Jonathan Smith, Author at Labiotech.eu

About

Reporter for Labiotech. I hail from the UK. I was born in Bristol, studied Neuroscience in the University of Bristol, and trained mice in Eisai, Hertfordshire, for one year. I then tickled locusts for my Ph.D. at the University of Leicester, before eventually ending up here!
Out of the office, I travel, play video games and board games, drink beer and play the piano.

Articles by Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 28 Jan 2022

AI Hot in Healthcare Despite IBM’s Watson Health Pullout

Earlier this week, the tech giant IBM sold off chunks of its once-promising artificial intelligence (AI)-guided division Watson Health. Despite this setback, European firms see a bright future for the use of AI in healthcare. The tech giant IBM hit the headlines this week when it sold off parts of Watson Health — a division […]

January 28, 2022 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 26 Jan 2022

Bioinformatics Startups in Focus as SeqOne Genomics Bags €20M

The French company SeqOne Genomics has raised €20M in a Series A round as growing investments reach startups delivering the next generation of genomics and bioinformatics. The cost of sequencing the human genome has plummeted over the decades to less than €900 ($1,000) today. Partly thanks to advances in cloud computing, innovations are flourishing in […]

January 26, 2022 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

Gene therapy genenta science genflow biosciences

News and Trends 21 Jan 2022

Two Gene Therapy Players Launch IPOs on Stormy Stock Market

After a drought of more than a year, the European gene therapy sector saw initial public offerings from Genenta Science and Genflow Biosciences. The firms aim to shine as biotech stocks elsewhere perform poorly. Until recently, European gene therapy companies were going through a dry spell in terms of launching initial public offerings (IPO). The […]

January 21, 2022 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 19 Jan 2022

Engitix Builds Liver Disease Pipeline with Series A and Drug Collaboration

With the close of its Series A round at €48M ($54M), the tissue models company Engitix has shifted its business from providing drug discovery services to developing its own treatment pipeline for liver diseases. When Engitix was spun out of University College London in 2016, the startup primarily aimed to provide tissue models to pharmaceutical […]

January 19, 2022 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

ori biotech cell therapy manufacturing cells

News and Trends 18 Jan 2022

Ori Biotech Bags €88M Investment to Automate Cell Therapy Manufacture

The UK company Ori Biotech has raised €88M ($100M) in Series B cash to ease the cell therapy manufacturing bottleneck using automation and standardized data collection. The round was 40% oversubscribed and led by the US investment firm Novalis LifeSciences. The Chinese investor Puhua Capital and Chimera Abu Dhabi joined the existing syndicate, which includes […]

January 18, 2022 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 14 Jan 2022

Europe Trailed US Despite Record Gene and Cell Therapy Funding in 2021

Cell and gene therapy developers globally raised an all-time annual record in 2021. However, European firms missed out on the funding growth. Companies around the world developing cell and gene therapies raised €20.1B ($23.1B) over 2021, said the advanced therapy advocacy organization the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) in a briefing this week. This bumper […]

January 14, 2022 - 6 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 13 Jan 2022

Biotech Startup Incubators Prepare to Cash in on Record VC Funding

Venture capital funding broke records in the biotech industry in 2021. Leading startup incubators from across Europe share their plans to make the most of this trend in 2022, with expectations for big returns and expansion in the works. In spite of financial volatility resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, the year 2021 broke records for […]

January 13, 2022 - 7 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 11 Jan 2022

Sanofi Joins AI Gold Rush in €4.6B Drug Discovery Pact with Exscientia

As big pharma companies flock to drug discovery collaborations with artificial intelligence (AI) firms, the French giant Sanofi has sealed a €4.6B deal with the UK AI player Exscientia to develop oncology and immunology treatments. According to the deal’s terms, the partners will develop up to 15 small molecule drugs to treat cancer and immunological […]

January 11, 2022 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 7 Jan 2022

French Project to Tackle Antibiotic Resistance with Biotech and Economics

A team of French organizations led by the biotech firm Antabio has launched a €17M project to deploy therapeutic, diagnostic, and economic innovations in the battle against antibiotic resistance. The project, dubbed ARPEGE, involves four partners covering a variety of disciplines: the antibiotics developer Antabio; the diagnostics heavyweight bioMérieux; the university hospital group Hospices Civils […]

January 7, 2022 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 5 Jan 2022

The Top European Biotech Investments in December

December 2021 ended with a bang for biotech funding in Europe and Israel, with cultured meat and cell therapy startups attracting the biggest investment rounds. Biotech companies in Europe and Israel capped off 2021 with a very strong month of fundraising. Collectively, private companies and those launching initial public offerings (IPOs) banked almost €1.6B in […]

January 5, 2022 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 23 Dec 2021

Future Meat Lands €308M in Biggest-Ever Cultured Meat Investment

The Israeli firm Future Meat Technologies has raised a neat €308M ($347M) in the biggest financing round in the field of cultured meat to date. The company claims rapid progress in addressing scaling bottlenecks that slow the sector’s growth. A range of contributors pitched into the mammoth funding round including an undisclosed tech investor, ADM […]

December 23, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

Best in Biotech 22 Dec 2021

The Biggest European Biotech News of 2021

In spite of the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the European biotech industry has emerged stronger than ever this year. These were the key moments for the sector in 2021. The year 2021 has seen skyrocketing fortunes for many European biotech players. Investment firms, for instance, raised far more funding than in 2020, which […]

December 22, 2021 - 10 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

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