Entries by Maren Kühr

BioSpain 2021, showcasing Spanish biotech leap forward

The largest biotech event organised by a national bioindustry association (AseBio) in Europe and one of the biggest in the world will take place from 27 September to 1 October. To be held in Pamplona-Iruña, the capital of the region of Navarra, and a scientific cluster for biotechnology, BioSpain will feature
a combination of on-site networking opportunities and site visits, an online trade show, presentations,
and panels that will be accessible simultaneously on-site and online.

LKF 30 years dedicated to clinical trials

This year LKF Central Laboratory, which specialises in international clinical trials, celebrates its 30th anniversary. Although size and services have developed significantly since the beginning, LKF´s corporate philosophy is still the same. With its dedicated team, LKF supports clinical trials with an individual and study-oriented, flexible approach with consistent high-quality laboratory standards.

First German Evotec BRIDGE in Heidelberg

On 13 April 2021, Evotec SE launched beLAB2122 in collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb company and five top-tier academic institutions. Mediated and supported by BioRN Life Science Cluster Rhine-Neckar, this $20 million BRIDGE brings together leading academic institutions in Southwestern Germany with the goal of efficiently advancing novel drug discovery projects.

Accelerate single cell analyses in industry and academia

Just a few years ago, single-cell analyses were complex and not user-friendly. Now, thanks to professionalised workflows, the technology is finding its way into the industry. European Biotechnology spoke with Dr Michael Schnall-Levin, SVP R&D, Founding Scientist, from market leader 10X Genomics about the increasing importance of capturing cell heterogeneity for biomedical research.

Formulation development for ATMPS in high demand

Advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) are booming, but ATMP formulations are still far from advanced: ATMPs either have a very short shelf life (hours to days) or require (ultra) cold storage conditions. A tailored formulation development program can remarkably improve this situation. Coriolis, an expert for biopharmaceutical research and (formulation) development, expands its ATMP development facilities to meet the increasing market demand.

Tough times for cancer cell therapies

So far, no gene and cell therapies have been approved to treat solid tumours. European Biotechnology spoke with Karen Miller, SVP Pipeline Research at Adaptimmune plc, about promising candidates, and the art of circumventing supply chain bottlenecks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Richter-Helm triples capacity at Bovenau site

Richter-Helm, a leading steadily growing Germany-based contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), offers excellent services in the continuously growing market of pharmaceutical biotechnology. Two additional bioreactors with capacities of 300 litres and 1,500 litres for microbial production will be added. This includes also the establishment of mid- and downstream processing and supporting utilities on a total area of about 10,000 m².

Pandemic demand drives skills and production gap

The life sciences industry stepped up its pace in the last year to rapidly fill a void in the fight against COVID-19. Solis BioDyne is one of many companies that have experienced a dramatic increase in demand for its solutions during the pandemic especially for products used in COVID-19 diagnostic tests. The company knew it needed to ramp up production. And time was not on their side.

Biopharma partnerships a key to success

Innovators at Rentschler Biopharma are continuously developing new processes for biopharmaceutical production to tackle life-threatening diseases. Two of them, Dr Birgit Ehrenberg, Process Manager, and Monika Häußler, Quality Control (QC) Manager, shared insights into their latest projects and how close collaboration with chromatography experts from Tosoh Bioscience helped them develop robust, scalable, and economically viable downstream processes, as well as corresponding reliable bioanalytical methods.