The latest biotech news

News and Trends 26 Nov 2020

AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 Vaccine Proves Its Worth in Phase III

A much anticipated Covid-19 vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, achieved 70% efficacy in phase III interim data. While less effective on paper, it could prove cheaper and easier to distribute than its most advanced competitors. Scientists and politicians heartily received the announcement of promising interim clinical trial results from the Covid-19 […]

November 26, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Kostas Vavitsas

cancer treatments immuno oncology companies

News and Trends 23 Nov 2020

SynOx Joins Wave of Biotechs Attacking Solid Tumor ‘Comfort Zone’

The newly founded SynOx has become the latest startup to attack solid tumors via their ‘comfort zone’, known as the tumor microenvironment. SynOx was spun out of the UK firm Celleron Therapeutics last week with a huge Series A round of €37M. The fledgling company is developing an antibody drug that Celleron licensed from Roche […]

November 23, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 20 Nov 2020

Breakthroughs in Decentralized Testing Could Contain Covid-19

Hospital facilities in Europe are being pushed to their limits as the Covid-19 pandemic continues into winter. Coronavirus testing that doesn’t require a central lab is now arriving on the scene, and it could be the solution to effectively monitor and contain the disease. Despite the recent announcements of promising phase III data on Covid-19 […]

November 20, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Kostas Vavitsas

News and Trends 19 Nov 2020

mRNA Stocks Soar with Final Results of BioNTech’s Covid-19 Vaccine

The field of messenger RNA therapeutics is flying high as BioNTech and Pfizer conclude a phase III trial with their Covid-19 vaccine showing 95% effectiveness. The phase III trial recruited over 43,000 volunteers to gauge whether Covid-19 infections could be prevented by a vaccine made out of messenger RNA (mRNA). One group received two doses […]

November 19, 2020 - 6 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 16 Nov 2020

Innate Immunity in Cancer Gains Recognition with Affimed’s €1.8B Deal

Last week’s €1.75B deal between the German biotech Affimed and Swiss giant Roivant backs up an emerging trend of harnessing our innate immune system to treat cancer. According to the deal’s terms, Affimed will receive €51M upfront to license to Roivant a preclinical-stage antibody drug for several undisclosed types of cancer. Roivant will handle the […]

November 16, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 3 Nov 2020

Kiadis’ Natural Killer Cell Therapies Earn €308M Acquisition by Sanofi

The French big pharma Sanofi has offered €308M to acquire the Dutch firm Kiadis Pharma and get hold of cancer cell therapies based on a type of immune cells called natural killer cells. The offer comes not long after Sanofi inked a deal worth up to €857.5M to license a preclinical-stage cancer cell therapy from […]

November 3, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 30 Oct 2020

Bayer’s AskBio Acquisition Strong Statement For Gene Therapy in Europe

This week, German big pharma Bayer announced a €3.5B takeover of Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, a well known US gene therapy specialist. This is only one of many examples of the funding windfall experienced by the gene therapy field in 2020. Despite the difficulties posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, 2020 has been a good year for gene […]

October 30, 2020 - 6 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 29 Oct 2020

Universal Flu Vaccines Yield Second Clinical Failure This Year

In a blow to hopes for better protection from seasonal flu, last week’s phase III failure of BiondVax’s universal flu vaccine follows the phase II flop of Vaccitech’s flu vaccine in January. Last week proved a major setback for the Israeli biotech BiondVax. The company’s vaccine — designed to protect against multiple strains of flu […]

October 29, 2020 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 15 Oct 2020

Swiss Biotech Launches Amidst Hot Streak for Rare Autoimmune Disease

Swiss biotech Chord Therapeutics launched this week with a €13.7M Series A, becoming the latest company to tackle the rare condition neuromyelitis optica, for which three therapies have been approved in less than a year. Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders, previously also known as Devic disease, affect up to 2 in 100,000 people around the world. […]

October 15, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 14 Oct 2020

Spatial Transcriptomics Landscape Shifts With Two Major Acquisitions

The Swedish firm Cartana and US-based ReadCoor have recently been snapped up by the US giant 10x Genomics to get hold of their spatial transcriptomics technology. What impact will these acquisitions have on the burgeoning field going forward? Last week, 10x Genomics took over ReadCoor for a smooth €298M ($350M). This followed the acquisition of […]

October 14, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 9 Oct 2020

2020 Chemistry Nobel Prize Awarded to CRISPR-Cas9 Pioneers

The biotech community is raving about the long-anticipated recognition of the groundbreaking CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tool, with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to two of its leading developers this week. The Prize in Chemistry went to Emmanuelle Charpentier, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, and Jennifer Doudna, a Professor […]

October 9, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev

News and Trends 7 Oct 2020

Investment Is Pouring Into Neuromodulation Treatments

The last month has seen several big investments in European neuromodulation and neurostimulation companies, which aim to treat neurological conditions by zapping nerve cells. What’s the reason for this funding peak? Last week, the Italian firm WISE announced the closing of a €15M Series C round to fund the development of a device that blocks […]

October 7, 2020 - 6 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

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News and Trends

AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 Vaccine Proves Its Worth in Phase III

SynOx Joins Wave of Biotechs Attacking Solid Tumor ‘Comfort Zone’

Breakthroughs in Decentralized Testing Could Contain Covid-19

mRNA Stocks Soar with Final Results of BioNTech’s Covid-19 Vaccine

Innate Immunity in Cancer Gains Recognition with Affimed’s €1.8B Deal

Kiadis’ Natural Killer Cell Therapies Earn €308M Acquisition by Sanofi

Bayer’s AskBio Acquisition Strong Statement For Gene Therapy in Europe

Universal Flu Vaccines Yield Second Clinical Failure This Year

Swiss Biotech Launches Amidst Hot Streak for Rare Autoimmune Disease

Spatial Transcriptomics Landscape Shifts With Two Major Acquisitions

2020 Chemistry Nobel Prize Awarded to CRISPR-Cas9 Pioneers

Investment Is Pouring Into Neuromodulation Treatments

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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

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