“Severe economic and environmental damage”: A study commissioned by EU industry association Euroseeds says that the ban of a certain class of insecticides to protect bees causes a lot of ecologic and economic burden.

For thirty years, industry has worked hard to establish vaccines that can cure cancer. At the 35th JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, German Curevac reported another failure. It remains open whether cancer vaccines or co-administration of other drug classes to immune checkpoint modulators can break solid tumour’s immune tolerance tactics.

Swiss rare genetic diseases company Therachon AG has named Luca Santarelli Chief Executive Officer and Director. Santarelli brings widespred experience from his role as Venture Partner at Versant Ventures, founding investor of Therachon.

German researchers have found a biomarker that reliably predicts outcomes of blood cancer treatment with the chemotherapeutic cytarabine. Targeting the biomarker restored cytarabine sensitivity.

After the record-breaking year of 2015, biotech stock markets exercised more caution in 2016. However, according to a new report, this represents a “healthy reset” rather than a new crisis. 

Roche is expanding its indications in cancer immunotherapy. Following FDA approvals of its PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab in NSCLC and bladder cancer patients refractive to platinum-based chemotherapy, the Swiss pharma major is awaiting a FDA decision on whether the antibody is suitable as first-line treatment in a further subpopulation of bladder cancer patients.

Constitutive activation of the mechano-sensor and transcription factor Yes-associated protein (YAP) is key to metastasis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of triple-negative breast cancer, researchers from the Institute of Cancer Research, London, report.

Malte Peters will leave Sandoz to take over as Chief Development Officer of Morphosys AG. Peters succeeds Arndt Schottelius, who held the position for eight yeara.

Neuronal hypersensitivity specialist NeRRe Therapeutics has closed an oversubscribed Series B financing round led by Fountain Healthcare Partners.

Novozymes company Albumedix A/S has appointed Giles Campion new Chief Medical Officer. Campion will be in charge of leading the development efforts of the Danish leader in albumin-based drug delivery.