Danish insulin maker Novo Nordisk tries to relieve financial pressure by laying off 1,000 staff. The step was necessary due to challenges on the US market, the company said.

Swedish immuno-oncology play Immunicum AB has appointed Carlos de Sousa as its new CEO. Most recently, de Sousa worked as Chief Business Offer at Danish Zealand Pharma.

Humanized NSG and NSG-SGM3 mice as a new preclinical bridge for immune-oncology therapies.

CAR T cell specialist bluebird bio has inked a potential US$1bn partnership with Medigene – to get access to the drug developer’s technology platform.

Immunotherapy maker TxCell SA has appointed gene therapy expert Olivier Danos to its newly founded Scientific Advisory Board. Danos serves as Senior Vice President of Cell and Gene Therapy at Biogen and has led Biogen’s gene therapy research group for the last two years. Previously, Danos served as Senior VP Molecular Medicine, Synthetic Biology and Gene Regulation at Kadmon Pharmaceuticals.

The European Patent Office (EPO) is currently pushing the project “Early Certainty” in order to speed up examination of patent applications. The aim is to complete examination within 12 months between request for examination and intent to grant the application or refusal.

How Content Access and Manual Process Hinder Mining Efforts

Martinsried-based autoimmune specialist Immunic AG secured financial support for the next 3.5 years from lead investors Life Sciences Partners and LifeCare Partners (LCP, Switzerland) based on prior autoimmune programmes of 4SC AG.

Backed by MPM Capital and Sofinnova, immuno-oncology specialist iOmx Therapeutics has raised €40m in its first round of financing. The German company had just been founded in spring.

Disregarded for decades, extracellular vesicles are now understood to be a key element in communication between cells. Discoveries around the nano-sized bubbles are revolutionising not only the field of diagnostics. With their ability to mimic stem cells, EVs could also help open the doors to novel therapeutic concepts.