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Discovery and research, Industrial application

Solving food waste one StixFresh sticker at a time

Food waste is a major global issue exacerbated by premature fruit spoilage. A US company, StixFresh, is working together with VIB-KU Leuven Prof Patrick Van Dijck to develop a solution to the problem. The company has created stickers coated in a plant-based antimicrobial formula that protects fruit from fungal infections, extending their shelf life by several weeks.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Cultured meat, plant-based patties and bug burgers: VCs are backing protein alternatives

When it comes to food, our key sources of nutrition haven’t changed much in the last ten thousand years. Though hyped-up food trends and diets come and go, our ancestors established the status quo for our primary protein sources a long time ago: animal products, like dairy, eggs and meat, have been the staples ever since we switched from hunters to farmers. However, with rising global populations driving sky-high demand for animal products, is it time for another food revolution?

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!

Closing the gender gap in biotech funding

Companies with a good gender balance consistently outperform those with only men in their management teams. Yet despite this, start-ups with female founders and management team members are consistently underfunded compared to all male companies. Could it be that the gender gap in funding has its roots in the gender disparity in the financing firms themselves?

Battling antibiotic resistance: are we ready for a bacteriophage revival?

The discovery of antibiotics fundamentally changed healthcare in the 20th century. Deadly infections suddenly became treatable and millions of lives were saved. But excessive antibiotic use in both healthcare and agriculture has allowed some microbes to become resistant. Resistance has even been reported to last resort treatments, like colistin, in the past few years. With classic antibiotics failing, will trivial infections become deadly again or will we manage to find new solutions? In this two-part series, we will look into some of the fundamentally different therapeutics that are being developed as alternatives to traditional antibiotics. In this second installment, we highlight bacteriophages: are they finally ready to take center stage, nearly 100 years after being discovered?

Women in STEM: fixing the leaky pipeline

The lack of women in STEM is a complex problem, including a loss of girls and women at all levels of a research career – a phenomenon often referred to as the “leaky pipeline” of STEM. Let’s look at why some of these leaks have formed and what we can do to fix them!

Orphan CNS diseases receive attention with new Minoryx site in Belgium

The Spanish start-up Minoryx Therapeutics recently opened a subsidiary in Belgium to further their research on treatments for rare and orphan diseases. Co-founder and CEO Marc Martinell spoke to BioVox about his personal reasons for founding the company and why Belgium is such an attractive location to start-ups in the medical sector.

Life after a PhD: alternatives to academia

From scientist to entrepreneur: how a Belgian chromatography company came to be