LONDON – Two new $250 million investment funds have been announced, promising long-term capital to new companies formed around the U.K.'s science base. Ahren Innovation Capital LP, which is supported by eight of Cambridge University's most prominent scientists – including two Nobel laureates – has closed at $250 million. Meanwhile, SV Health Investors announced the launch of its $250 million seventh fund, with the charity Cancer Research UK (CRUK) putting in $25 million as cornerstone investor.

The industry is again preparing for a no-deal Brexit, as political shifts indicate that the U.K. crashing out of the EU on Oct. 31 is an increasingly likely outcome.

PARIS – Six months after opening its first Biome digital innovation lab in San Francisco, the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis AG announces the opening of its first European digital innovation lab, located at the head office of its subsidiary in Rueil-Malmaison, France. The French hub Biome Paris boasts 250 square meters of space, allowing French or foreign-based startups to innovate and respond to specific challenges arising in the pharmaceutical sector. "It is a platform interface between ourselves as drug specialists, startups and internet giants. Biome Paris will make our treatments available to patients more quickly," Frédéric Collet, Novartis country president, France, told BioWorld MedTech.