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News and Trends 23 Apr 2020

Sofinnova Invests €20M in Three Italian Rare Disease Biotechs

The French VC firm Sofinnova Partners has invested €20M in three Italian biotech companies via its Telethon Fund, which focuses on firms developing treatments for rare diseases. The deals by the Sofinnova Telethon Fund were made over the last several months. The companies the Fund invested in — Genespire, Epsilen Bio, and PinCell — are […]

April 23, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 22 Apr 2020

€10M Series A Boosts Cancer Immunotherapy Hitting Tumor Sugar Coating

The French startup Phost’in Therapeutics has raised €10.3M to take its cancer immunotherapy drug against solid tumors into clinical trials within a year. Led by the US-Japanese venture capital firm Remiges Ventures, the Series A round also included contributions from Japanese investment firm ANRI and French private equity investor Irdi Soridec Gestion. The cash injection […]

April 22, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty

News and Trends 21 Apr 2020

Idorsia’s Drug Improves Sleep in First Phase III Trial for Insomnia

The Swiss pharmaceutical company Idorsia has announced that its drug candidate daridorexant significantly improved sleep onset, sleep quality, and daytime functioning of insomnia patients in a pivotal phase III trial. The trial recruited 930 adult patients with insomnia. The company used a technique called polysomnography to measure the time taken to fall asleep and sleep […]

April 21, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Karen O’Hanlon Cohrt

News and Trends 17 Apr 2020

French Biotech Licenses Microbiome Therapeutic to Treat Mood Disorders

The microbiome company LNC Therapeutics has entered into a licensing agreement to use a specific strain of gut bacteria for the treatment of mood disorders such as depression and anxiety. The agreement was made with the National Research Council (CSIC) in Spain, and gives LNC Therapeutics exclusive research, manufacturing, and commercialization rights of the microbiome-based […]

April 17, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Laura Cowen

News and Trends 17 Apr 2020

Is New Enzyme Technology Key to Solving Society’s Plastic Problem?

A new type of enzyme developed by the French company Carbios can break down more than 90% of the plastic PET, commonly used to make plastic bottles, and the byproducts can then be recycled into new PET. But how far does this go towards solving our plastic waste problem? PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, comprises around […]

April 17, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 16 Apr 2020

Irish Biotech Raises €18M to Develop Non-Viral Cell Therapy Technology

The Irish company Avectas has closed a Series C round to develop cell therapies that don’t need viral vectors — a common bottleneck in cell therapy manufacturing. The fundraise of approximately €18M brings Avectas’ total equity funding to around €37M. The round was led by the company’s current shareholders, which include the serial life sciences […]

April 16, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

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News and Trends 15 Apr 2020

Healx Deploys AI Drug Discovery Technology Against Rare Nerve Disease

The AI-driven drug repurposing company Healx has teamed up with the global Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF) to develop new treatments for the genetic disease neurofibromatosis type 1, right after the FDA approved the first-ever drug for the condition. In the collaboration, the UK biotech will use its AI-driven pharmacology expertise to speed a candidate drug […]

April 15, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

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News and Trends 10 Apr 2020

Coronavirus Pandemic Bites into European Cancer Research

The UK funder Cancer Research UK and Swedish oncology biotech Alligator Bioscience have independently announced cuts to payroll and research costs due to the coronavirus disease pandemic. Cancer Research UK is cutting research funding by €50M after calculating it will lose a quarter or more of its annual fundraising income — or €137m — through […]

April 10, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty

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News and Trends 9 Apr 2020

Two European Alzheimer’s Disease Treatments Show Promise in Phase II

An epigenetics drug developed by the Spanish biopharmaceutical company Oryzon has reduced aggressive behavior in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and improved the experience of their caregivers in a phase IIa trial. At the same time, an Alzheimer’s vaccine developed by the Austrian biotech Axon Neuroscience has lowered a key blood biomarker of neurodegeneration by almost […]

April 9, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By David Kirk

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News and Trends 8 Apr 2020

Evotec Makes Move into Gene Therapy with Takeda Deal

German biotech giant Evotec has moved into gene therapy and partnered with Takeda to develop new therapies in oncology, rare diseases, neuroscience, and gastroenterology. The two companies did not reveal financial details of the collaboration, but did say that it will be a multi-year alliance that adds to Evotec’s existing deal with the big pharma […]

April 8, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 6 Apr 2020

UK Biotech’s Arthritis Drug Enters Study in Coronavirus Patients

The UK company Izana Bioscience is freely providing its phase III-ready anti-inflammatory antibody namilumab in a compassionate use program for the treatment of patients with coronavirus disease in Italy. In severe cases of coronavirus disease, also known as Covid-19, patients experience hyperinflammation. One of the drivers of inflammation is thought to be a protein called […]

April 6, 2020 - 2 minutesmins - By David Kirk

News and Trends 3 Apr 2020

UK-US Initiative to Screen Drugs Using AI for Coronavirus Treatments

The UK company Exscientia will use its AI-driven drug discovery platform to examine a collection of 15,000 potential coronavirus disease treatments in collaboration with the US research institute Calibr and the non-profit synchrotron company Diamond Light Source. The team’s huge collection of drug molecules will be provided by Calibr, part of the US medical institute […]

April 3, 2020 - 4 minutesmins - By David Kirk

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News and Trends

Sofinnova Invests €20M in Three Italian Rare Disease Biotechs

€10M Series A Boosts Cancer Immunotherapy Hitting Tumor Sugar Coating

Idorsia’s Drug Improves Sleep in First Phase III Trial for Insomnia

French Biotech Licenses Microbiome Therapeutic to Treat Mood Disorders

Is New Enzyme Technology Key to Solving Society’s Plastic Problem?

Irish Biotech Raises €18M to Develop Non-Viral Cell Therapy Technology

Healx Deploys AI Drug Discovery Technology Against Rare Nerve Disease

Coronavirus Pandemic Bites into European Cancer Research

Two European Alzheimer’s Disease Treatments Show Promise in Phase II

Evotec Makes Move into Gene Therapy with Takeda Deal

UK Biotech’s Arthritis Drug Enters Study in Coronavirus Patients

UK-US Initiative to Screen Drugs Using AI for Coronavirus Treatments

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

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Advertise with us

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