Frederic Rousseau and Joost Schymkowitz, ©VIB-Ine Dehandschutter

Belgian start-up company Aelin Therapeutics NV secured the funds to push development of candidate drugs arising from its Pept-in protein knockdown platform, which harnesses protein aggregation to induce functional knockdown of target proteins.

agenX

Dutch llama antibody specialist ArgenX met the safety endpoint in a Phase II trial with ARGX 113 (efgartigimod), a first-in-class antibody that lowers pathogenic levels of IgG, in patients with the autoimmune disease myasthenia gravis.

sphingotest® immunoassay principle. 
© sphingotec GmbH

In vitro diagnostics leader Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (Raritan, US) expands his assay portfolio with Sphingotec’s first-in-class biomarker test that predicts residual edema and re-hospitalization in patients with congestive heart failure.

French based Advicenne has raised a €27m IPO on Euronext Paris, to develop paediatric-friendly therapeutics for the treatment of orphan renal and neurological diseases.

Action of oxytocin and vasopressin in the human brain. © Marcos Otero García_University of Valencia

A European-Australian team of researchers has created a synthetic version of oxytocin that does not show the off-target effects mediated by its chemical analogon vasopressin.

Roche company Foundation Medicine Inc. (FMI) has been granted FDA approval for a diagnostic multiplex tumour profiling assay, which identifies a broad range of tumour markers in one single measurement.

C. difficile is emerging as a leading cause of life threatening, health-care acquired infections worldwide. © CDC

The decision of the vaccine arm of French drug giant Sanofi was based on an independent interim analysis of a pivotal Phase III study enroling up to 16,500 people at risk of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) for vaccination with the jab that has FDA Fast Track designation.

SHP647 mode of action: the antibody blocks integrin on B- and T-lymphocytes to attach to endothelial protein MAdCAM, which would translocate the leukocytes to the GI tract. © https://doi.org/10.2147/BTT.S71679

Shire has received FDA Orphan Drug Status for its anti-MAdCAM Antibody SHP647 to treat pediatric ulverative colitis.

Veeva's CEO Peter Gassner presenting at the European Summit in Madrid. The event saw 875+ healtcare professional attendees, and 118 life sciences companies onsite - with the vital interest to lower cost through more efficient engagement with doctors, regulators and payors.

845 medical affairs and biopharma industry professionals at Veeva Commercial & Medical Summit Europe in Madrid discussed how digitalisation can speed up the development of new medical solutions while reducing cost.

Belgian liquid biopsy specialist Biocartis Group NV has pocketed €80m through an equity placement by offering 6.4 million new shares.