Delivering therapeutic genetic material safely to the correct target in the body is one of the big challenges of modern medicine. We talked to David Del Bourgo, CEO of WhiteLab Genomics, about how AI is helping design a new generation of vectors to tackle­ ­neurological diseases.

European biotech is seeing both encouraging momentum and challenges. Innovation from European academia continues to inspire therapeutic concepts.

With a first $50 million tranche of its Series B financing and a commercial partnership with MEDICE, HMNC Brain Health has secured fresh capital for its depression programmes. The deal marks an important milestone for the Munich-based company – nearly a decade after it first set out to transform psychiatry through precision medicine.

antithrombotic Aplagon

Finnish biotech Aplagon has raised €4.8m to broaden Phase II development of its lead candidate APAC, a first-in-class antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy for thrombo-inflammatory diseases. The financing will support a new Phase II clinical programme in arteriovenous fistula (AVF) maturation failure in patients with end-stage kidney disease.

Athens Kos Biotechnology

Kos Biotechnology Partners has raised US$123m (€106m) for its inaugural global life sciences fund, marking a notable step for Greece’s still young biotechnology financing ecosystem.

CM4Cure is focused on substantially improving patient outcomes, ­improving medical device performance by incorporating drug delivery. Our technology redefines ­medical device coatings – converting passive barriers into active systems via a unique nanogel able to ­deliver multiple APIs. Initially focused on iv catheters – >2bn are used globally pa – the platform has potential to reduce infection and thrombosis across a swathe of medical devices

hearing loss gene therapy

Sensorion has selected SENS-601, its gene therapy candidate for GJB2-related hearing loss, as its lead gene therapy program after filing clinical trial applications in France and Canada. The French biotech is discontinuing development of its OTOF-targeted therapy SENS-501, citing a changed competitive environment following the approval of Regeneron’s rival gene therapy.

Molecular glue

Orionis and Novartis have expanded an existing deal to develop “molecular glue”, with a new agreement worth up to $1.4 billion, aiming to stick small molecule drugs onto challenging and elusive drug targets.

Wall street

Veraxa Biotech, an oncology company spun out of research at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), has completed its merger with SPAC company Voyager Acquisition Corp. and will be trading as of today on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol VRXA. For the company, which has roots in the Heidelberg region, the move marks its transition from a research-driven company to a publicly listed biotech developer.

Neurons

Scenic Biotech has joined the Michael J. Fox Foundation’s LRRK2 consortium to test a Parkinson’s disease approach that targets neither LRRK2 nor GCase directly.