News

The first medical device to use artificial intelligence to detect colon cancer has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. The device, GI Genius, was developed by Cosmo Artificial Intelligence Ltd and has shown an ability to detect lesions in the colon in real time during a colonoscopy. In a statement issued on 10 April, the FDA’s Courtney Lias said that “clinicians now have a tool that could help improve their ability to detect gastrointestinal lesions they may have missed otherwise.”

Allcyte GmbH of Austria has raised $6 million in seed financing to advance its artificial intelligence (AI) platform selecting treatments for late-stage blood cancers. The financing round was led by 42cap, Air Street capital, PUSH Ventures, Amino Collective and VP venture Partners. It follows results from a clinical trial which showed that the company’s real-time analysis of live tissue from cancer patients identified treatments for these patients that proved to be effective in 55% of cases.

A special purpose acquisition company, known colloquially as a blank cheque company, has been launched by Life Sciences Partners (LSP) of the Netherlands, the first such company to focus exclusively on European biotech. Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, are proliferating on Wall Street, fuelled by low interest rates and a demand from investors for innovative assets.

Future Planet Capital, a London, UK-based investment group, has acquired Midven Ltd, one of Britain’s oldest venture capital firms, with a view to expanding its network of academic and public sector relationships in the life sciences. Announced on 8 April, the value of the transaction wasn’t disclosed.

Artios Pharma Ltd has negotiated its second major collaboration in four months for the use of its DNA damage response technology to help a partner develop new drugs for cancer. The newest deal is with Novartis, which has agreed to pay the UK company $20 million upfront for access to the platform as well as research funding and up to $1.3 billion in discovery, development, regulatory and sales-based milestone payments.

The European Medicines Agency has concluded that unusual blood clots with low blood platelets should be listed as very rare side effects of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. But overall, the vaccine’s benefits outweigh its risks.

Leyden Laboratories BV, a Dutch start-up, has launched an ambitious plan to develop a portfolio of intranasal prophylactic medicines to prevent infection from a host of viruses including coronaviruses. On 25 March, the company announced the closing of a Series A financing of €40 million from a syndicate led by GV (formerly Google Ventures), to advance its programme.

Sarclisa (isatuximab), a monoclonal antibody developed by Sanofi SA, has been approved for a second multiple myeloma indication in the US after showing that it reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 45% compared with the standard of care.

Gyroscope Therapeutics Ltd, a gene therapy company founded by Syncona Ltd, has received $148 million in a Series C financing round to advance its lead product for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness. The financing was led by Forbion Capital Partners with a significant contribution from Syncona, which now owns 54% of the company.

The immune checkpoint inhibitor Tecentriq (atezolizumab) met its primary endpoint of disease-free survival in a Phase 3 study in people with early non-small cell lung cancer, Roche announced on 22 March. The interim analysis showed the drug improved outcomes as an adjuvant therapy following surgery and chemotherapy. At the time of the analysis, data on overall survival were immature.