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.
GMO acreage growing globally
Latest NewsAgribiotech lobby group ISAAA reports that global GMO acreage has grown to 189.8 million hectares in 2017 -3% or 4.7 million hectares more than in 2016.
Chugai ends licence for PharmaMar’s lurbinectedin
Latest NewsRoche’s Japanese arm Chugai today returned all rights from a 2016 licence agreement on the RNA polymerase II blocker lurbinectedin to Spanish oncology specialist PharmaMar SA.
Microbial game-changers
BackgroundHow do novel technologies affect the world’s largest enzyme producer? At the GBS, European Biotechnology asked Thomas Videbaeck, PhD, COO and Executive VP Research, Innovation and Supply.
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.