Fourteen global pharma companies are getting together to conduct the largest proteomics study to date, analyzing 600,000 blood samples held in the UK Biobank to assess the levels of 5,400 different proteins.
Coave Therapeutics SA has completed the transition to becoming a genetic medicines specialist, after divesting its single ophthalmology program and raising $33 million in a series A round.
New Anglo/U.S. obesity and cardiometabolic specialist Verdiva Bio Ltd. has launched with a massive $411 million series A and a portfolio of GLP-1 and amylin agonists in-licensed from China.
The wheels of the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) juggernaut keep on turning, with Araris Biotech AG announcing a deal with a headline value of $780 million to apply its multi-payload linker technology to generate novel ADCs for Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.
The curtain is coming down on one of Europe’s longest-established biopharmas, with Novartis AG announcing it is to shut Morphosys AG’s facilities, following its 2024 acquisition of the one-time antibody pioneer for $2.9 billion. The closure of sites in the U.S. and Germany by the end of 2025 will affect 330 employees.
Ophthalmic diseases specialist Oculis Holding AG announced positive phase II data showing its serum-glucose corticoid kinase-2 activator OCS-05 protected nerve cells and improved vision in patients with acute optic neuritis. The placebo-controlled, randomized trial assessed the neuroprotective effect of OCS-05 in combination with standard-of-care steroid injections, against steroids alone, with a benefit seen in preserving both ganglions and retinal cell nerve fibers.
The U.K. is embarking on the biggest overhaul of clinical trials regulations in 20 years in a bid to retake ground that was lost following Brexit, when the Medicines and Healthcare products Agency was excised from the EMA’s regulatory system.
Driven by declining competitiveness, the new European Commission will start 2025 by getting to work on an EU-wide industrial strategy, proposing a number of policies with direct and indirect implications for the biopharmaceutical sector.
As 2025 gets underway, a new European Commission will start work on its new five-year mandate, with plans for multiple pieces of legislation that have implications for biotech and pharma – and the life sciences industry more broadly – due to be put forward.
After the funding feast sparked by the pandemic, European biotech has emerged from the famine that followed, with venture capital raised this year finally exceeding the 2020 total.After the funding feast sparked by the pandemic, European biotech has emerged from the famine that followed, with venture capital raised this year finally exceeding the 2020 total.
