Weekly Roundup: Transformative tech at ON Helix 2026
Sofinnova Partners announced Myricx Bio agrees to be acquired by Novartis
Sofinnova Partners, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm, announced that its portfolio company Myricx Bio has reached an agreement to be acquired by Novartis for up to $1.5 billion, including $1.1 billion cash upfront plus potential milestone payments. Sofinnova Partners seeded the company in 2019 alongside Brandon Capital.
Xeltis makes first commercial implant of aXess™, its vascular access device for haemodialysis
Xeltis, a leading developer of transformative implants that enable the natural creation of living and long-lasting vessels, announced the official start of the European commercialisation of aXess™, marked by the successful treatment of the first commercial patient by Dr Dominik Liebetrau at Artemed Klinikum Munich South, Germany.
AMSilk and Ajinomoto Foods Europe expand partnership to enable industrial-scale production of silk proteins
AMSilk, a global leader in biotech produced silk materials, announced a significant expansion of its partnership with Ajinomoto Foods Europe (AFE), marking a key step in scaling the industrial production of its silk proteins. Building on their collaboration first established in 2023, the two companies have now entered into a long-term manufacturing and supply agreement, enabling the transition from industrial validation to dedicated, large-scale production.
Hansa Biopharma to host Q2 2026 interim results conference call
Hansa Biopharma will publish its interim report for January – June 2026 on 22 July, 2026, and will hold a conference call on the same date at 14:00 CEST / 8:00 AM EDT. The event will be hosted by Renée Aguiar-Lucander, CEO, Adam Cutler, CFO, Richard Philipson, CMO, and Maria Törnsén, COO and the President of U.S. operations. During the call, management will review the Company’s interim financial results and provide a business and pipeline update. The webcast will be available here.
Novo Nordisk Foundation awards €80M through its 2026 Challenge Programme
The Novo Nordisk Foundation has announced it will award nine new Challenge Programme grants to support ambitious research across fungal diseases, cardiometabolic disease, soil health and non-equilibrium biological systems. With a European expansion, the 2026 awards unite strong research groups and diverse expertise across Europe in the pursuit of novel knowledge addressing major scientific challenges.
👥Industry events
On Helix – Cambridge | 9th Jul 2026
Yesterday, Optimum’s Stephen Adams and Joshua Evans witnessed the forefront of bio-innovation at ON Helix in Cambridge.
ON Helix, presented by One Nucleus, is a one-day conference spotlighting and discussing the breakthrough technologies, policies and business models that are shaping the drug discovery and development landscape. It was an excellent opportunity to connect with the pioneers leading this next wave of disruptive innovation.
Stephen chaired the ‘Disruptive Therapeutic Discovery Platform Technologies’ panel, which discussed how bigger and better datasets, and better ways of interpreting them (including AI of course), are being used to speed up and improve drug discovery and development. Fittingly, the panel concluded with a question from an AI agent that had been ‘listening’ in the front row. A special thanks to panel members Nicole Mather of the Wellcome Genome Campus and IBM Consulting; Edita Karosiene of Vugene; and Alfred Lim of Etcembly – as well as Alicia Gailliez of One Nucleus for organising.
As always with ON Helix, the rest of the day was jam packed with insights and discussions on key bio innovation trends – thank you to Tony Jones and the One Nucleus team for a superb day.
http://www.simoncallaghanphotography.com.
Optimum’s 18th Annual Healthcare Investor Conference – London | 8th Oct 2026
Maximising Europe’s Potential – The theme of Optimum’s Annual Healthcare Investor Conference 2026.
The invitation only event takes place on Thursday 8th October and features leading speakers from the healthcare and investment communities. Register your interest in attending today: https://www.optimumcomms.com/irconference2026/
Follow us on LinkedIn to hear updates on speakers and panellists, as they are announced.
Plan ahead for Europe’s busiest week in healthcare 🌍
Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference & Life Sciences Week – London | 15–20th Nov 2026
Join the mailing list to receive the official networking event guide, produced by Catalyst Advisors and Optimum Strategic Communications in partnership with Jefferies.
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