DUBLIN – Synox Therapeutics Ltd., a spin-out from Celleron Therapeutics Ltd., has raised €37 million (US$43.7 million) in a series A round to conduct a pivotal trial of emactuzumab, an antibody its parent company in-licensed from Roche Holding AG in August.
LONDON – A second phase III trial of Johnson & Johnson’s adenoviral-vectored COVID-19 vaccine is starting in the U.K. this week, amid concerns the positive news from the Pfizer Inc./Biontech SE vaccine study will deter volunteers from coming forward to take part.
DUBLIN – Memo Therapeutics AG raised CHF13.8 million (US$15.3 million) in a first close of a series B round to take forward a patient-derived monoclonal antibody therapy for COVID-19, MTX-Covab, which will move into a phase I/II trial in Germany in the new year.
LONDON – After a year in the mill, the U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has put proposals for how it intends to evaluate drugs, devices and diagnostics in the future out for consultation.
LONDON – The Danish government has ordered a mass cull of 15 million mink following evidence the animals are harboring a variant of SARS-CoV-2 with mutations in the spike protein through which the virus infects human cells.
LONDON – The U.K.’s influential health technology assessment body, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), is consulting stakeholders on proposed changes to how it selects medical devices, diagnostics and drugs for evaluation.
DUBLIN – The global product development pipeline for COVID-19 is now twice as big as for any particular cancer indication, a major disease like Alzheimer’s or any other infectious disease indication.
DUBLIN – The biotechnology sector may be more awash with cash now than at any other time in its history. But that does not alter the fundamental dynamic between biotech and big pharma. If anything, their respective roles are becoming better defined, as biotechs learn how to build value into their assets to the point where big pharma is willing to step in and take on the financial risk of scaling a program where it can truly go global.
LONDON – Three large scale population surveys conducted between late June and the end of September have shown the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in England declined by 26.5% over three months. The findings rest on the results of more than 350,000 self-administered lateral flow blood tests that were carried out at home by volunteers who were randomly selected from general practitioner registers.
DUBLIN – The dateline says it all. Everyone and anyone with an interest in European biotechnology were due to assemble in Munich this week, the German biotech hub which was originally chosen to host Bio-Europe Fall 2020. Given the rising numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the globe in recent months, that was never going to happen.