The life sciences industry stepped up its pace in the last year to rapidly fill a void in the fight against COVID-19. Solis BioDyne is one of many companies that have experienced a dramatic increase in demand for its solutions during the pandemic especially for products used in COVID-19 diagnostic tests. The company knew it needed to ramp up production. And time was not on their side.

Senti Biosciences and Bayer subsidiary BlueRock Therapeutics form strategic partnership to combine iPSC and gene circuit-engineered cell therapy platforms.

German-US Anticalin specialist Pieris Pharmaceuticals has bagged $20m upfront for a strategic R&D and license agreement with Genentech, the US branch of Swiss Roche AG.

 

 

Life science associations are calling for ATMPs to be exempted from the strict EU GMO rules, as their different legal interpretations in EU member states are delaying applications for multicentre clinical trials.

Isolating cells from whole blood or LRS cones carries the risk of red blood cell (RBC) contamination, which can have deleterious effects on downstream cell cultures.

Adeno-associated viruses (AAV) have revolutionised gene therapies as safe and effective gene shuttles. The growing demand for AAV vectors now requires an industrialised process throughout pre-clinical development that involves comprehensive monitoring from production to patient to ensure safety and efficacy of the therapeutic agent and reduce cost of goods.

APEIRON Biologics’ recombinant ACE2 APN01 has been selected to participate in the US ACTIV study. ACTIV is aimed to speed up development of the best COVID-19 meds.

Danish Novo Holdings A/S has led an oversubscribed US$125m Series C into the cancer antibody specialist Hummingbird Bioscience.

Barcelona-based Aelix Therapeutics has appointed Dr Melanie Rolli as CEO. Her predecessor, Dr Jose Luis Cabero, had decided to step down from executive positions at Aelix

BD will build a €165m manufacturing facility in Zaragoza, Spain to support the growth of its pre-filled drug delivery business.