The EU is having another go at improving access to capital for biotechs and science-based startups, in a bid to enable them to remain anchored in Europe. The Startup and Scaleup strategy, announced on May 28, is a response to the long-running problem that although Europe has strong foundations in its academic research, the innovative companies this science spawns often end up being acquired by U.S. companies, or moving to the U.S. to list on Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange.
Researchers in the U.K. have overthrown the orthodox view that childhood cancers have a low mutation burden, opening up new drug targets and opportunities for repurposing existing therapies. In particular, a high mutation rate is associated with a response to cancer immunotherapy. But although PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors are approved for treating pediatric cancers with a high level of microsatellite instability mutations, in general it is thought childhood tumors are not amenable to immunotherapy.
Researchers in the U.K. have overthrown the orthodox view that childhood cancers have a low mutation burden, opening up new drug targets and opportunities for repurposing existing therapies. In particular, a high mutation rate is associated with a response to cancer immunotherapy. But although PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors are approved for treating pediatric cancers with a high level of microsatellite instability mutations, in general it is thought childhood tumors are not amenable to immunotherapy.
Glycoengineering specialist Glycoera AG is preparing to take its extracellular protein degrader constructs into the clinic in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, after closing a $130 million series B.
Glycoengineering specialist Glycoera AG is preparing to take its extracellular protein degrader constructs into the clinic in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, after closing a $130 million series B.
History has repeated itself for Prothena Corp. plc, which has reported a second phase III miss for birtamimab in the treatment of light chain amyloidosis. Announcing the trial failure, the Dublin-based company said it is planning “a substantial reduction” of its organization.
GSK plc’s Blenrep (belantamab mafodotin) is heading back to the market three years after being withdrawn, with the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommending approval of the antibody-drug conjugate in combination therapy for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
Anti-aging specialist Juvenescence Ltd. reached the first close of its series B-1 at $76 million and said it is on course to close the round at $150 million in the third quarter of 2025. “The reason for the first close and not waiting for the very end is just so we can start to move the pipeline forward,” said Richard Marshall, CEO. “We’ve got molecules in and waiting to go, so the sooner we can get going on those, the better,” he told BioWorld.
A drug that failed in a phase III trial in 2019 is being brought back to the clinic by Repronovo SA, a fertility and women’s health startup that has raised $65 million in a series A. The money will fund a phase II study of nolasiban in improving success rates in assisted reproductive technology, the same indication as the previous phase III failure.
Newco Avidicure NV arrived on the scene with a hefty $50 million in seed funding to advance novel antibody formats the company says will surpass the best qualities of first-generation antibodies, checkpoint inhibitors, T-cell engagers and antibody-drug conjugates.
