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Biomedical/pharma

Biomedical/pharma

How do we reduce the high cost of clinical trials?

Drug development is an exorbitantly expensive endeavor. A large expense factor for developing a new therapy is the high cost of conducting clinical trials. Why are clinical trials so insanely expensive to run? And what can be done to increase the affordability of these trials?

Living on the edge: the challenge of doing things differently in cell therapy

Belgian company Celyad is a trailblazer in oncology: its T cell therapies based on NK receptors are cutting edge even for CAR-T. At the Science for health event in September the visionary Christian Homsy, former Celyad CEO, will be presenting one of the keynote talks. In this BioVox interview, we asked him to share his thoughts on the challenges faced by a company that’s pushing boundaries in the oncology space.

Gilead and Galapagos enter into transformative research and development collaboration

WELBIO joins ranks with celebrities after a new bacterium is named after the institute

WELBIO has received a truly unique form of acknowledgement: a newly discovered bacterium has been named after the research institute. The human gut microbe was discovered during a project led by Prof. Patrice Cani (WELBIO-UCLouvain), who proposed the name Dysosmobacter welbionis.

Confo Therapeutics and DyNAbind announce drug discovery collaboration to identify novel GPCR-modulating compounds

Edible antibodies to prevent and treat gut diseases

Belgian researchers have developed edible antibodies that can prevent gut bacterial infections. Normally antibodies need to be injected, but the antibodies developed by Dr. Vikram Virdi in the group of Dr. Nico Callewaert can instead be mixed with food and eaten. These antibodies are produced using yeast and have so far been shown to protect piglets from diarrhea-causing enterotoxigenic E. coli, which is a serious issue in pig farming. The edible antibody concept also has enormous potential for applications in human medicine, such as in preventing diarrheal disease outbreaks following natural disasters.

Betting big on blood screens for early cancer detection

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) just held their annual gathering in Chicago. The event coincided with some interesting new developments in the field of early cancer detection, as well as news of significant new investments in the oncology space.

Miracle microchips improving cell therapy manufacturing

A microchip engineer might seem like an odd fit for a keynote speaker at an event focused on cell therapy, but at Science for health Peter Peumans will be presenting one of the day’s visionary talks. Peumans will draw on his experience with the tech powerhouse imec to give us an insider’s perspective on the role new chip technologies may soon take on in the cell therapy field.

OCTIMET Oncology tackling cancer with a new captain at the helm

In this article, V-Bio Ventures introduces one of their portfolio companies, OCTIMET. This Belgian oncology startup just added a new member to its executive team, with the appointment of Shelley Margetson as CEO. It’s exciting times for OCTIMET, who are gearing up for a series B with their sights set on potential partners in China.

Confo Therapeutics: the next Belgian biotech star?

Just days before KBC Securities’ "State of the Union" announcement on how well Belgian biotech has been faring in 2019, Confo Therapeutics closed a terrific series A financing round. The company raised 30 million euros, which will be used to accelerate their drug discovery activities using their camelid-based ConfoBody™ technology.

The future of healthcare is digital

This month marked the crystal anniversary of the life sciences networking event Knowledge for Growth. The event was a huge success, with 1300+ attendees representing 600+ companies from 20+ countries around the world. The theme for this year was “Precision in Life Sciences”, with the fascinating plenary talks discussing the effect of digitalization on healthcare.

Science for health: a new event for creating research connections

Science for health is Belgium’s new research event, set to promote more collaborations in our stellar life sciences ecosystem. The September event will bring together experts from across the board; academics, industry leaders, clinicians and service providers; facilitating the formation of new research connections. The ultimate aim is not only to showcase Belgian research, but to create value for patients by encouraging new and innovative partnerships. For the inaugural 2019 edition, the focus is on the exciting field of cell therapy.

Stellar year for Belgian biotech

Belgium has once again strengthened its position as Europe's biotech leader. Today, Belgian biotech companies comprise 23 percent of the total market value of all public European biotech companies. Compared to the end of April 2018, the value of Belgian biotech companies increased by 12.5 percent from 24 to 27 billion euros. A few Belgian biotech giants such as Galapagos, argenx and UCB, are responsible for this growth. This according to figures announced by KBC Securities during the "State of the Union" event of the Flemish biotech sector federation flanders.bio and VIB on the eve of the large "knowledge for growth" congress in Ghent.

Holographic imaging technology shines a light on cells

Have you ever considered how scientists are able to count transparent cells in a see-through solution? Traditional methods involve dyes, microscopes, time and effort. Now there’s a new technology on the market: Ovizio Imaging Systems has developed a technical solution to this longstanding problem. Using an imaging technique called digital holographic microscopy, Ovizio’s devices perform cell counts by reconstructing 3D images using light. This new type of imaging provides quantitative information about cells, including their number, morphology and viability, all without a drop of dye!

Deadly mosquitoes are invading Europe

Due to climate change, two species of tropical mosquitoes are spreading into Europe at increasing rates. Their presence is linked to a range of tropical viruses, including dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya and Zika. With an increase in disease-ridden insects, we’re likely to start seeing these infections at higher rates in European countries, in Belgium and beyond.