adobe stock photos - Michael Derrer Fuchs 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.
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Valanx BiotechVALANX 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.
Marcus Krauss - stock.adobe.com 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.
BioNTech SEA 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.
ABA AustriaAt 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.
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.
For BioNTech, 2026 could become one of the most decisive years since its pandemic-driven breakthrough. The pipeline is broad, the coffers are well stocked, partnerships are numerous, and the outlook extends far beyond 2030. Yet despite all the strategic preparation, one key question will be answered in the coming months: can the clinical data live up to the high expectations surrounding BioNTech’s cancer strategy?
Genentech Corp. / RocheThe new year at Cologne-based Disco Pharma has begun much as the old one ended: with a headline-grabbing announcement. Just weeks after closing a sizeable financing round, the company has now unveiled an equally notable collaboration with US biotech pioneer Amgen, a partnership with a potential value of up to US$618 million.
On January 4, the French pharma group Servier and the AI drug discovery Insilico Medicine announced a collaboration worth up to $888 million. Insilico will receive up to $32 million from Servier for a multi-year research and development collaboration to discover and develop oncology therapies using Insilico’s artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery platform and Servier’s cancer development expertise.
University of GenevaSwiss cancer specialist FoRx Therapeutics AG has secured US$50m Series A to fund Phase I development of FORX-428, supporting IND, trial execution and clinical data readout by mid-2026.