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BioVox

With a local focus and global reach, the news platform BioVox shares insights into the Benelux life sciences ecosystem with readers across the world. BioVox is an independent publisher, providing its community with quality content and first-row access to interesting breakthroughs and trends in biotech, medtech, agtech, pharma, and more. We shine a spotlight on the latest news and innovations from both our partners and community.
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Picture of BioVox

BioVox

With a local focus and global reach, the news platform BioVox shares insights into the Benelux life sciences ecosystem with readers across the world. BioVox is an independent publisher, providing its community with quality content and first-row access to interesting breakthroughs and trends in biotech, medtech, agtech, pharma, and more. We shine a spotlight on the latest news and innovations from both our partners and community.
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ONTOFORCE Achieves ISO 27001:2022 Certification: A Milestone in Information Security and Trust

Anacura acquires OHMX.bio, adding multi-omics for drug discovery and diagnostics to its services

Anacura, a Ghent-based company offering medical and pharmaceutical analytical services, announces the acquisition of OHMX.bio, a Ghent University spin-off specialized in advanced -omics technology. The acquisition expands the existing anacura group activities at AnaBioTec and Labo Nuytinck towards drug discovery and diagnostics research.

Axithra Strengthens its Board of Directors

The appointments of Dr. Alain Pluquet as Chairman of the Board and Mr. Michael Tillmann as Independent Director brings extensive industrial expertise to help develop Axithra’s long-term strategy

How to reduce the risk of running injuries – a step in the right direction

An estimated 50 million people in Europe regularly go for a run, including almost 20% of the Belgian population. While most might not be running marathons at an Olympic pace, the chance of getting injured can feel inevitable to any runner. This fear is justified, as around half of all runners experience at least one injury annually. But what’s driving this unsettling statistic, and how can runners potentially reduce the likelihood of a dreaded injury spell?

Bridging the gap between academia and the sports tech industry

For scientists or budding entrepreneurs with the next big idea in sports tech, the road from conceptualization to product can seem perilous, with many pitfalls along the way. To stand a chance at getting your research out of the lab and into the hands of athletes, it’s essential to start off on the right foot. Read on to see how the collaboration of scientists and sports tech development experts is helping this unique ecosystem in Belgium to flourish.

Monitoring muscles in motion with wearable ultrasound technology

Ultrasound is a powerful technology that helps healthcare professionals take the first images of your child in utero and allows us to look at soft tissue, such as muscles, tendons, and most internal organs. But ultrasound largely requires patients to be static, meaning crucial information is missed about how muscles or organs behave when they’re most strained during exercise. Now, novel advances and innovative designs from the Netherlands and beyond are bringing ultrasound devices into the wearable medtech era, with exciting possibilities to monitor muscles and organs in motion. These technologies are pushing boundaries in both the medical and sports worlds while helping to diagnose patients, to help athletes train, or to shorten their road to recovery.

A data-driven solution to get children on the move

Children increasingly seek the comfort and entertainment of television, tablets and smartphones rather than playing outside. This reduction in physical activity has accelerated over the last few decades and has detrimental effects for children later in life. They are the future, so studying their development and lifestyle gives us a forecast of where we are heading. Are we moving towards a sedentary population? And if so, how can we alter our course?

Athlete versus pain, an inevitable battle?

Training session after training session, top athletes must push themselves to the limits to test their bodies. Although pain is a clear emergency signal, athletes in pain may push themselves even further. This makes them vulnerable to injuries and severe pain conditions including acute and chronic lower back pain. Although there are several treatment options to alleviate the symptoms, the treatment of acute and chronic pain is not straightforward. A multidisciplinary approach is required, and more treatment options are needed that focus on treating the underlying cause.

Causal AI in healthcare: a black box revelation?

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning have great potential to improve people’s lives. From supporting data analysis in research to providing more accurate and quicker diagnostic tools. But their interior workings are questioned by many and understood by few. New models are needed to solve current shortcomings and causal AI might be our way out. By offering a peek inside the black box, it creates opportunities to implement AI in high-risk settings such as healthcare. But how far along are we and where is this journey taking us?

Flanders as a knowledge hub in the current Benelux life sciences ecosystem

At the heart of Europe, Benelux is like a drop of ink spreading its influence internationally; an in-depth study conducted by KBC Securities placed Belgium as Europe’s leading country for biotech in 2024. This year's edition of Knowledge for Growth, hosted by the life sciences cluster flanders.bio celebrating their 20th anniversary, highlighted the vibrant Flemish life sciences ecosystem. The event took place in Antwerp, Belgium on May 15th and 16th, where industry professionals, scientists, investors, policymakers, and more gathered to share their knowledge and insights and answer why the region of Flanders, and the Benelux overall, are doing so well in this vibrant landscape.

How microalgae could help us move towards a more sustainable tomorrow

Microalgae have been proposed as a potential source for numerous products, ranging from proteins used in nutrition to mycosporine-like amino acids (MAA) that could be used in sunscreens to absorb ultraviolet (UV) light. However, one of the major constraints to using microalgae-based products is their low production of high-value products like MAA. GeneBEcon, a Horizon Europe-funded project, investigates the potential to increase the production of valuable compounds in microalgae through gene editing in order to enable a more sustainable bioeconomy in Europe.

From successful conception to a healthy family – Belgian research raises the bar for IVF

Belgium is one of the top countries in the world for in vitro fertilization (IVF). Despite the high cumulative success rates of these interventions, disproportionally little attention has been given to the health of both mother and child during and after pregnancy. With the HEART (High risk for pre-Eclampsia after Assisted Reproductive Technology) project, Belgian researchers strive to understand why some women have an increased risk for pre-eclampsia after IVF and whether biomarkers can be identified to estimate these risks early in pregnancy or even before conception. They aim to raise the standard from successful conception to improved child and maternal health.

Retaining female talents

While the life sciences environment is adjusting to be able to foster female talents in the workplace, there is still a long way to go to achieve truly egalitarian work conditions. From the ‘motherhood penalty’ to unconscious bias, women can still be made to feel unwelcome in their daily work life. This is what motivated Veroniek Vermeulen to launch Silatha, a company with the goal of creating an environment where everyone can thrive.

This vagina-on-chip model holds the potential to advance yeast infection research

While a vast majority of women experience vaginal yeast infections, research has fallen short in providing an effective treatment approach. However, hope has emerged recently with the development of new model systems that allow exploration of the complex vaginal environment. Organ-on-chip models enable researchers to examine the interactions between human cells and microbes in a more accurate manner, offering the potential for the development of new therapies.

The women of BioVox

STEM has had a long reputation of being a masculine environment, though recent efforts have made this field much more accessible to all genders. Our gender can influence both the external factors and internal methods affecting how we work.