German biotech Heidelberg Pharma and China-based Huadong Medicine are drawing ever closer: What began as a licensing partnership has developed into an alliance spanning capital investment, joint ADC development and clinical research. Now, up to six new targets are being added, making the partnership increasingly strategic.
Dutch startup Revealis Biotherapeutics has launched to develop a new generation of cancer vaccines targeting tumor cells that have become difficult for T cells to recognize, building on an academic program that has already reached patients.
French biotech Osivax and South Korea-based GC Biopharma have partnered to develop a seasonal influenza vaccine combining Osivax’s broad-spectrum OVX836 candidate with GC Biopharma’s marketed GC FLU vaccine.
UK-based Redx Pharma has closed a $36 million (€31 million) Series A financing round to support a Phase 2 trial of its Crohn’s disease drug candidate.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is providing Egyptian biopharmaceutical company Minapharm with up to $16.5 million (€14 million) to advance another vaccine candidate against Bundibugyo Ebola virus into clinical development. The candidate was developed by Minapharm’s Berlin-based subsidiary ProBioGen using its proprietary MVA-CR19 platform. A Phase I trial is planned in Africa, with the broader aim of helping the continent build the capacity to respond rapidly to emerging outbreaks.
For decades, epilepsy treatment has focused on stopping seizures, but for the third of patients whose seizures resist existing medicines, that approach is not enough. As genetics, neural circuits, and cell therapies reshape the field, epilepsy is being redefined as many diseases with deeper biological roots.
UK biotech Apollo Therapeutics has reported early Phase 1 data showing that one dose of its experimental rhinovirus vaccine, APL-10456, induced immune responses recognizing all three rhinovirus species in healthy adults.
German biotech Immatics is raising $150 million (€128.6 million) through an underwritten offering to strengthen its balance sheet ahead of a pivotal readout for its lead cancer cell therapy, anzu-cel.
Heidelberg-based Revier Therapeutics has raised €6 million in seed financing to develop selective class IIa histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors for cardiometabolic diseases.
Roche’s Genentech unit has licensed global rights outside South Korea to HM17321, Hanmi Pharm’s Phase 1 obesity candidate. The deal gives Hanmi $190 million (€163 million) upfront and could be worth up to $2.3 billion (€2.0 billion), including development, regulatory and commercial milestones. Hanmi is also eligible for tiered royalties on future sales.