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 4 Sep 2019

US Genomics Firm Combines with Curetis to Tackle Antibiotic Resistance

The German biotech Curetis has been combined with the US genomics company OpGen to pool their molecular diagnostics expertise in the fight against antibiotic resistance. “After more than one year of intensive discussions and negotiations for many months, it feels great to be able to announce the transaction today,” Oliver Schacht, the CEO of Curetis, […]

September 4, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

Interview 4 Sep 2019

Overcoming Clinical Setbacks to Fight Insect-Borne Diseases

Sometimes things don’t go your way in the biotech industry. The CEO of Valneva, Thomas Lingelbach, shared his experience of migrating from big pharma to biotech, and how his first biotech company weathered phase III failures to develop vaccines for neglected diseases. Once confined to the less developed regions of the world, many insect-borne diseases […]

September 4, 2019 - 9 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

cancer cell therapy immunotherapy achilles therapeutics

News and Trends 3 Sep 2019

UK Biotech’s Personalized Immunotherapy gets €110M Series B Boost

The UK company Achilles Therapeutics has raised €110M (£100M) to test its personalized cancer cell immunotherapies in humans for the first time. The large Series B round will fund two phase I/IIa clinical trials of Achilles’ preclinical immunotherapy which are expected to start this year: one in non-small cell lung cancer and the other in […]

September 3, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

Startup Scout 30 Aug 2019

This Biotech Develops Epigenetic Drugs to Fight Brain Cancer

Nestled in the historic city of Uppsala, Sweden, Beactica is fighting the brain cancer glioblastoma by targeting mechanisms controlling the expression of cancer cell genes. Mission: Develop first-in-class drugs for brain cancer that block a protein called lysine-specific demethylase 1 that helps cancer cells to divide and grow. Beactica targets glioblastoma, a highly aggressive brain […]

August 30, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 29 Aug 2019

HiFiBiO’s €60M Series C to Fund Cancer and Autoimmune Disease Antibody Drugs

The French biotech HiFiBiO has raised €60M in a Series C round to finance the development of antibody drugs for cancer and autoimmune diseases based on its single-cell screening technology. HiFiBiO will use the money to accelerate the progress of its drugs to clinical trials, though it has not specified when it plans to begin […]

August 29, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

dendritic cell immunicum cancer immunotherapy cell therapy

News and Trends 29 Aug 2019

Off-the-Shelf Kidney Cancer Immunotherapy More Than Doubles Recovery in Phase II

An off-the-shelf cancer immunotherapy developed by the Swedish biotech Immunicum has eradicated kidney tumors in 11% of treated patients compared with just 4% of patients given standard treatments in a phase II trial. Immunicum is developing a cell immunotherapy to treat metastatic renal cell carcinoma. This advanced form of kidney cancer is particularly hard to […]

August 29, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

imcyse type 1 diabetes insulin immunotherapy

News and Trends 28 Aug 2019

Type 1 Diabetes Immunotherapy Shows Promise in Phase I

An immunotherapy designed by the Belgian biotech Imcyse to prevent type 1 diabetes has shown signs of clinical benefits and no major safety issues in a phase I trial. The phase I trial recruited 41 patients newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Imcyse injected the patients with different doses of its treatment and monitored the […]

August 28, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

celgene immatics cancer cell immunotherapy

News and Trends 28 Aug 2019

Celgene and Immatics Sign Deal Worth Over €1.35B to Develop Cancer Immunotherapies

The US company Celgene has obtained options to three cancer immunotherapy programs from the German biotech Immatics in a deal worth more than €1.35B ($1.5B). Immatics is to receive an upfront payment of €67.5M ($75M), along with up to €455M ($505M) in developmental milestones and royalties for each immunotherapy program. In each program, Immatics will […]

August 28, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

Ose Immunotherapeutics bpifrance milestone bowel disease

News and Trends 27 Aug 2019

Swedish Ulcerative Colitis Treatment Makes Phase II Comeback

InDex Pharmaceuticals’ ulcerative colitis drug candidate has achieved positive phase IIb results, suggesting work to improve its dosage after a previous phase III failure was successful. The Swedish company tested different doses of the small molecule drug cobitolimod against a placebo in patients with the inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis. The 213 patients in the […]

August 27, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 16 Aug 2019

First Potential Chlamydia Vaccine Shows Early Promise

A vaccine targeting the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia, which would be the first of its kind if approved, has proved safe and able to stimulate the immune system in a phase I trial. In the phase I trial, the vaccine was injected into 35 healthy women. Blood samples from the volunteers were then measured to […]

August 16, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

astrocyte alzheimers disease astronautx blood london

Startup Scout 16 Aug 2019

This Biotech Fights Alzheimer’s Disease by Targeting Support Brain Cells

It’s time to go to London, UK, this week. The UK biotech AstronauTx is developing drugs that could slow the progress of Alzheimer’s disease by aiming at star-shaped cells in the brain called astrocytes. Mission: To develop small molecule drugs targeting astrocytes, whose inflammatory activity is linked to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease […]

August 16, 2019 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 15 Aug 2019

Swiss Scientists Upgrade CRISPR to Edit Many Genes at Once

A research group at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, has made it possible to edit hundreds of genes at once with CRISPR gene editing. CRISPR gene editing has revolutionized the biotech industry by providing an easy and quick way to genetically modify organisms. So far, however, CRISPR techniques have only managed to edit a maximum of seven […]

August 15, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

Knowledge hub

Categories

Catalonia: A biotech hub going from strength to strength, with Barcelona at its core

Top biotech deals of February 2025

Approaches

Therapeutic areas

Grab your free report on 3D organoids and explore their future potential

These 7 biotechs are shaping the next generation of endometriosis care

R&D

BD

World biotech leaders

Connect with decision-makers and researchers worldwide for collaborative opportunities

Company

Join Us

Subscribe to our newsletter

Advertise with us

Catalonia: A biotech hub going from strength to strength, with Barcelona at its core

Top biotech deals of February 2025

Grab your free report on 3D organoids and explore their future potential

These 7 biotechs are shaping the next generation of endometriosis care

Connect with decision-makers and researchers worldwide for collaborative opportunities

Subscribe to our newsletter

Advertise with us

Jonathan Smith

About

Articles by Jonathan Smith

US Genomics Firm Combines with Curetis to Tackle Antibiotic Resistance

Overcoming Clinical Setbacks to Fight Insect-Borne Diseases

UK Biotech’s Personalized Immunotherapy gets €110M Series B Boost

This Biotech Develops Epigenetic Drugs to Fight Brain Cancer

HiFiBiO’s €60M Series C to Fund Cancer and Autoimmune Disease Antibody Drugs

Off-the-Shelf Kidney Cancer Immunotherapy More Than Doubles Recovery in Phase II

Type 1 Diabetes Immunotherapy Shows Promise in Phase I

Celgene and Immatics Sign Deal Worth Over €1.35B to Develop Cancer Immunotherapies

Swedish Ulcerative Colitis Treatment Makes Phase II Comeback

First Potential Chlamydia Vaccine Shows Early Promise

This Biotech Fights Alzheimer’s Disease by Targeting Support Brain Cells

Swiss Scientists Upgrade CRISPR to Edit Many Genes at Once

Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest biotech news!

Catalonia: A biotech hub going from strength to strength, with Barcelona at its core

Top biotech deals of February 2025

Grab your free report on 3D organoids and explore their future potential

These 7 biotechs are shaping the next generation of endometriosis care

Connect with decision-makers and researchers worldwide for collaborative opportunities

Subscribe to our newsletter

Advertise with us

Catalonia: A biotech hub going from strength to strength, with Barcelona at its core

Top biotech deals of February 2025

Grab your free report on 3D organoids and explore their future potential

These 7 biotechs are shaping the next generation of endometriosis care

Connect with decision-makers and researchers worldwide for collaborative opportunities

Subscribe to our newsletter

Advertise with us

About

Articles by Jonathan Smith

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get the latest biotech news directly to your inbox!

Newsletter Signup - Footer

Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest biotech news!