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Finance and Investment

V-Bio Ventures raises additional capital to support young biotech companies

Ghent, Belgium, 27 January 2022 - V-Bio Ventures, a venture capital company that focuses specifically on the segment of young pioneering biotech companies, has increased the capital of its second fund V-Bio Fund 2 to 96 million euros. The fundraising will continue for several months, and the fund managers expect the target of EUR 100 million will be achieved.

Economic Success: infinite growth is only possible in a diverse ecosystem

In recent public discussions on economic progress, people have been asking: is infinite growth really the best way to measure economic success? With a background in biology, having entered the investment world in the year 2000, Christina Takke found this an intriguing question best viewed through the metaphor of life in a test tube versus a real ecosystem.

ElmediX raises nearly 12 million euros to develop innovative heat technology to fight cancer

Mechelen, Belgium, January 25, 2022 - Belgian company ElmediX is developing intensive and controlled heat treatments for the treatment of cancer. A new capital injection of 4M euros brings the total to almost 12M euros (including VLAIO research grants worth 1.8M euros) and accelerates the trajectory of this innovative MedTech company.

Belgium: The Health & Biotech Valley of Today and Tomorrow

As part of the ‘Health & Biotech Valley of Tomorrow’ initiative, the Belgian government recently signed a charter together with stakeholders from academia and industry, pledging to cement Belgium’s status as a biotech powerhouse in the next 10 to 20 years. Over the next few months, working groups will translate recommendations of a consultancy report into a concrete strategic plan for the future of the country. Amongst other topics, experts will evaluate ways to encourage more collaboration, provide financial stimuli, and make better use of health data.

V-Bio Ventures participates in the EUR 12 million seed round of heart failure biotech Corteria Pharmaceuticals

Ghent, Belgium, 9 December 2021 – Corteria Pharmaceuticals, a French biotechnology company specialized in the development of interceptive therapies for heart failure subpopulations, today announced the successful completion of its Seed round, providing EUR 12 million to pursue the development of a series of programs in-licensed from Sanofi S.A. (Paris, France). The seed round was led by Kurma Partners and includes V-Bio Ventures, Omnes Capital, and InVivo Capital. As part of the financing, Thierry Laugel (Chair) and Peter Neubeck from Kurma Partners, Ward Capoen from V-Bio Ventures, Claire Poulard from Omnes Capital, and Luis Pareras from InVivo Capital Health will join the Board of Directors.

New start-up Trince raises EUR 4 million for innovative technology to produce personalized cancer therapies safer, cheaper, and faster

International pharmaceutical consultant Amador Bioscience picks Belgium for its first European base

For its first European base, pharmaceutical consultant Amador Bioscience has chosen to set up shop in Limburg province, Belgium. The company, which already had branches in the United States and China, was attracted to Hasselt because of the proximity of the University of Hasselt (UHasselt), which has a strong reputation in biostatistics. In the coming years, Amador Bioscience is looking to hire 120 biostatisticians and biomedical engineers at its Belgian site.

Belgium has all the ingredients to be a top country for data science in health – but we have to act now!

Belgium has all the ingredients to be number one for real-world data in healthcare

Belgium is home to one of the world’s strongest health clusters and has long been ranked as the best country in the EU for clinical trials. However, if Belgium is to maintain this attractive clinical trial environment – and its quality healthcare system – the country needs to improve its position regarding the reuse of health data for research. BioVox spoke with Ingrid Maes from Inovigate about an upcoming report on Belgium’s real-world data initiatives and legislation, and how the country compares with the rest of Europe.

New GMOs on the horizon: say ‘cheese’!

To meet the challenges of climate change and global food demand, more VCs are investing in AgTech companies. A lot of these companies are using genetic modification to create better plant-based alternatives for animal products. One US company, Nobell Foods, is even developing casein-producing soybean plants that can be used to make plant-based cheese that tastes and melts like the real deal.

Rejuvenate Biomed raises a EUR 15.7 million Series B to accelerate clinical development of its sarcopenia treatment for healthy aging

Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, Schlieren, Zürich, Switzerland, and Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, 12 October 2021 – Rejuvenate Biomed NV (‘Rejuvenate’), a biomedical company developing novel combination drugs for age-related diseases, today announces a EUR 15.7 million Series B round. The funding is being used to accelerate the clinical development of Rejuvenate’s lead candidate RJx-01 in both acute and chronic sarcopenia (disuse-induced and age-related muscle failure).

EsoBiotec ready to transform cell therapy cancer treatments

Biogen’s controversial Alzheimer’s drug approved by the FDA – what now?

It has been three months since the much-discussed FDA approval of Biogen’s Aduhelm, a treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease. The drug has been celebrated by some as a breakthrough for Alzheimer’s patients, but others remain highly sceptical or even openly opposed to the FDA decision. What has caused the furor? And what will this approval mean for other biotech companies developing new drugs for neurodegenerative diseases (and for the VCs backing them)?

Newton Biocapital invests in PRISM BioLab to support development of a unique peptide mimetic technology platform to discover new drugs for intractable diseases

Why keeping up with data science matters for our health

Data without science is nothing; just 1s and 0s, floating around a cloud waiting for someone to make sense of them. Data science is the process of extracting value from data, using advanced analytics tools. Enormous amounts of health information are being gathered every second, and we are rapidly getting better at decoding it: turning bytes into insights that can be used to improve the lives of patients. But the pace, methods and ethics of data science adoption varies dramatically between countries and regions. Why should we care about keeping up?