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This author has not written his bio yet.
But we are proud to say that Georg Kääb contributed 96 entries already.
Basel-based Windward Bio did it again and has raised another three-digit millions – $165 million to be exact – to advance a pipeline of long-acting immunology therapies—much of it sourced through in-licensing deals with Chinese partners. Its lead candidate, WIN378, is moving into Phase III, with first clinical readouts expected from 2026.
Evonik is investing €80 million in its fermentation plant in Slovakia, pushing the Group’s structural transformation forward with a major investment in biotechnology. Alongside spider‑silk proteins from Amsilk, the site is set to offer a broader CDMO portfolio for the pharmaceutical industry.
The Copenhagen-based cancer immunotherapy company IO Biotech has come to an abrupt end, marking one of the more sobering recent failures in Europe’s mid-cap biotech segment. Founded in 2019, the company had sought to position itself at the forefront of therapeutic cancer vaccines, but a decisive clinical and regulatory setback ultimately proved insurmountable.
French Generare, founded in 2023, is positioning itself at the intersection of synthetic biology and artificial intelligence by tackling what many in the sector now see as a fundamental bottleneck: the lack of genuinely novel molecular data.
Novartis is back on the acquisition trail, agreeing to buy California-based Excellergy for up to $2bn. The antibody Exl-111 is intended to strengthen its allergy pipeline and go beyond the current standard of care. The deal is part of a broader string of acquisitions aimed at systematically expanding the group’s innovation base.
The European Investment Fund has launched a new fund of funds with a target volume of €15 billion to strengthen growth financing in Europe’s technology sector. The programme is considered the largest of its kind in Europe to date and is aimed at around 100 late-stage venture capital funds.
Animal testing or organoids—this question is increasingly being answered in favour of organoids. Yet robust model systems still require further research and, crucially, validation. More large pharmaceutical companies are now pursuing this goal, whether by acquiring relevant start-ups or by establishing their own research centres, as Roche has just done in Basel.
Novartis is pressing ahead with its aggressive expansion strategy in oncology, striking again: the Basel-based group is acquiring a novel PI3Kalpha inhibitor from Synnovation Therapeutics for up to USD 3 billion.
The Basel-based pharmaceutical group Roche is pressing ahead with its digital strategy and setting new benchmarks for the industry. Together with NVIDIA, the company is building an “AI factory” that will become the largest computing infrastructure ever announced by a pharma company. In the race among pharma majors, Roche has now overtaken the supercomputer recently unveiled by Eli Lilly.
The new Dortmund-based biotech iDEL Therapeutics has launched with a €9 million seed round to develop a new class of cancer therapies. The financing was led by BiomedVC, with participation from NRW.Venture, Gründerfonds Ruhr and the KHAN Technology Transfer Fund II.