Olivia Vizier

NovellusDx started out as a diagnostics company but has been making moves toward becoming a cancer therapeutics biotech in recent months, picking up a BRAF drug from Daiichi Sankyo and raising $57 million to shepherd it through the clinic. Now, it’s wrapping its transformation up with a new name and a new CEO: Fore Biotherapeutics […]

French company Valneva, meanwhile, is working on an inactivated vaccine using the whole virus that might have advantages over those already approved, Thomas Lingelbach, the company’s chief executive officer, says. Because it uses the complete virus, the Valneva vaccine enables the immune system to potentially form a response to all possible epitopes—a term for the

Chinese pharma powerhouse Hansoh has a new partner, teaming with the New Jersey biotech Scynexis to develop a drug that has recently gained attention for its potential to treat drug resistant and difficult-to-treat infections, including a particular form of fungus.

In this article, Ian Chan, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of biotech company Abpro, discusses the development of neutralising antibodies for SARS-CoV-2. Abpro’s neutralising antibody candidate ABP 300 is currently in Phase II/III trials.

CalciMedica has developed Auxora, a calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channel inhibitor, and it has shown it can reduce the levels of D-dimer, a key biomarker associated with COVID-19 mortality.

Thanks to the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, it is likely you have heard the term mRNA. However, it is unlikely you have heard it in the context in which Anima Biotech is exploring this space. Anima is developing Translation Control Therapeutics, which takes a novel approach to discover small molecules that can selectively control

New interim phase II data in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has shown that a combination of Heat Biologics Inc.’s cell therapy candidate, HS-110 (viagenpumatucel-L), and Bristol Myers Squibb Co.’s Opdivo (nivolumab) helped extend overall survival for both checkpoint inhibitor-naïve patients and those who had been treated with a checkpoint inhibitor but whose disease had

“One of the beauties of being in biotech is that at the end of what you do you improve the lives of debilitating diseases,” said John Temperato, CEO of 9 Meter BioPharma. Temperato and his team of researchers have spent years working on a cure for celiac disease, which impacts 3.5 million people in the

Immuneering prefers the hum of purposeful activity to mere noise. That helps explain why the company develops drugs to dampen the cacophony of cell signalling known as cancer. To identify drug candidates, Immuneering uses its own Disease Cancelling Technology. Characteristically, the company has been quiet about the technology, which represents more than a decade’s worth

CalciMedica has reported positive clinical data from the trial of its lead clinical compound, Auxora, in patients with severe Covid-19 pneumonia.

That drug is called Quellor. INmune BIO said if its drug is approved by the FDA, the hope is it could reduce symptoms of COVID-19 down to symptoms similar to a common cold. Doctors at the University of Louisville Jewish Hospital are currently accepting patients 65 and up to be a part of the clinical

In December, SCYNEXIS Inc. reported progress on ibrexafungerp’s intravenous (IV) formulation and provided an update on the therapy’s ongoing Phase 3 studies in the hospital setting. SCYNEXIS has completed preclinical testing of its liposomal IV formulation of ibrexafungerp, and is moving the program into human trials in South Africa.

Clene Nanomedicine was awarded a crucial patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for its patented clean-surfaced gold nanocrystals used for treating patients with multiple sclerosis.

Convalescent plasma (CP) is plasma obtained from patients who have recovered from an infectious illness and thus generated antibodies to the disease. It can be used as an emergency measure when other treatments are not available. Unlike recombinant monoclonal antibodies engineered to bind to a specific target, CP possesses a range of antibodies to a

French biotech Valneva has started manufacturing its vaccine candidate in Scotland, the U.K. government announced Thursday. The move follows a multi-million-pound joint investment in the facility in Livingston, West Lothian, by the U.K. government in 2020 as part of an in-principle agreement to secure early access to Valneva’s first 60 million vaccine doses, with an

“J.P. Morgan and the meetings around J.P. Morgan are such a fun week for us in the industry typically, but I have to be blunt: This week has been extra busy. I think the Zoom environment, and the virtual environment, has created an efficiency that’s good for everybody, except the folks that have to present

After years working under the radar, Nirogy Therapeutics is officially launching with $16.5 million and a mission to drug a family of membrane proteins called solute carriers. The proceeds will see the company’s lead cancer program through phase 1, CEO Vincent Sandanayaka, Ph.D., said.

INmune Bio, Inc., who developed the drug, noted that the analysis highlighted an approximate two-fold reduction in the neurodegeneration markers visinin-like protein 1 (VILIP-1) and neurofilament light (NFL), as well as an almost three-fold change in contactin-2 and a half-fold change in neurogranin, both proteins associated with synaptic plasticity. These improvements were sustained through the nine-month

When SARS-CoV-2 emerged on to the global stage in early 2020, many pharma groups leapt into action. After receiving the genetic code of the emerging coronavirus from researchers in Australia and China in mid-January, these companies signed deals and started to apply existing technology – often used for previous coronaviruses like SARS and MERS –

We take a look at some of the COVID-19 vaccine candidates moving through Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials – and how they could offer a point of difference to authorized vaccines.

Finding a rock-solid connection can be tough, because it’s difficult to show whether the infections are the cause of autoimmune disorders or whether they crop up in the body for another reason, says Anish Suri, president of Cue Biopharma, a company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that is researching therapies to counter autoimmunity.

Clene Nanomedicine, one of Maryland’s Future 2020 companies, closed a merger with Tottenham Acquisition I Limited that provided the company with a slot on the Nasdaq Exchange and $31.9 million that will be used to advance the company’s gold nanocrystal-based treatment for neurodegenerative diseases.

Immuneering has raised $62m in an oversubscribed Series B round led by high-profile life science investors. The money will be used to support the company’s portfolio – particularly its lead candidate – as well as its computational biology services business.

Office interactions are definitely an important way to foster relationships between coworkers, establish and maintain a corporate culture, and foster creative thinking. This is particularly relevant when a company onboards new employees. However, new technologies, such as the wide-spread use of high-quality video meeting platforms, have enabled us to replace the in-person interactions to some

“The biggest thing that is really happening in the biotech industry…there is a new rich source of drugs. There is a goldmine, called mRNA, that some diggers have been digging for 30 years, finding a very small part of it,” said Yochi Slonim​, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Anima Biotech, which is advancing ‘Translation