Six years after the European Commission created the world’s first bioeconomy strategy and action plan, it presented a new action plan aimed at moving faster towards a climate-neutral, sustainable, biobased industry.  

T cells target a bacterial variant of a human enzyme promoting autoimmune diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

Genentech’s new partner Affimed NV has halted two blood cancer programmes with its tetravalent bispecific T cell engager AFM11 after a death and two cases of severe neurotoxicity occured in Phase I trails. 

Oxford-based immunoncology player Sitryx Therapeutics Ltd. (Oxford, U.K.) has bagged $30m in a Series A financing round led by SV Health Investors and new investor Sofinnova Partners. Longwood Fund and GlaxoSmithKline plc participated in this financing.

British gene therapy developer Orchard Therapeutics will go IPO on Nasdaq, according to SEC filings. The company plans to raise $172.5m as ADS in an IPO underwritten by J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Cowen and Wedbush PacGrow to balance its costs, which rose from US$13m to US$138m this year. Financial markets are expected to react positively.

Diagnostics company sphingotec GmbH successfully closed a €20m growth equity financing round led by international specialist investors HBM Healthcare Investments, HBM BioCapital II LP (HBM) and Wellington Partners.

Evotec and Sanofi have launched a Public Private Partnership (PPP) aimed at partnering with academic groups in early stage drug discovery across multiple therapeutic areas. 

Researchers at at VHIO in Barcelona, Spain, and Roche in Schlieren have presented a bi-specific antibody that prevents the side effects of HER2-targeting compounds.

Life Sciences venture capitalist Forbion has closed its  new flagship fund, Forbion IV, at €360m, €90m above its original target of €250m.

Matured, diversified and willing to expand – this is how the Spanish biotech sector presented itself during BIOSPAIN 2018 in Seville. Andalusia has launched the first bioeconomy policy strategy in Spain.