At the end of May, Dr Uwe Meya took over as Chief Medical Officer at Oxford-based SynaptixBio.

DefiniGEN Ltd., and Atelerix Ltd. have successfully shipped in vitro liver models from the UK to the US without freezing them thus preventing cell damage and loss-of function.

440 participants discussed the defossilisation of the chemical and materials industry through biomass, CO2 and recycling. The audience voted for the “Renewable Material of the Year 2024”: Acetic acid from CO2 by Danish start-up Again wins 1st price.

With the opening of a production centRE for RNA vaccines and therapeutics, German CDMO Wacker Biotech is expanding its expertise in the field of RNA active ingredients.

Mk2 Biotechnologies GmbH was founded in 2020 and is located in the Innovation and Start-up Centre IZB in Planegg-Martinsried.

Single-use bioreactor technology offers a set of benefits compared to common glass or stainless-steel vessels, including reduced downtime between runs, minimal cleaning effort, or decreased cross-contamination risk. In that regard, BioBLU® Single-Use Bioreactors combine the benefits of single-use bioreactor technology with the reliable performance of conventional glass or stainless-steel bioreactors. Furthermore, using them together with a powerful bioprocess controller like the BioFlo® 320 enables precise cell culture parameter control and seamless process transition to up to 40 L of working volume.

Drug discovery CRO Evotec SE announced has entered into a partnership with Inserm, Lille University Hospital and Inserm Transfert to screen new biomarkers and targets in obesity and metabolic diseases.

UK-based Semarion Ltd. was honoured as the most innovative company in the field of laboratory automation at SLAS Europe 2024 in Barcelona.

US pharma giant Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) is decided to acquire London-based ophtalmology expert Eyebiotech Ltd for upt to US$3bn., US$1.7bn in future milestones.

2023 was another particularly tumultuous year for life sciences and, although the lingering effects of the last year are unlikely to change dramatically, the stabilisation of interest rates (off 16-year highs) and emerging direction of travel (market data points) tilt our bias to positive for the new year.