Swedish cancer med developer Oncopeptides AB has raised SEK649m (€68m) in an IPO at Nasdaq Stockholm.

Several promising antibiotic candidates, developed by ENABLE and its partners, are rapidly approaching the pre-clinical development stage. The European consortium is now seeking new partners to proceed with non-clinical studies.

BaseLaunch, a new life sciences accelerator in Basel, has been kicked off. Its mission: to bring the most promising healthcare projects and ventures to Europe’s leading life sciences hub.

While governments worldwide discuss to pay premiums to pharma companies offering novel antibiotics that fight multiresistant pathogens, Roche has extended  its discovery deal with British Discuva Ltd.

Pfizer’s Cyprus Business Manager Kyriakos Mikellis has been re-elected for the next two years as president of the Cyprus Association of Research and Development Pharmaceutical Companies (KEFEA). 

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.