Weekly round-up: With an innovative cancer tie-up and a €90m Series A financing, Optimum’s clients kick off 2025 in style
Poolbeg Pharma plc and HOOKIPA Pharma Inc. kicked off 2025 in a positive fashion, entering into non-binding discussions for an all-share acquisition by HOOKIPA of Poolbeg
The aim is to create a strong clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercialising innovative medicines for critical unmet medical needs, with a special focus on next-generation immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases.
Novo Holdings Participates in €90 Million Series A Financing Round for Orbis Medicines to Support Development of Oral Macrocycle Drugs
Novo Holdings on Monday announced its participation in a €90 million Series A financing for Orbis Medicines. The round was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), with participation from new investors including Eli Lilly and Company, Cormorant, the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, alongside existing investors Novo Holdings and Forbion. Morten Graugaard, Partner at Novo Holdings, has been appointed the Chief Executive Officer of Orbis Medicines following nearly three years serving as Executive Chair of its Board of Directors.
Alchemab Therapeutics enters into collaboration with Lilly to discover, research and develop novel therapies for ALS
Alchemab Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company aiming to identify and develop naturally occurring therapeutic antibodies from resilient individuals, announced on Thursday that it has entered a collaboration with Lilly to discover novel therapeutic candidates to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Vesper Bio initiates Phase Ib/IIa proof of concept study of VES001 in asymptomatic patients with gene mutations that cause frontotemporal dementia (FTD)
Vesper Bio ApS, a clinical stage biotech and world leader in sortilin receptor biology, on Tuesday announced the initiation of a Phase Ib/IIa Proof of Concept (POC) study of its lead candidate VES001 for frontotemporal dementia. The study is taking place in the Netherlands and the UK.
Neuraxpharm to further grow branded business with the acquisition of two leading narcolepsy treatments, Provigil and Nuvigil
Neuraxpharm Group, a leading European specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Provigil (modafinil) and Nuvigil (armodafinil), both of which are indicated for the treatment of Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS) in adults with narcolepsy.
Xeltis announces completion of enrolment in EU Pivotal Trial for aXess and prepares for market approval
Xeltis, a leading developer of transformative implants that enable the natural creation of living and long-lasting vessels, on Tuesday announced the completion of enrolment in its EU Pivotal trial for aXess, its restorative vascular access conduit, in adults with end-stage renal disease. Xeltis also announced its appointment of Rob Eyers as CTO.
4SC announces update relating to Resminostat’s (Kinselby) Marketing Authorisation Application
4SC AG, a biotech company improving the lives of patients suffering with advanced-stage cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), on Tuesday announced that it had submitted its responses to the Day-120 List of Questions from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in December 2024 as planned, following 4SC’s initial Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) filing for resminostat (Kinselby) in March 2024. The EMA has notified 4SC that examination of the Company’s MAA shall continue according to schedule.
Experienced Industry Leader Dr. Joerg Moeller Appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Antag Therapeutics
Antag Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company pioneering novel treatments for obesity, on Wednesday announced the appointment of Joerg Moeller, MD, PhD, as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.
Commit Biologics appoints Dr Janine Schuurman to its Board of Directors
Commit Biologics, a pioneer in the activation of the complement system to treat cancer and autoimmune disease, on Wednesday announced the appointment of Janine Schuurman, Ph.D. to its Board of Directors.
Astraveus opens path to accessible cell therapies with first ever end-to-end microfluidic CAR-T production
Astraveus, the Benchtop Cell Factory company, on Thursday announced the first ever successful end-to-end production of CAR-T cells within a microfluidic benchtop system. Using its fully automated Lakhesys Benchtop Cell Factory, Astraveus has been able to demonstrate the potential of its unique microfluidic cell therapy processing approach, which has the ability to decrease manufacturing costs and increase throughput by an order of magnitude. This milestone could revolutionise how CAR-T therapies are developed and delivered to patients.
Synaffix licenses ADC tech to Boehringer Ingelheim, signs further licensing agreement with Mitsubishi Tanabe
Boehringer Ingelheim and Synaffix B.V., a Lonza company focused on commercializing its clinical-stage platform technology for the development of best-in-class antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), on Thursday announced that Boehringer has licensed Synaffix’s ADC technology, in a deal worth up to $1.3billion. Synaffix also announced a separate ADC licensing agreement with Mitsubishi Tanabe on the same day.
David Schilansky Appointed Chief Financial Officer of Ariceum Therapeutics
Ariceum Therapeutics (Ariceum), a private biotech company developing radiopharmaceutical products for the diagnosis and treatment of certain hard-to-treat cancers, on Friday announced the appointment of David Schilansky as Chief Financial Officer with immediate effect.
Watch Optimum TV
Optimum TV welcomes back one of its first interviewees, Eliane Schutte of Xeltis, to talk about its plans for aXess, its vascular access conduit for dialysis patients that over time becomes a part of their own living tissue.
Watch Eliane talk about the progress Xeltis has made since last May, how they are pushing forward with pivotal trials in Europe and the US, and the company’s plans to commercialise the product.
Are you heading to San Francisco next week?
Top investors are in San Francisco for JPM 2025, all looking to do business – but with who?
Read Optimum’s European Life Sciences Investor Survey to get ahead on investors’ top predictions for the European market for 2025, plus insights on raising capital.
Download the full report here: Optimum’s European Life Sciences Investor Survey 2025 – Optimum Strategic Communications
Optimum’s hot topic
Have we hit ‘peak life expectancy’ already? Or can science continue to make us live longer?
Read this week’s thought-provoking Optimum Hot Topic by Stephen Adams, on why declining population health means we can no longer assume that we’ll enjoy longer lives than our parents.
The must attend healthcare conferences in winter/spring 2025
Hit the ground running this January and plan your events diary for 2025!
Optimum has mapped out the top healthcare conferences to attend, read the full article here.
