Tag Archive for: cancer

U.S. biotech company Phinomics has established its European hub at Bayer Co.Lab Berlin, bringing a research focus that could reshape how scientists understand tumor evolution and drug resistance. The focus is on extrachromosomal DNA rings.

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With the separation from the biobank service business, Hamburg-based Indivumed has repositioned itself as a therapeutics biotech. Its earlier work remains the core of its medical knowledge and the source of novel targets. To advance the already pre-validated selection more quickly, the company is now looking for partners. The response has been strong, say Matthias Evers and Hartmut Juhl in conversation with European Biotechnology Magazine.

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Immatics has published a series of updates on its PRAME pipeline, using the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting to share data on its lead candidate and next-generation program.

The Copenhagen-based cancer immunotherapy company IO Biotech has come to an abrupt end, marking one of the more sobering recent failures in Europe’s mid-cap biotech segment. Founded in 2019, the company had sought to position itself at the forefront of therapeutic cancer vaccines, but a decisive clinical and regulatory setback ultimately proved insurmountable.

Novartis is pressing ahead with its aggressive expansion strategy in oncology, striking again: the Basel-based group is acquiring a novel PI3Kalpha inhibitor from Synnovation Therapeutics for up to USD 3 billion.

VALANX Biotech has raised €3 million in a Series A funding round to advance an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting LIV-1 for triple-negative breast cancer. The developments are currently still at the preclinical stage.

The Mainz-based biotech company BioNTech is facing a historic leadership change as the minds behind the COVID-19 vaccine prepare for a fresh start. Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci plan to focus entirely on mRNA platform technology and will launch a spin-off at the end of the year.

A study recently published in Nature on the use of mRNA “vaccines” targeting cancer neoantigens in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has generated considerable attention in scientific circles. However, with only 14 patients treated in this Phase I trial, it is far too early to declare a breakthrough. Still, the highly encouraging data breathe new life into a cancer vaccine approach that in recent years had fallen behind antibodies, ADCs and checkpoint inhibitors.

At a strategy retreat of the city’s political leadership, the governing parties of the City of Vienna agreed to build a new Life Science Center for Vienna – with the new AI institute AITHYRA as its anchor tenant. To this end, funding of €170 million has been approved, allowing planning to begin.

Photo credits: Mathieu Stern

QLi5 Therapeutics has completed a €6.26 million capital increase led by its Korean co-founder, Qurient, which has also increased its voting stake in the German biotech. The funding will be used to advance QLi5’s proteasome inhibitor(PI)-based antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) payload platform, an approach the company is presenting as a next step beyond today’s dominant ADC payload classes.