European biotechnology firms engaged in the discovery and development of new therapeutics collectively raised $1.9 billion in equity funding during the second quarter (Q2) of the year. Despite the ongoing lack of an IPO market – particularly for European firms – the total is roughly comparable with historic norms, absent the pandemic-related boom years of 2020 and 2021. It represents the fourth highest total raised during the last six years.
Vesalius Biocapital Partners Sàrl has called a first close on its fourth fund at €95 million (US$103 million) and now is targeting a total of €150 million, with new investors to be accepted on a "rolling closing" basis until the final close in 2024.
Scientists in the U.K. have reacted with dismay to the announcement that the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) is to close, 22 years after it was set up to coordinate the efforts of industry, government research agencies and medical charities that sponsor and fund clinical trials.
Could a bioactive peptide secreted in the saliva of ticks offer a useful therapy for people who have experienced intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH)? That’s the question Bioxodes SA has set out to answer, and the company is about to move its first-in-class drug candidate, Ir-CPI, which has dual anti-thrombotic and anti-inflammatory effects, into a phase IIa trial in patients with ICH.
In a move that saw shares tumble by 26%, Biosenic SA has halted a phase IIb trial for its allogeneic stem cell therapy, Allob, after it failed to accelerate healing when given to patients two days after they sustained tibial fractures. The company plans to shift its focus to its late-stage arsenic trioxide candidate for chronic graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD).
The EMA and the European Center for Disease Control have said COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers should ditch the existing formulations and adapt their products to target the omicron-descendant XBB.1.5, to protect against SARS-CoV-2 in the winter of 2023–2024.
The U.K. government has announced £121 million (US$148 million) in funding to reboot the commercial clinical trials system after a sharp decline saw the number of industry-sponsored studies falling by 44% from 2017 to 2021.
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has gone back on efforts to get its medicine, Asimtufii (aripiprazole), a long-acting maintenance treatment for schizophrenia, approved in Europe, after the EMA gave a provisional negative opinion.
The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) may look like domestic affair, but the drug price controls it is bringing in are set to impact the biopharma sector across the globe.
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