Starting in  May, Matthias Baumann will be new Chief Medical Officer of immunotherapy specialist Mologen AG. His primary goal will be preparing Mologen’s DNA cancer therapy lefitolimod for market launch.

Growth of the bioplastics market in the EU is being hampered by lack of political support. According to market analysis from nova-institute, production capacity for bio-based polymers in 2016 dropped by 6% compared to previous years.

Ex-Novartis Senior VP Judith Klimovsky has joined Copenhagen-based Genmab as Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer. The appointment is meant to pave the way for the antibody specialist to grow into a global biotech company. 

A combination therapy of Roche’s checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab plus its VEGF blocker bevacizumab doubles median progression-free survival (PFS) compared to sunitinib, the standard care in renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Basel-based BioMedPartners announes the first round of BioMedInvest III, its third equity venture capital fund at CHF75m. Up to 16 private Swiss, German and EU early-to-midstage ventures might be selected in the first closing by Q1/2018.

While GMO opponents are protesting, German Research Minister Johanna Wanka has recommended to rely on modern genetic engineering methods such as genome editing to develop the next generation of crops.

Raising €48m by the sale of 5.7 million shares at €8.50, French Inventiva S.A. is set to secure capital to further its late-stage products until H1/2019.

One Nucleus, the Cambridge-based not-for-profit membership organisation for international life science and healthcare companies, announced the appointment of Linda Summerton as a Director. Summerton is Chief Executive of Immodulon and a Senior Partner with TranScrip Partners.

Swiss Galenica subsidiary Vifor Pharma has licensed commercialisation rights for ChemoCentryx Inc’s complement C5a receptor (C5aR ) blocker Avacopan (CCX168) in Asia and the Middle East. The drug is currently undergoing Phase III testing in patients with rare renal diseases.

Swiss antibody specialist Novimmune has entered a R&D collaboration on antibody drug conjugates (ADC) with the South Korean conjugation chemistry expert LegoChem Biosciences.