Start-Ups & SMEs
Although it was no walk in the park, Europe’s leading life sciences VC firm has amassed a huge pot of cash for biotechs and will use its AI capabilities to find up to 60 start-ups to support.
Cross-Asian initiative has already brought several South Korean gene and cell therapy startups and Japanese VCs closer, with further hopes for product development and launches in Japan, regulatory harmonization and gliobalization.
The company will soon have Phase I data on its in vivo gene-editing PSCK9 inhibitor and hopes Lilly is persuaded to opt into its development.
The latest activity in the South Korean biotech sector includes IPOs by Orum and Dongkook Life, as well as progress with ADCs at multiple firms.
Norwegian firm BerGenBio, Lava of the Netherlands and Poland’s Ryvu are all weighing up diverse options to maximize shareholder value and stay alive, including licensing agreements and mergers.
Emerging Company Profile: CEO Sean Ainsworth spoke with Scrip about how the company is developing B-cell therapies to treat a range of diseases, starting with MPS I.
The Anglo-Irish biotech has been left surprised by Hookipa’s change of heart after it agreed a sale to create a US-listed entity as the year began.
ASC30's Phase I study has produced the best-yet weight loss achieved by an oral drug at 28 days, and it could be a serious rival for Lilly’s frontrunner orforglipron.
Having built its portfolio from university collaborations and targeted in-licensing, the UK firm now hopes to validate its business model with Phase II readouts in 2025.
The Swedish company is celebrating approval for the first treatment for rare congenital disorder MCT8 deficiency and plans a launch in the near future.
Masked T-cell engagers are a buzzing field, and AbbVie’s investment has given Xilio some much-needed validation and cash as it goes up against rivals.
Summit Therapeutics hit the stock market heights in 2024, along with a handful of biotech with novel therapies and platforms, while Moderna was dragged down by shrinking COVID-19 vaccine sales.
Relmada has acquired sepranolone, a potential blockbuster for the complex neurological condition characterized by involuntary tics, for a bargain €3m from the Stockholm group that went into liquidation late last year.
Topline results from Algiax’s AP-325 candidate for neuropathic pain are encouraging, but questions still remain about the drug’s claims to non-dependency and efficacy.
The company believes its divalent small interfering RNA technology can boost CNS penetration and durability and aims to have its first two programs in the clinic by 2026.
A lack of big pharma licensing deals and IPOs created problems, but newer UK biotech companies moved ahead in 2024 thanks to increased venture capital funding, finds a new report from the BIA.
Backed by Versant Ventures, Helicore will pursue optimized therapy for underserved obesity patients with an antibody that directly antagonizes GIP and plans for antibody conjugate therapies.
Flagship Pioneering has unveiled a new collaboration with Cambridge UK, to find synergies with academics and hospitals in the scientific hotspot, and create new biotech start-ups. Scrip spoke to Flagship about its plans.
CEO Djordje Filipovic tells Scrip that after talks with "multiple other potential partners,” the firm chose the Japanese group for its expertise and marketing capabilities in rare diseases” to be the licensing partner for tadekinig alfa in the US.
Septerna is the best performer of newly launched firms from Q4, with more initial public offerings fuelled by potential interest rate cuts hoped for in 2025.