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Belgium, Flanders, The Netherlands

Flindr Therapeutics: Targeting a Master Switch in Cancer Cell Survival

Flindr Therapeutics is part of a new wave of precision oncology, targeting a key control point in how cancer cells stay alive. The company is working with academic partners like the NKI and VIB, turning deep biological insights into first-in-class medicines.

Alga-Care Project Explores Microalgae as a One Health Solution for Fatty Liver Disease

What if the next step in preventing fatty liver disease could come from the sea? The Alga-Care project is investigating whether bioactive compounds from microalgae could help protect the liver from fat accumulation, oxidation, and damage. This VLAIO-funded intercluster project is supported by both Biovia and De Blauwe Cluster, uniting biomedical expertise and marine biology for a potential One Health solution.

From Self-Healing Robots to Surgical Phantoms: How Materials Science is Reshaping Medical Training

When Seppe Terryn first appeared in a Biovia article member spotlight in 2024, he was an academic working on self-healing robots. Today, those same materials are being stitched — quite literally — into the future of surgical training, with the new VLAIO-funded project RESSURG.

Saving Europe’s Soils: One Dataset At A Time

Over 60% of European soils are considered unhealthy, threatening our food, water, and climate. Yet the knowledge needed to restore them exists — it is just inaccessible and underused, scattered across hundreds of databases and institutions. The SoilWise project is changing that by building a one-stop-shop for soil data that anyone can access and build upon. Because to save our soils, we first need to find our data.

What Can Your DNA Reveal Before Health Problems Appear?

Imagine if your body could send out warning signals before you even feel ill. No pain, fever, or obvious symptoms, yet at a biological level, something may already be changing. New research suggests that exposure to harmful substances can sometimes be detected much earlier than previously thought — not through visible symptoms, but through subtle changes in how our genes are regulated. By learning how to read these early signals, scientists hope to improve prevention, protect people in high-risk workplaces, and act before health problems develop.

From Sample Collections to Critical Infrastructure: Experts are Calling for Changes to Belgium’s Biobanks

Belgium has strong biobanks, but many still experience the system as fragmented and hard to navigate when conducting biomedical research. Experts in Belgium are arguing that we need to treat biobanks as shared infrastructure — data-rich platforms with predictable access, sustainable funding, and governance built around patient trust.

From Local Strength to Global Scale: Why Belgium’s Health Innovators Need a United Front

Belgium has the science to compete globally, but its market is too small and fragmented to support companies alone. To help startups scale, the ecosystem needs to act less like a set of competing regions and more like a unified, internationally visible launchpad for health innovation.

Antwerp Researcher Rosa Rademakers Wins ‘Oscar of Science’ for Dementia and ALS Discovery

Antwerp researcher Rosa Rademakers has won the Breakthrough Prize in the US — one of the world’s most prestigious science awards. Rademakers received the prize and more than 2.5 million euros for her groundbreaking discovery that a rare genetic mutation plays a key role in both frontotemporal dementia and ALS.

Fund+ Portfolio Company Tubulis to be Acquired by Gilead

• Fund+ portfolio company Tubulis will be acquired by Gilead for an upfront payment of USD 3.15 billion, with up to USD 1.85 billion in additional milestone payments • Tubulis’ next-generation ADC platform includes its clinically validated linker-payload technology • The acquisition includes Tubulis’ lead asset TUB-040, a NaPi2b-targeting ADC for ovarian cancer and other solid tumors

Bacteria as Plant Fertilizers: How Soil Microbes Can Help Plants Grow During Drought

Farmers rely heavily on chemical fertilizers to boost crop yields, but this approach comes at a cost to soil quality, biodiversity, and plant fertility. Soil microbes may provide greener alternatives to help plants grow better under tough conditions like drought by triggering faster growth and earlier flowering. The intended result? Improved crop yields when water is scarce.

Stop Being a Pest About It: How AI Can Help Agriculture

Insect pests are a major cause of quality and economic losses in agriculture. Due to policy constraints that aim for a greener future, the use of general pesticides is being phased out, and a push towards species-specific pesticides and biological control methods is being promoted. But these methods require the pest species to first be identified, which is costly. AI could help speed up this process, thus reducing costs and helping us push towards a greener tomorrow.

R&D Real Estate: A Cornerstone of European Innovation

The most visible — yet often overlooked — parts of an innovative ecosystem are the buildings that house research and development activities. Far more than just office space, these physical foundations facilitate the translation of lofty ideas into tangible solutions for society. Kadans Science Partner is one of Europe’s foremost providers of this specialized infrastructure, with a unique community-minded model.

Health Innovation Funding: Spearhead Clusters Lead the Way in Flanders

BioVox spoke with Sara Van Overmeire and Annie Renders of Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) about the origin and role of spearhead clusters. VLAIO is the Flemish government’s point of contact for all entrepreneurs in Flanders. It relies on Biovia and other spearhead clusters to bring companies together and support them in setting up innovative projects.

Bioprinting Living Tissues with BIO INX

Belgian startup BIO INX develops bioinks to 3D print cells into living tissues and organ-on-chip technologies. The company is working with academic and industry partners to develop products ranging from artificial corneas to cartilage. The aim: translate academic ideas into to real-world applications with tangible patient impact.

Belgian Biotech Agomab Debuts on Nasdaq with a $200 Million IPO

Just weeks after announcing its plans for a U.S. listing, Belgium-based Agomab Therapeutics has gone public on Nasdaq, pricing its IPO at $16 per share to raise about $200 million. The stock is now trading under the ticker AGMB, putting the spotlight on fibrosis in what has been a billion-dollar week for biotech IPOs.