One year on from the emergence of SARS-COV-2 in Wuhan, China, this novel coronavirus continues to devastate the world. Since then, COVID-19 has reached every continent and touched all of our lives. In this article, we take the chance to assess the situation going into 2021 and look back on the first year of the pandemic.
Prof. Dr. Pierre Vanderhaeghen from VIB-KU Leuven has been awarded the Generet Prize for Rare Diseases for his research on human brain development. Vanderhaegen’s team have developed an astonishing model for studying rare neurological disorders by successfully integrating human neurons into a mouse brain. The prestigious prize, managed by the King Baudouin Foundation and presented to Vanderhaeghen by HRH Princess Astrid, includes EUR 1 million in funding for further studies.
In mid-2021, research institute VIB will open its brand-new agbiotech incubator. The new complex will provide entrepreneurs with access to high-tech facilities to work on sustainable agricultural innovations, like solutions to make plants more resistant to drought. The incubator will be housed in the former CropDesign site of multinational BASF in Nevele, Belgium.
One of the key ingredients to start-up success is a stellar management team. Attracting (and retaining) the right kind of talent is a challenge though, especially when trying to balance the skills and personalities of different individuals. Getting this balance right is key to a well-rounded and cohesive team that will let a company grow into its full potential. Here is our advice on some important factors to bear in mind when building a life sciences management team.
Complete paradigm shifts in medicine are rare, but there have nevertheless been several major examples in the past hundred years. Treatments and approaches that seemed set in stone one decade can easily seem silly the next, as new information about the disease or underlying biology comes to light. Hindsight grants us clarity, but sometimes the factors that lead us down a particular treatment path can be as arbitrary as a feud between colleagues. Might there be paradigm shifts looming in oncology, neurology and more, triggered by a return to previous treatments?
The world is smaller today than it has ever been. With the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen the advantages of a connected international pharma and biotech industry, which was able to rapidly mobilize to provide solutions for this global threat. The pandemic is not the only opportunity for cross-border collaborations, however. With an increasing focus on healthcare innovation, the rapid evolution of Chinese biotech is bringing benefits to companies and patients around the world.
In 2019, a delegation of Belgian biotechs participated in an economic mission to China led by H.R.H. Princess Astrid. Co-organized with BioCentury’s annual China Healthcare Summit, the mission was a success: three of the participating companies have already signed deals with Chinese collaborators or investors. We spoke with the CEOs of these companies to find out what kind of deals they obtained, and to hear about their experiences of working with Chinese partners.
Over the past few years, an increasing number of European biotechs have been signing deals with Chinese investors. The Chinese are increasingly interested in European, particularly Belgian, biotech. But it’s not just for money: strategic investments with potential deals seem to be at the forefront of these agreements. How do European venture capitalists feel about this trend? We spoke with Chris Buyse from Fund+ to find out.
Niel, Belgium, 1 December 2020 - eTheRNA immunotherapies NV (“eTheRNA”) announced it has entered into a strategic cooperation and product license agreement with China Grand Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Holdings Ltd (“China Grand Pharma”) to establish a new joint venture company, Nanjing AuroRNA Biotech Co., Ltd. (“AuroRNA Biotech”) in Mainland China to deploy eTheRNA’s proprietary mRNA technology for pharmaceutical research and development and production in the Greater China Region.
Brussels, Belgium / Tokyo, Japan – 1 December 2020 – Newton Biocapital I (“Newton”), a life sciences investment fund active in Europe and Japan and focused on the treatment and prevention of chronic diseases, has announced its third investment in Japan. Newton invested EUR 1.2 million (JPY 148 million) in Perseus Proteomics Inc. as part of a total round of EUR 8.1 million. With this investment, Perseus Proteomics will continue its research and development of PPMX-T003 - a key growth driver antibody - and other antibodies in the pipeline.
One year on from the emergence of SARS-COV-2 in Wuhan, China, this novel coronavirus continues to devastate the world. Since then, COVID-19 has reached every continent and touched all of our lives. In this article, we take the chance to assess the situation going into 2021 and look back on the first year of the pandemic.
Prof. Dr. Pierre Vanderhaeghen from VIB-KU Leuven has been awarded the Generet Prize for Rare Diseases for his research on human brain development. Vanderhaegen’s team have developed an astonishing model for studying rare neurological disorders by successfully integrating human neurons into a mouse brain. The prestigious prize, managed by the King Baudouin Foundation and presented to Vanderhaeghen by HRH Princess Astrid, includes EUR 1 million in funding for further studies.
In mid-2021, research institute VIB will open its brand-new agbiotech incubator. The new complex will provide entrepreneurs with access to high-tech facilities to work on sustainable agricultural innovations, like solutions to make plants more resistant to drought. The incubator will be housed in the former CropDesign site of multinational BASF in Nevele, Belgium.
One of the key ingredients to start-up success is a stellar management team. Attracting (and retaining) the right kind of talent is a challenge though, especially when trying to balance the skills and personalities of different individuals. Getting this balance right is key to a well-rounded and cohesive team that will let a company grow into its full potential. Here is our advice on some important factors to bear in mind when building a life sciences management team.
Complete paradigm shifts in medicine are rare, but there have nevertheless been several major examples in the past hundred years. Treatments and approaches that seemed set in stone one decade can easily seem silly the next, as new information about the disease or underlying biology comes to light. Hindsight grants us clarity, but sometimes the factors that lead us down a particular treatment path can be as arbitrary as a feud between colleagues. Might there be paradigm shifts looming in oncology, neurology and more, triggered by a return to previous treatments?
The world is smaller today than it has ever been. With the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen the advantages of a connected international pharma and biotech industry, which was able to rapidly mobilize to provide solutions for this global threat. The pandemic is not the only opportunity for cross-border collaborations, however. With an increasing focus on healthcare innovation, the rapid evolution of Chinese biotech is bringing benefits to companies and patients around the world.
In 2019, a delegation of Belgian biotechs participated in an economic mission to China led by H.R.H. Princess Astrid. Co-organized with BioCentury’s annual China Healthcare Summit, the mission was a success: three of the participating companies have already signed deals with Chinese collaborators or investors. We spoke with the CEOs of these companies to find out what kind of deals they obtained, and to hear about their experiences of working with Chinese partners.
Over the past few years, an increasing number of European biotechs have been signing deals with Chinese investors. The Chinese are increasingly interested in European, particularly Belgian, biotech. But it’s not just for money: strategic investments with potential deals seem to be at the forefront of these agreements. How do European venture capitalists feel about this trend? We spoke with Chris Buyse from Fund+ to find out.
Niel, Belgium, 1 December 2020 - eTheRNA immunotherapies NV (“eTheRNA”) announced it has entered into a strategic cooperation and product license agreement with China Grand Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Holdings Ltd (“China Grand Pharma”) to establish a new joint venture company, Nanjing AuroRNA Biotech Co., Ltd. (“AuroRNA Biotech”) in Mainland China to deploy eTheRNA’s proprietary mRNA technology for pharmaceutical research and development and production in the Greater China Region.
Brussels, Belgium / Tokyo, Japan – 1 December 2020 – Newton Biocapital I (“Newton”), a life sciences investment fund active in Europe and Japan and focused on the treatment and prevention of chronic diseases, has announced its third investment in Japan. Newton invested EUR 1.2 million (JPY 148 million) in Perseus Proteomics Inc. as part of a total round of EUR 8.1 million. With this investment, Perseus Proteomics will continue its research and development of PPMX-T003 - a key growth driver antibody - and other antibodies in the pipeline.