Plastics are magical materials, and they will be even more important in the future than they are today. But they lead to microplastics in the environment, especially noticeable as marine littering. The European Commission is now proposing, among other things, a ban on certain single-use plastic products, including plastic cotton buds, cutlery, plates, straws, drink stirrers, and sticks for balloons, which will all have to be made exclusively from more sustainable materials instead. The Commission’s legislative proposal must then be negotiated with the member states and the European Parliament. And here substantial changes should still be made because so far industry and politics continued to fail in this area.
Inflammasome specialist NodThera Ltd raises €31.8m
Latest NewsSelvita spin-out NodThera Ltd raised £28 million (€31.8m) in a Series A financing round led by Sofinnova Partners and 5AM Ventures and co-financed by Epidarex Capital and F-Prime Capital Partners.
Dave Lemus joins Silence Therapeutics Board
AppointmentsSilence Therapeutics plc, a company active in the development of RNA therapeutics, has announced the appointment of Dave Lemus to its Board as Non-Executive Director.
Abivax Appoints Ian McGowan
AppointmentsAbivax, a biotechnology company working to develop a functional cure for HIV as well as treatments for inflammatory/autoimmune diseases and cancer, appoints Ian McGowan as Scientific Advisory Board Chair and Juergen Rockstroh as a New Member to the Company’s SAB. The changes have been made to support the transition from a discovery-focused biotechnology company to a biopharmaceutical development company.
Researchers identify T cell guardians of the intestine
Latest NewsSpecial immune cells that protect the lining of the gut remain in a semi-active state, ready to fend off a pathogen at any moment, thanks to the composition of their mitochondrial membrane, a new study reveals.
Afatinib push back K-RAS-positive lung cancer
Latest NewsA team of Austrian, Hungarian and Canadian researchers has demonstrated that Boehringer Ingelheim’s FDA-approved ERB family kinase blocker afatinib prolonged survival in hard-to-treat K-RAS-mutated lung tumours.
Novimmune enters US$195m option deal with TG Therapeutics Inc.
Latest NewsSwiss Novimmune SA has exclusively sold a licence option on its lead product NI-1701 (now renamed TG-1801), a bispecific anti-CD47/anti-CD19 antibody designed to trea B-cell blood cancers, to TG Therapeutics Inc.
Single-use plastics: New EU rules to reduce marine litter
OpinionPlastics are magical materials, and they will be even more important in the future than they are today. But they lead to microplastics in the environment, especially noticeable as marine littering. The European Commission is now proposing, among other things, a ban on certain single-use plastic products, including plastic cotton buds, cutlery, plates, straws, drink stirrers, and sticks for balloons, which will all have to be made exclusively from more sustainable materials instead. The Commission’s legislative proposal must then be negotiated with the member states and the European Parliament. And here substantial changes should still be made because so far industry and politics continued to fail in this area.
Chemspec Europe 2018 starting
Latest NewsFor two days, innovation in synthetic and bio-based fine chemicals will be in the focus of experts who meet at Chemspec Europe in Cologne (20-21 June, 2018, Koelnmesse).
New Director
AppointmentsT cell therapy developer Crescendo Biologics Ltd (Crescendo) has named Eva-Lotta Allan Non-Executive Director of the company. The former CFO of Immunocore brings in over 30 years’ experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, with special expertise in strategic partnerships with Big Pharma. The Board member of the British Industry Organisation (BIA) is currently a non-executive director for cancer immunotherapy specialist Targovax ASA which recently announced new patents for its colon cancer RAS-targeting candidate drug TG02. Prior to Immunocore, Eva-Lotta was Chief Business Officer at Ablynx NV.
Roche pays US$2.4bn for FMI take-over
Latest NewsThree years ago Roche acquired a majority in shares of Foundation Medicines Inc (FMI), a specialist in cancer panel sequencing, which has build a huge database with cancer mutation profiles. Now Roche paid US2.4bn to complete the take-over.