Newron schizophrenia

Newron Pharmaceuticals has secured up to €38mn to advance Phase III trials of evenamide, a drug that, if successful, could represent one of the first circuit-modulating therapies in schizophrenia.

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Zyanya Citlalli for Unsplash+

The European Innovation Council (EIC) has funded the collaborative GLIOBREAK project, bringing together Swedish biotech Beactica Therapeutics and the Belgian KU Leuven Institute for Single-Cell Omics (LISCO) to advance Beactica’s small-molecule candidate, BEA-17, as a precision immunotherapy for glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer, which currently has limited treatment options.

Denmark-based Lundbeck has reported positive top-line results from the intravenous arm of its phase IIb PROCEED trial of bocunebart (Lu AG09222) in migraine prevention, putting the neuroscience specialist on course for phase III discussions with regulators. The milestone comes after the company was forced to abandon the drug’s subcutaneous formulation last year — a setback that had cast a shadow over the entire PACAP-targeting approach.

A late-week surprise from Munich-based Immunic, Inc. (listed on Nasdaq as IMUX): the company has launched a follow-on private placement of up to US$400 million and expects to close the financing later this month. At the same time, the biotech is pressing ahead with its transformation in preparation for the potential commercialisation of its lead asset. Current CEO Daniel Vitt will step back once a successor with proven market-launch expertise has been appointed.

Photo by Glen Rushton on Unsplash

The European Commission has approved Amgen’s Uplizna in generalized myasthenia gravis, moving the big biotech into a market served by argenx, Johnson & Johnson and UCB.

GENFIT Ipsen milestone

French biotech GENFIT will receive a $20 million commercial milestone payment after Ipsen reported $208 million in full-year 2025 net sales of Iqirvo in primary biliary cholangitis, surpassing the $200 million threshold set out in the companies’ 2021 licensing agreement. 

Photo by Maryna Yazbeck on Unsplash

Europe produces world-class life sciences research, yet still struggles to finance and scale it. Venture capital in European biotech accounts for just 7 per cent of global funding, while 66 of the 67 EU biotech companies that went public over the past six years chose to list outside Europe. Capital is available globally; Europe is struggling to capture it.

Chemify Zeoon investment

Chemify has struck a deal with Zeon, securing investment from the company’s venture capital wing and signing up to make novel compounds and materials for its new partner.

A surprise move from Darmstadt to Paris: outgoing Merck CEO Belén Garijo is set to take the helm at French pharmaceutical group Sanofi after Paul Hudson unexpectedly failed to secure a contract extension from the board.

thx biocodex partnership

French biopharma THX Pharma has signed a strategic licensing deal with Biocodex, an independent French pharmaceutical group, to advance two drug candidates in three rare genetic disorders with high unmet need.