PharmaPack 2018:?The promises of digitalised medicine don’t stop at injection pens or autoinjectors. One of the early adopters in the field is Swiss Haselmeier AG (Pharmapack: hall 7.1, booth L19). European Biotechnology spoke with Paul E. Jansen, Member of the Board, from Haselmeier’s Boston office about how connected devices could define a new paradigm in therapy compliance and control of chronic diseases, and how they will shape the market.

BONESUPPORT (Nasdaq Stockholm: BONEX) announces that the Board of Directors has appointed Emil Billbäck as the new CEO of BONESUPPORT HOLDING AB. Mr. Billbäck has over 20 years management experience from the life science industry and the Board of Directors is of the opinion that he has the ideal profile to implement the Company’s strategy and to deliver shareholder value. He will join BONESUPPPORT on 1st March 2018 when he will replace Richard Davies who has been the Company’s CEO since January 2016.

Spanish researchers have identified a protein that keeps breast cancer stem cell in a dormant state preventing them from forming metastases. A German team found an endothelial receptor protein that prevents dormant micrometastases in the blood to invade tissue.

Venture capital firm Seventure Partners has joined a US$35m Series B Round in Digital Nutrition Platform Zipongo. The US$9m invested into the Californian company comes from Seventures’ €160m Health for Life Capital™ fund, the premier fund dedicated to the expanding microbiome and nutrition space. 

A series of high-level conferences held in autumn and winter focused on current challenges to implementing an industrial scale bioeconomy in Europe. In November, the European Commission unveiled a new stock-take of progress in its Bioeconomy Strategy, ahead of an official revision planned in 2018. In a manifesto, stakeholders demand a holistic policy framework. 

Seven years after the acquisition of Genzyme, French drug major Sanofi has added another orphan drug player to its portfolio. The company agreed with the management of US blood disorder expert Bioverativ to pay US$11.6bn in cash, a 64% premium on the company’s share price. 

The European Biotechnology Science & Industry Guide 2018 provides a wealth of information on companies, research institutions, tech parks and providers acting in the life  sciences and biotech industry.

Serialisation dominates the discussion about how to implement the Falsified Medicines Directive (2011/62/EU). However, to meet the February 2019 deadline, companies must also pay attention to the second required safety feature: the anti-tampering device. The use of tamper-evident labels is widespread. But beware! There are many challenges associated with these popular tamper-evident devices.

Italian, US and Australian researchers have used a blood screening test to detect cancer in patients with 8 different cancers whose tumors had not yet spread. Its sensivity is among the best performances yet for a universal cancer blood test.

French immunotherapy company TxCell received a €1.2m funding from the French governemt agency Bpifrance to develop its genetically engineered regulatory T cells (Tregs).