Roche Diagnostics has received FDA Emergency use approval for its highly specific Elecsys antibody test.

BioEcho develops single-spin and 96/384-well kits based on the proprietary single-step EchoLUTION nucleic acid extraction process. Highly superior to the commonly used Silica-based solutions (bind-wash-elute), the whole procedure is extremely fast. Washing steps are not required and the isolated inhibitor-free RNA/DNA is detected with increased sensitivity. Due to the expertise of its founders and employees, BioEcho also uses their know-how to support companies with limited research capacities or specialized scientific knowledge. Especially in times like these, BioEcho helps to accelerate accurate tests on certain RNA/DNA viruses or pathogens.

Additional to the print edition the European Biotechnology Science & Industry Guide 2020 is available digital in the App Store and at Google Play. Download the free BIOCOM app on smartphone, tablet or laptop and have the complete edition in one hand.

Austrian Phagomed wants to close a Series A financing in 2020. The start-up is working on phage-based treatments as a new alternative to antibiotics.

London-based Syncona Ltd announces the appointment of Danny Bar-Zohar as Syncona Partner, starting mid of April.

Belgian Bone Therapeutics SA has secured €11m to foster development of its late stage pipeline candidates.

Cevec Pharmaceuticals GmbH has launched a new, scalable production platform for AAV gene therapy vectors.

German vaccine developer ARTES Biotechnology GmbH will develop a COVID-19 subunit vaccine based on virus-like particles (VLP), which include two proteins of SARS-CoV-2.

The politically overhyped use of old malaria drugs in combination with COVID-19-specific candidates has been demonstrated to be dangerous, reports Nature Medicine.

German researchers have isolated a substance from parasitic roundworm larvae to alleviate inflammation and treat asthma in a rodent model.