From Berlin biotech NOXXON through a strategic realignment and considerations of cryptocurrency investments, and now back to drug development: TME Pharma has found a potential partner for its lead drug candidate NOX-A12 in Japanese biotech company TMS. For now, however, the companies are only entering exclusive negotiations. Whether these will actually lead to funded clinical development remains uncertain.
Genmab’s $8B Merus bet passes Phase 3 test in head and neck cancer
Latest NewsDenmark’s Genmab said adding its bispecific antibody petosemtamab to MSD’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) cut the risk of death by 50% versus Keytruda alone in a Phase 3 trial in first-line, PD-L1-positive recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer. The interim result is the first randomized evidence for the lead asset of Genmab’s $8 billion takeover of Dutch biotech Merus last year.
TME Pharma returns to its roots, looks to Japan to rescue NOX-A12
Latest NewsFrom Berlin biotech NOXXON through a strategic realignment and considerations of cryptocurrency investments, and now back to drug development: TME Pharma has found a potential partner for its lead drug candidate NOX-A12 in Japanese biotech company TMS. For now, however, the companies are only entering exclusive negotiations. Whether these will actually lead to funded clinical development remains uncertain.
Molecular Partners halves its workforce — is money running short?
Latest NewsSwiss DARPin specialist Molecular Partners is shifting its entire focus to radiopharmaceuticals and plans to cut up to 55 jobs. According to the company, its cash reserves will last until the end of 2027. But behind the strategic overhaul lies an increasingly strained financial position. Its broad pipeline is likely to require much stricter prioritization.
Orbis and AlzeCure change CEOs; Simris hires another Heidelberg Pharma veteran
Latest NewsEvery Friday, The Leadership Edit follows people taking new roles across European biotech and what their moves may tell us about the companies they join. This week: two CEO transitions, three medical appointments and a finance hire at a young French biotech.
Barcelona’s ALLOX raises €9.4M to turn protein maps into drug candidates
Latest NewsSpanish biotech ALLOX has closed a €9.4 million ($10.5 million) seed round, led by Asabys with participation from Spanish and Catalan public investors, to expand its experimental biology and AI platform for targeting “difficult-to-drug” protein-protein interactions and gene-regulating transcription factors. The company has also appointed former Novo Holdings executive Morten Graugaard as independent chair of its board.
Exogenus secures €13M EU consortium backing for secretome therapy in osteoarthritis
Latest NewsPortugal-based Exogenus Therapeutics will lead a five-year, €13 million Horizon Europe project to advance its osteoarthritis candidate EXO-101 into clinical testing.
Beyond monoclonals: Multispecific antibodies
slider, Sponsored PublicationsNew biologic logic – Multispecific antibodies extend targeted therapy beyond one antigen or pathway. By combining binding sites, cell recruitment and defined valencies within one molecule, they enable mechanisms that conventional monoclonal antibodies or their combinations cannot reproduce with the same spatial and pharmacological control.
Idorsia launches redesigned Fabry disease trial with Nxera backing
Latest NewsSwitzerland-based Idorsia has launched a new pivotal Phase 3 trial of lucerastat in Fabry disease, targeting kidney deposits after its first late-stage study failed to reduce nerve pain. The company also signed a development and commercialization agreement with Japan’s Nxera Pharma, which will help fund the program.
Atlas Bio launches with $12.5M to eliminate animal testing and simulate Phase 2 trials
Latest NewsSwitzerland-based Atlas Bio has emerged from stealth with $12.5 million in funding to develop AI simulations that predict drug responses, with the ambition of replacing parts of clinical development and animal testing.
Ferring to buy fertility biotech Gameto for up to $1.38 billion
Latest NewsSwiss pharma group Ferring Pharmaceuticals has agreed to acquire New York-based Gameto for up to $1.3825 billion (€1.24 billion), gaining a cell-based approach designed to shorten the hormone treatment needed for in vitro fertilization (IVF) and egg freezing.