Weekly roundup: Kickstarting 2026 with financings, collaborations and clinical developments

Acesion Pharma starts Phase 2 trial of AP31969 in patients with atrial fibrillation Acesion Pharma. a biotech company pioneering treatments for atrial fibrillation, the most common cardiac arrhythmia, announced enrolment of the first patients in its randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose finding  Phase 2 clinical trial (NCT07267949), designed to assess the efficacy and safety of AP31969 […]

Hot topic: JPM 2026 – It’s been a long time coming

Every year the life science investment world looks forward to January’s ‘JPM week’, which revolves around the J.P. Morgan Annual Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. But this time there is real anticipation.  Because, after a number of times in which the event has promised to kick-start the investment market, only for the year to falter, this time expectations are much more solid.  Public biotech markets have been on a roll since April, with […]

Weekly roundup: Deals, discoveries, and market optimism

Leucid Bio and Syenex announce strategic collaboration for in vivo CAR-T cell engineering Leucid Bio, a privately-held biotechnology company developing innovative Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies using its proprietary lateral CAR platform, and Syenex, an open-science genetic medicines platform company, announced a strategic collaboration to access Syenex’s VivoCell Platform for the precise in vivo delivery of […]

Hot topic: FDA’s ‘plausible mechanism’ pathway could boost cell and gene therapies

Good news for developers of drugs for ultra-rare diseases – including cell and gene therapy firms – in the form of a new way of assessing them that’s being proposed by the US’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  The regulator is looking at introducing what it calls a “plausible mechanism” pathway. This would allow approval of medicines for ultra-rare diseases, if there are very […]

Weekly roundup: Clinical breakthroughs, strategic appointments, and a dealmaker

Oncoinvent published Phase 1 study results for Radspherin® in ovarian cancer in Gynecologic Oncology Oncoinvent, a clinical stage, radiopharmaceutical company developing innovative treatments for solid cancers, announced the publication of 12-month data from its Phase 1 study of patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer and peritoneal carcinomatosis. The results from the first patients have been […]