The new joint venture Synvina is positioned in the market for drop-in bioplastics with advanced product characteristics.

With  about 38,000 attendees and 2,500 exhibitors, CPhI worldwide in Barcelona has broken another record. Personalised 3D printed pills and hypothesis generation using big data were only two trends reported.

Dublin-based protein immunotherapy developer Prothena has appointed Gene Kinney as its new President and Chief Executive Officer. Kinney has also been appointed to Prothena’s Board of Directors.

The fate of the bioeconomy in Europe remains undecided. The evaluation of the European Commission’s bioeconomy strategy plus action plan has been delayed.

Austrian Apeiron Biologics has outlicensed the global marketing rights for its neuroblastoma antibody dinutuximab beta to British Eusa Pharma.

Danish insulin maker Novo Nordisk tries to relieve financial pressure by laying off 1,000 staff. The step was necessary due to challenges on the US market, the company said.

Swedish immuno-oncology play Immunicum AB has appointed Carlos de Sousa as its new CEO. Most recently, de Sousa worked as Chief Business Offer at Danish Zealand Pharma.

Humanized NSG and NSG-SGM3 mice as a new preclinical bridge for immune-oncology therapies.

CAR T cell specialist bluebird bio has inked a potential US$1bn partnership with Medigene – to get access to the drug developer’s technology platform.

Immunotherapy maker TxCell SA has appointed gene therapy expert Olivier Danos to its newly founded Scientific Advisory Board. Danos serves as Senior Vice President of Cell and Gene Therapy at Biogen and has led Biogen’s gene therapy research group for the last two years. Previously, Danos served as Senior VP Molecular Medicine, Synthetic Biology and Gene Regulation at Kadmon Pharmaceuticals.