News

Alphabet and Sanofi in diabetes venture

Country
United States

Verily Life Sciences LLC, a subsidiary of the IT conglomerate Alphabet Inc, and Sanofi SA, have created a jointly owned company called Onduo which will provide services to patients with Type 2 diabetes by tapping into the potential of big data to help patients manage their disease. Onduo will be based in Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the mecca of the global biotech industry.

Salford lung study featured in the NEJM

Country
United Kingdom

A study of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who were treated with a new GlaxoSmithKline Plc medicine compared with the standard of care, has shown a benefit for the new medicine in everyday clinical practice.

Rigontec completes Series A round

Country
Germany

Rigontec GmbH, which is developing RNA-based immunotherapeutics for cancer and viral diseases, has completed a €29.25 million series A funding with a final €15 million tranche issued to its venture capital shareholders.

Camstent gets funding for coatings

Country
United Kingdom

Camstent Ltd, which is developing a bacteria-resistant polymer coating for medical devices, has raised £850,000 from a combination of existing and new investors to bring its first product to market – a polymer coated catheter designed to prevent urinary tract infections.

Bayer’s bid for Monsanto seems to be friendly

Country
Germany

Bayer AG has raised its non-binding offer to buy Monsanto Co for a third time since May to $127.50 per share. A report in The Wall Street Journal on 5 September indicates that the two companies are having constructive talks.

UK data show effectiveness of Bexsero

Country
United Kingdom

Preliminary data from a national immunisation programme in the UK for the meningitis B vaccine Bexsero has shown the vaccine to be effective in infants up to the age of one year. Bexsero is currently the only meningococcal B vaccine licensed in Europe.

OncoDNA raises €7.7 million

Country
Belgium

In keeping with the widespread interest in precision medicine, OncoDNA SA, a privately held company that identifies cancer treatment options for doctors and patients, has raised €7.7 million in an equity placement.

Cell Medica explores TCRs

Country
United Kingdom

Cell Medica Ltd has strengthened its hand in the field of T cell therapy with a new collaboration around T cell receptor technology. Having recently expanded a partnership with Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, US, and acquired the Delenex Therapeutics AG antibody company in Switzerland, the company has now entered into a partnership with University College London (UCL) to develop genetically engineered T cell receptor products for cancer.

Stem cells heal brain damage in mice

Country
United States

Using a combination of human neural stem cells and 3K3A-APC, a recombinant variant of human activated protein C, researchers have been able to dramatically increase the production of nerve cells in mice with stroke-induced brain damage. The findings were reported on 22 August 2016 in Nature Medicine.