123rf.com/Sebastian Kaulitzki

A new assay that accurately measures how arthritis patients respond to treatment with TNFalpha blockers such as adalimumab, open up the way to predict efficacy.

Colony of bacteria in culture medium plate. © 123rf.com/ Puntasit Choksawatdikorn

In order to incentivise drug companies to re-enter development of antibiotics, the UK government announced it will establish a licence model to assure developers sufficient return on investments (ROI).

© MAB Discovery

Immunoncology and vaccine specialist BioNTech AG is broadening its antibody discovery capabilities by acquiring MAB Discovery‘s antibody generation unit.  

© Clariant

Swiss fine chemicals specialist Clariant has hammered out a R&D pact with ExxonMobil and Renewable Energy Group (REG) Inc to combine technologies in order of producing biodiesel from cellulose
 

Pierre Meulien, IMI Executive Director and ex-Genomics Canada President

The Innovative Medicines Initiative II has earmarked €80m for pre-competetive research improving the pharmaceutical industry’s productivity.

Superbug Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
© 123rf.com/royaltystockphoto

Novo Holdings has invested €18m from its €135m REPAIR Impact Fund into four companies.
 

123rf.com_ Xavier Gallego Morell

Boehringer Ingelheim has expanded its 2014 R&D collaboration with the BioMed X Innovation Center (Heidelberg, Germany) to find new treatment approaches for early intervention of psychiatric diseases.

Scanning electron microscope image showing macrophage adhesion to a monolayer of myofibroblasts. © M. Lodyga et al., Science Signaling (2018)

Canadian and Finnish researchers have demonstrated that long immune cell contact to lung tissue turns tissue repair into fibrosis. 

© Valneva SE

French vaccine specialist Valneva SE has inked a supply contract with the US Department of Defense for IXIARO its Japanese encephalitis (JE). 

The development of gasification technology takes place in VTT's Bioruukki piloting centre in Espoo, Finland. © VTT

Researchers at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd have presented a new gasification-based technique to turn forest industry byproducts into transport fuels and chemicals.