DUBLIN – Synox Therapeutics Ltd., a spin-out from Celleron Therapeutics Ltd., has raised €37 million (US$43.7 million) in a series A round to conduct a pivotal trial of emactuzumab, an antibody its parent company in-licensed from Roche Holding AG in August.

The European Commission has awarded the CE mark to Hologic Inc. for its Genius Digital Diagnostics system for cervical cancer screening. According to the company, it is the first digital cytology platform to combine a new artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm with advanced digital imaging to assist cytotechnologists and pathologists in detecting precancerous lesions and malignant cells in women.

PARIS – Esight Corp. is starting distribution of its newest low-vision assistive technology in France, Germany and the U.K. The latest version of the technology, the Esight 4, was designed to be more versatile and mobile than before, has double the display brightness and has improved the auto-focus function, according to the company.

LONDON – A second phase III trial of Johnson & Johnson’s adenoviral-vectored COVID-19 vaccine is starting in the U.K. this week, amid concerns the positive news from the Pfizer Inc./Biontech SE vaccine study will deter volunteers from coming forward to take part.

Novocure Ltd. has scored another win, this time gaining the CE mark for the NovoTTF-100L system. As a result, Novocure plans to commercialize the device as a first-line treatment in combination with pemetrexed and platinum-based chemotherapy for unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic, malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM).

LONDON – Clinical genomics specialist Congenica Ltd. has raised $50 million in a series C round that will enable it to extend beyond its roots in rare disease diagnosis to personalized medicine in cancer, and health and wellness, while expanding its geographical reach.

PARIS – Med-El Elektromedizinische Geräte GmbH has reported the first successful procedure in Europe for a totally implantable cochlear implant (TICI). The surgery was performed at Liège University Hospital in Belgium. “This TICI is a major step in cochlear implant technology. It has been the aim since the beginning of cochlear implants to be able to integrate all the components into a single internal device,” Philippe Lefebvre, head of the otorhinolaryngology department at Liège University Hospital, told BioWorld.

DUBLIN – Memo Therapeutics AG raised CHF13.8 million (US$15.3 million) in a first close of a series B round to take forward a patient-derived monoclonal antibody therapy for COVID-19, MTX-Covab, which will move into a phase I/II trial in Germany in the new year.

LONDON – The Danish government has ordered a mass cull of 15 million mink following evidence the animals are harboring a variant of SARS-CoV-2 with mutations in the spike protein through which the virus infects human cells.