Weekly round-up: Renée Aguiar-Lucander, Calliditas Therapeutics’ former CEO, scoops Executive of the Year Scrip Award
Congratulations to Renée Aguiar-Lucander, who won the prestigious Executive of the Year Award – Commercial Stage Companies at the Scrip Awards 2024
As the awards celebrated their 20th anniversary, Renée came top from a list of finalists representing the very best in the biotech industry.
Renée led the company through clinical development of Tarpeyo (budesonide), its lead product to treat the rare disease IgA Nephropathy, to a successful U.S. approval and launch. Calliditas’ Tarpeyo was nominated for best new drug.
Catherine Pickering, CEO of iOnctura was also nominated for the Executive of the Year – Clinical-Stage Companies, while iOnctura’s roginolisib was nominated for Best Oncology R&D Advance.
Splice Bio was nominated for the Quris-AI Best Partnership Alliance Award, for its collaboration with Spark Therapeutics to develop a gene therapy targeting an inherited retinal disease.
Optimum’s Hot Topics
“Chrishaps” are scientifically proven hazards – but we don’t have to be Scrooge to avoid them
Is your Christmas party coming up? Make sure to prepare yourself by reading Optimum’s hot topic of the week.
The article details the medical perils that can occur in the festive period, from drinking too much to accidentally eating plastic robins. Read the full article here!
Can we ‘bottle’ the remarkable biology of people who, against all odds, beat killer diseases?
Creating drugs based on the secrets of remarkable individuals who – against all odds – beat killer diseases, sounds like the stuff of science fiction. But it isn’t.
Read how three such companies are harnessing this approach in Optimum’s second hot topic of the week!
Antag Therapeutics Announces €80 Million Series A Financing
Antag Therapeutics, a next-generation biopharmaceutical company pioneering novel treatments for obesity, on Wednesday announced the closing of an €80 million Series A financing. The round was led by Versant Ventures, with participation from Novo Holdings, SR One, Dawn Biopharma (a platform controlled by KKR), Pictet, Longview Ventures (an affiliate of Broadview Ventures), and the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO).
Synaffix Licenses Metal-Free Click Chemistry Technology to Illumina for Next-Generation DNA Sequencing Applications
Synaffix B.V., a Lonza company focused on commercializing its clinical-stage bioconjugation platform technology for the development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) with best-in-class therapeutic index and beyond, on Wednesday announced that it has entered into a licensing agreement with Illumina, Inc., a global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies. The deal marks Synaffix’s first outside of oncology, with its patented metal-free click chemistry to be used in Illumina’s next-generation sequencing (NGS) products.
Ariceum Therapeutics and Eckert & Ziegler Sign Global Supply Agreement for the Development of Next-Generation Radiotherapeutics for Precision Cancer Treatments
Ariceum Therapeutics, a private biotech company developing radiopharmaceutical products for the diagnosis and treatment of certain hard-to-treat cancers, and Eckert & Ziegler, one of the world’s largest providers of isotopes for medical, scientific and industrial use, on Thursday announced the signing of a global supply agreement for the medical radionuclides Actinium-225 (Ac-225) and Lutetium-177 (Lu-177).
NICE Recommends ublituximab (BRIUMVI) as an Option for Treating Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS)
Neuraxpharm Group (Neuraxpharm), a leading European specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders, today announces that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK has issued a positive recommendation for the use of ublituximab (150 mg concentrate for solution for infusion) in the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).[1]
Have you registered for Anglonordic 2025?
Get planning your in-person conferences and be sure not to miss out on tickets for the 21st edition of the Anglonordic Life Sciences Conference in London on 3rd April 2025.
As proud programme organisers, Optimum is pleased to offer a 20% F&F discount code, DM to find out more.
Sector moves
Check out the latest moves in the life sciences sector with our monthly round-up of new funds and the biggest job changes, including analysts, bankers, and healthcare journalists.
That’s all folks! We hope you are enjoying Optimum’s weekly roundups; subscribe today so you never miss an edition.
[1] National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (2024) Ublituximab for treating relapsing multiple sclerosis. Available at: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/gid-ta11268/documents/html-content-3[Accessed 29/11/2024]
