Danish biotech Breye Therapeutics has raised €67.5 million to advance an oral eye disease drug candidate into a Phase 2 clinical trial.
Novo Nordisk will pay China’s Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals $300 million (€264 million) upfront, in a deal worth up to $2.6 billion (€2.3 billion), for rights outside Greater China to HRS-1596, an experimental obesity and diabetes pill that the companies say could be taken once a week.
The 2025 AseBio Report shows a Spanish biotech ecosystem that is not only expanding, but attracting capital at a new scale: Spain counted 1,119 dedicated biotech companies in 2025, up 10.4% year on year, while 39 new biotech firms were created in 2025.
Newron Pharmaceuticals will expand its Phase 3 evenamide trial outside the U.S. after the FDA decided to maintain a hold on enrollment at American sites.
Swiss biotech Addex Therapeutics has regained global rights to a GABA-B drug portfolio from Indivior, including a candidate for substance use disorders that has completed studies needed before a Phase 1 trial. Indivior ended the collaboration as it reorganizes R&D ahead of its proposed merger with Supernus Pharmaceuticals.
Sweden’s Nanexa has granted Novo Nordisk a global license to use its PharmaShell drug delivery technology in up to five programs targeting obesity, type 2 diabetes and other cardiometabolic diseases. The agreement could bring Nanexa as much as €1.165 billion.
Every Friday, The Leadership Edit looks at the people taking new roles across European biotech and what their moves may tell us about the companies they join. We’ll follow chief executives, scientific and medical leaders, and other appointments that mark a change in direction or a new stage of growth. For this first edition: a new CEO for Bavarian Nordic, launch preparations at Abivax and an AI push at ProQR.
Roche signed two research partnerships on Sept. 24: one with Atavistik Bio to discover drugs for cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases, and another with Earendil Labs to develop cancer antibodies. Together, the agreements have a potential value of more than $3.47 billion (€3.05 billion). Roche is paying $125 million (€110 million) upfront.
European biotech and clinical-research figures broadly agree with nine major drugmakers whose chairs signed a letter urging governments to reward new medicines better, but say the fixes go well beyond price.
Finnish biotech Kasvu Therapeutics has raised €30 million in Series A financing to take its lead depression candidate into clinical development, adding to a growing number of European investments in drugs targeting TrkB, a receptor involved in the brain’s ability to form and adapt neural connections.