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 29 Jun 2020

Enterome Secures €46M to Take Microbiome Therapies to Clinical Trials

French microbiome biotech Enterome has raised €46.3M in Series E funding to progress its cancer and inflammatory bowel disease therapies to phase I trials in a few weeks. Two new investors to Enterome — SymBiosis, a US-based investor, and the Japanese big pharma Takeda — took part in the fundraise in addition to existing investors […]

June 29, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 24 Jun 2020

Dutch VC Raises €105M to Nurture European Biotech Startups

Biogeneration Ventures (BGV) has raised €105M for its fourth early-stage biotech fund, which aims to team up with academic institutions across Europe to create medical biotech companies. The fund, called BGV-IV, exceeded the amount the firm expected to raise. It attracted investors in previous funds back to the table such as the US big pharma […]

June 24, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 18 Jun 2020

Belgian mRNA Vaccine for Covid-19 Receives €34M Series B Boost

Belgian biotech eTheRNA has secured €34M in Series B funding to progress to the clinic its Covid-19 vaccine candidate and cancer immunotherapies made from messenger RNA. The company’s five existing investors contributed to the round, including Dutch VC firm LSP, and the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, based in Germany. Four new investors also contributed — […]

June 18, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

universal cancer vaccine mrna biontech personalized medicine

News and Trends 17 Jun 2020

German Government Invests €300M in mRNA Biotech CureVac

The Federal Republic of Germany will invest €300M in CureVac, the homegrown biotech that is developing a vaccine for Covid-19 using messenger RNA technology. The unusually large investment will be made through the state-owned bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, which will gain a 23% stake in the company. “CureVac retains complete operational and strategic independence,” Franz-Werner […]

June 17, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 15 Jun 2020

Novo Nordisk Foundation Commits €100M Grant to Developing Green Tech

The Novo Nordisk Foundation has awarded a five-year grant of €100M to the DTU Biosustain research center near Copenhagen to support the development of sustainable green technology. DTU Biosustain was founded in 2011 and forms part of the Danish Technical University. The Novo Nordisk Foundation, which is one of the largest charitable foundations in the […]

June 15, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 11 Jun 2020

Evox and Lilly Partner to Develop Neuro RNA Drugs in Deal Worth €1.1B

British biotech Evox Therapeutics has signed a collaboration deal worth up to €1.1B with US big pharma Eli Lilly to develop RNA drugs that are delivered in exosomes to the brain to treat neurological diseases. As part of the deal, Evox will get €17.6M upfront to fund research for the next three years and Lilly […]

June 11, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 6 Jun 2020

Boost For Inflammatory Disease Biotech NodThera With €49M Series B

The UK-US biotech NodThera has raised €48.7M in Series B funding to progress its drug candidate through clinical trials for the treatment of inflammatory conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease. This round follows an impressive €32M Series A that Nodthera carried out in 2018. Danish firm Novo Ventures, part of the investment arm of Novo […]

June 6, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

huntingtons disease dementia prilenia therapeutics

News and Trends 5 Jun 2020

Israeli-Dutch Biotech Raises €55M to Fight Huntington’s Disease and ALS

Prilenia Therapeutics has raised €55M in Series A funding to launch late-stage clinical trials of its small molecule candidate drug in Huntington’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, incurable conditions that have very limited treatment options. Dutch life sciences VC Forbion led the round and was joined by new Chinese investor Morningside Venture Investments and the […]

June 5, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

central nervous system epilepsy parkinsons disease

News and Trends 29 May 2020

Spanish Neurology Biotech Launches with €7.6M Series A

Accure Therapeutics, a neurology biotech targeting central nervous system (CNS) conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease, has launched in Barcelona with a Series A of €7.6M. Alta Life Sciences, a life science venture capital firm based in the same city, and the Spanish governmental institution The Centre for Technological and Industrial Development funded […]

May 29, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 28 May 2020

MSD Enters Covid-19 Vaccine Race by Acquiring Themis Bioscience

The US-based big pharma MSD has entered the race to be the first to develop an effective vaccine for Covid-19 by acquiring Austrian biotech Themis Bioscience and its vaccine technology for an undisclosed amount. MSD has been a bit slower than some of its contemporaries to announce its plans regarding a potential treatment or vaccine […]

May 28, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

gates foundation oxitec malaria mosquito

News and Trends 27 May 2020

‘Just Add Water’ GM Mosquitoes Suppress Wild Population by 95%

Water-soluble capsules containing the eggs of genetically modified mosquitoes developed by the UK company Oxitec have reduced the mosquito population in a dengue-infected urban environment in Brazil by 95% after 13 weeks. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carry a number of infections including dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever. Dengue has increased almost 15-fold over the last […]

May 27, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

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