Vision / opinion / people

Belgium: the number one biotech country in Europe!

For the third year in a row, Belgium has been ranked the number one country in Europe for biotech! Belgium […] September 30, 2020 · BioVox

Get to know Lewis Cantley: winner of the 2020 Dr. Paul Janssen Award

Every year, the Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research is granted to a scientist who embodies the eponymous man’s […] September 30, 2020 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

Can Darwin’s theory explain why we get sick?

While physicians care for their individual patients and are interested in the factors contributing to the individual’s condition, evolutionary biologists […] September 30, 2020 · V-Bio Ventures

Lewis Cantley awarded Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research 2020

Johnson & Johnson Celebrates Role of Scientists In Society with 2020 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research, Part of […] August 21, 2020 · Turnstone Communications

Building bigger for Belgium’s maturing biotech scene

Biotech is booming in Belgium. To support the evolving needs of this world-class ecosystem, the Mariën family initiated and are […] July 7, 2020 · Turnstone Communications

VIB: the driving force behind a booming biotech ecosystem

Since VIB was established, the world class research institute has been led by a duo of managing directors. As Johan […] July 7, 2020 · BioVox

The opioid epidemic: solutions to a painful problem

This article was authored by Rishabh Chawla from V-Bio Ventures. Opioid misuse is a public health crisis that has resulted […] July 7, 2020 · V-Bio Ventures

To prevent another pandemic, we need to improve our relationship with animals

The new coronavirus did not come as a bolt from the blue. For many years, the World Health Organization (WHO) […] June 8, 2020 · BioVox

How changing diets gave rise to the world’s deadliest diseases

This article was authored by Ward Capoen from V-Bio Ventures. In a recent article, we discussed how the most prescribed […] June 8, 2020 · V-Bio Ventures

Talking T cells with David Masopust

Immunology is a complex but vitally important branch of the life sciences. Earlier this year, we attended a Keystone Symposia […] June 8, 2020 · BioVox

Onno van de Stolpe talks Belgian biotech

At this year’s Innovation for Health, we sat down for a chat with Onno van de Stolpe. Winner of the […] May 5, 2020 · BioVox

TheSocialMedwork: equal access to medicines for everyone, everywhere

We recently sat down with Sjaak Vink, the visionary entrepreneur behind TheSocialMedwork. This enterprise gives patients all over the world […] May 5, 2020 · BioVox

Potential impact of the corona crisis on the life sciences industry

This article was authored by Christina Takke from V-Bio Ventures Over the past few months, every news headline has focused […] March 26, 2020 · V-Bio Ventures

Why everyone needs to be a part of the CRISPR conversation

With the soaring cost of drugs for rare indications, many biotech and pharmaceutical companies are focusing R&D efforts on orphan diseases. Will the pendulum swing back towards more common maladies? February 26, 2020 · BioVox

Belgian initiatives boosting animal-free innovation

Animals have been used throughout history to understand human physiology and to resolve scientific questions related to health and disease. Nowadays, however, both scientists [...] February 26, 2020 · BioVox

Predictions for Belgian Biotech in 2020

With the Belgian biotech landscape blooming, BioVox reached out to some of the investors in our network to see what their predictions are for the coming year. From trends to companies to keep an eye on, here’s their take on 2020! January 22, 2020 · BioVox

How business models shaped our current drug development trends

December 17, 2019 · V-Bio Ventures

Magic mushrooms in modern medicine

This article was authored by Katja Rosenkranz from V-Bio Ventures. More than 75 years after the initial discovery of lysergic acid […] November 26, 2019 · V-Bio Ventures

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Medicine: How do cells adapt to changing oxygen levels?

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza. Their discoveries have [...] October 24, 2019 · BioVox

A bridge from east to west: linking Chinese investors with European companies

There are two main reasons why a European company might want to establish official links with a Chinese investor: funding, […] October 24, 2019 · Turnstone Communications

Prof. Matthias Mann joins PharmaFluidics Advisory Board

Ghent, Belgium – October 22, 2019 – PharmaFluidics NV, an innovative player in the field of proteomics with the unique high-resolution µPACTM micro-Chip chromatography products, is pleased to welcome Prof. Dr. Matthias Mann as member of its Advisory Board. October 22, 2019 · Turnstone Communications

Closing the gender gap in biotech funding: a follow-up study

This article was authored by Christina Takke from V-Bio Ventures. In this follow-up to a previous VC Views article, V-Bio […] September 24, 2019 · V-Bio Ventures

Three business strategy tips to help your company grow

Turnstone Communications, the driving force behind BioVox news, is a consultancy agency catering to life sciences companies. Lending a hand […] September 23, 2019 · BioVox

Fresh insights into the future of cell therapy

The first edition of Science for health was held in the heart of Brussels on September 11 with a focus […] September 23, 2019 · BioVox

Galapagos-Gilead billion-dollar deal: beyond the numbers

Last month, Galapagos sealed a 5-billion-dollar deal with Gilead. Now that the dust has started to settle, we’re taking a […] August 27, 2019 · BioVox

Why events are important for creating connections in the life sciences

Collaboration is vital for science. Without cross-pollination of ideas and talent, progress would be excruciatingly slow in both industry and academia. [...] August 27, 2019 · BioVox

Meet the men who unraveled the mystery of protein folding

Franz-Ulrich Hartl and Arthur Horwich have been named the winners of the 2019 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research. […] August 27, 2019 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

How do we reduce the high cost of clinical trials?

Drug development is an exorbitantly expensive endeavor. A large expense factor for developing a new therapy is the high cost of conducting clinical trials. [...] July 18, 2019 · V-Bio Ventures

Living on the edge: the challenge of doing things differently in cell therapy

Belgian company Celyad is a trailblazer in oncology: its T cell therapies based on NK receptors are cutting edge even […] July 17, 2019 · BioVox

The future of healthcare is digital

This month marked the crystal anniversary of the life sciences networking event Knowledge for Growth. The event was a huge […] May 29, 2019 · Turnstone Communications

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 […] May 29, 2019 · V-Bio Ventures

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 […] May 29, 2019 · BioVox

Closing the gender gap in biotech funding

Companies with a good gender balance consistently outperform those with only men in their management teams. [...] March 19, 2019 · V-Bio Ventures

Women in STEM: fixing the leaky pipeline

Happy International Women’s Day! This year, in honor of the day, we’ve decided to highlight an important and personal topic: […] March 8, 2019 · BioVox

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 […] March 4, 2019 · BioVox

Life after a PhD: alternatives to academia

This article was authored by Rishabh Chawla from V-Bio Ventures. Having finished a PhD in life sciences can often leave […] February 19, 2019 · V-Bio Ventures

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

Pharmafluidics is a Belgian company rethinking the fundamentals of liquid chromatography. Introducing a fundamentally new type of stationary phase in […] February 12, 2019 · Turnstone Communications

Are we spending too much money on cancer drugs?

This article was authored by Ward Capoen from V-Bio Ventures. November is classically the month where immunotherapy takes center stage, […] January 22, 2019 · V-Bio Ventures

argenx signs billion-dollar deal with Janssen

Another Belgian biotech on the up and up: argenx just closed a billion-dollar deal with Janssen Pharmaceutica for their antibody […] December 4, 2018 · Turnstone Communications

A Personal Translation of Microbiome Futures

Nature Biotechnology published a thought-provoking piece addressing critical questions in the development of microbiome-based solutions focused on disease interception. Co-authored […] November 28, 2018 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

Why start-ups can become mega companies in the pharma sector

In a previous BioVox article, we analyzed the steps needed for a life sciences start-up to turn into a fully […] November 20, 2018 · V-Bio Ventures

Microbiome regulations from an EU start-up's perspective

Interested in the microbiome? So are we! Here’s a sneak-peek into S-Biomedic, one of the first microbiome start-ups in Belgium. […] November 9, 2018 · Turnstone Communications

The Benefit of BioVox – why science journalism matters

This year, for the third time in a row, the BioVox team is looking forward to attending Wallonia’s largest life […] November 7, 2018 · BioVox

AI and The Black Box Dilemma

Artificial intelligence has become a regular staple in our modern lives. With increasingly complex programs allowing for scarily accurate image […] November 6, 2018 · BioVox

Are tech investments under threat by anti-science sentiments?

In biotech, company creation is usually preceded by scientific discoveries presenting solutions to existing problems. Because of this, early stage […] October 30, 2018 · V-Bio Ventures

Ghent knowledge hub growing strong

The Flemish life sciences ecosystem is stronger than ever. This expertise, in biotech and health, is plain to see in […] October 23, 2018 · Turnstone Communications

Lessons in Herding Cats: Business Development for Life Sciences Companies

Business development challenges can make or break a company in any industry. For a life sciences company, overcoming the added […] October 16, 2018 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

What’s next for CRISPR crops in the EU?

Genetically Modification Organisms (GMOs) is one of the most hotly debated topics in the news today. Resistance to GMOs has […] October 9, 2018 · BioVox

Bringing clinical trials into the home

Lowering the costs of drug development is more important than ever; with the increasing pressure on drug pricing and billions […] October 2, 2018 · V-Bio Ventures

Are the days of journal paywalls finally numbered?

Europe has taken an ambitious step forwards in the fight for open access to academic papers. On September 4th, Science […] September 25, 2018 · BioVox

Saving lives through fundamental research: James Allison wins Dr. Paul Janssen Award 2018

Dr. James Allison has dedicated his career to improving our fundamental understanding of how the adaptive immune system works. Much […] September 18, 2018 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

Forever young: the science of aging well

“Is aging a disease?” For a long time, the answer to this question seemed obvious: aging is a natural thing […] August 28, 2018 · V-Bio Ventures

Uncovering the secrets of inflammasomes

Mohamed (Mo) Lamkanfi made the jump from academia to industry a mere eight months ago, to pursue a career with […] August 21, 2018 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

Biotechs and subsidies - a fraught relationship

The ambition of any CEO heading a biotech start-up is to develop a new product and to reach patients quickly. […] July 23, 2018 · V-Bio Ventures

1 billion lifeforms recorded!

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international network that provides access to a huge biodiversity database. Their total […] July 10, 2018 · BioVox

Damya Laoui at the forefront of cancer immunotherapy

Photo copyright: VUB / Thierry Geenen Last year, Damya Laoui received the prestigious American MIT-prize for young innovators under 35 […] July 3, 2018 · BioVox

DNA as a storage device for big data

Sometimes science fiction seems to become real right in front of our eyes. Slowly but surely, our genes are revealing […] June 19, 2018 · BioVox

CD3 as co-creator of drugs with academia and pharma

The Center for Drug Design and Discovery (CD3), based in Leuven, bridges the gap between innovative biomedical research emerging from […] May 28, 2018 · Turnstone Communications

Acquisitions of Biotech companies: a good or a bad thing?

When on the 8th January 2018 the news travelled that Novo Nordisk made a €2.6bn bid for Belgium’s Ablynx, only […] May 14, 2018 · V-Bio Ventures

How to build a “European Amgen”

There are still very few large European biotech companies to compete with the Amgens and Gileads of the world. Only […] April 19, 2018 · V-Bio Ventures

Big data, big produce – Trends in agri-biotech

In the last few decades, with the introduction of GMOs, the agricultural industry was turned upside down. Major consolidations between […] April 16, 2018 · BioVox

From Academia to Industry: growing in new directions

What does it mean to “be a scientist”? People generally have a very academia-centric view: scientists do research, write grants […] April 12, 2018 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

A world without disease: Janssen - Flanders.bio partner day 2018

A new vision was in the spotlight at the Flanders.bio – Janssen Pharmaceutica Partner Day this year. “A world without […] March 19, 2018 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

Is innovation killing the pharmaceutical industry?

In the past few years, the speed at which new drugs have been coming to the market has accelerated significantly […] March 18, 2018 · V-Bio Ventures

Caitlin Gillis at VIB - Foreign Scientist in Belgium

Caitlin Gillis left the sunshine and warmth of Australia a few years ago to come live Europe. After a stint […] March 18, 2018 · BioVox

After Ablynx, is an acquisition of Galapagos next?

The Gent biotech company Ablynx has been acquired by pharmaceutical giant Sanofi for 3.9 billion euros. The French Sanofi beat […] February 19, 2018 · BioVox

Politicians should consider the consequences of not deploying GM technology

Genetic modification (GM) technology can offer solutions so that farmers can more efficiently grow crops with less environmental impact. Despite […] February 19, 2018 · BioVox

Artificial intelligence beyond the hype: achievements and expectations in the biotech space

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a term that pops up everywhere lately. In this article, we provide some examples of how […] January 18, 2018 · V-Bio Ventures

Olivier Gevaert in Stanford – Belgian scientist living abroad

After an Erasmus exchange in Germany during his Master’s in Industrial Engineering, Olivier Gevaert knew he would someday move abroad. […] December 18, 2017 · BioVox

Synthetic biology – revolutionary technology in search of a better name

Despite what the name might suggest, synthetic biology is not about creating artificial life. Instead, it focuses on scouring nature […] December 18, 2017 · Turnstone Communications

Interactomics: taking apart the cellular machinery

Among the booming omics disciplines, such as genomics, proteomics, or metabolomics, the field of interactomics is perhaps less known. VIB […] November 21, 2017 · BioVox

Belgium vs Germany in the Life Sciences start-up championship

Germany is one of the leading industrial nations in the world and has 8x more inhabitants than Belgium. However, when […] November 20, 2017 · V-Bio Ventures

Diagnosed with lung cancer

A patient diagnosed with lung cancer should brace for the worst. Prognosis is often very disappointing. While in many cancers […] October 16, 2017 · Turnstone Communications

Tackling untreatable cancers in children

Bram De Wilde is a pediatric hemato-oncologist at the University Hospital in Ghent. He is one of the keynote speakers […] October 16, 2017 · Turnstone Communications

How Aphea.Bio managed to gather the funds to transcend from academia to industry

Aphea.Bio is an agriculture startup, originating from the VIB and flourishing underneath the wings of V-Bio Ventures. Steven Vandenabeele (CTO […] October 16, 2017 · V-Bio Ventures

Liesbeth Aerts in Sydney - Belgian scientist living abroad

Until August 2017, Liesbeth Aerts lived in Sydney, where she worked as a dementia researcher at the University of New […] October 9, 2017 · BioVox

Personalized healthcare, a long-awaited revolution

Although it’s already 2017 and medicine has made great progress in the last decade, healthcare is often still very generic, […] September 11, 2017 · Turnstone Communications

The leap from academia to industry

The earlier in development, the greater the risk. It’s an unspoken law in biotech that makes valorizing promising academic projects […] September 11, 2017 · V-Bio Ventures

Lars Klareskog pushes rheumatology beyond symptomatic treatment

Over the years, the perception of inflammatory diseases has changed drastically. The advent of cytokine inhibitors meant great improvement to many patients, especially those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. However, these treatments remain symptomatic. Together with Janssen Pharmaceutica, world-renowned rheumatologist Lars Klareskog is ready to take the research and treatment of inflammatory joint disease to the next level.

June 12, 2017 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

Sylvie Janssen in Manhattan - Belgian scientist living abroad

Sylvie Janssens lives in Manhattan, New York, where she relocated after earning her PhD in biotechnology at Ghent University. She […] June 8, 2017 · BioVox

Strengthening communication in biotech companies

Many biotech management teams fail to reach out to investors in a clear and appealing way.

May 22, 2017 · V-Bio Ventures

Janssen R&D focus enforced with new managing director

Stef Heylen is the new Managing Director and COO of Janssen Pharmaceutica (Belgium), since November 2016. After a half year […] May 22, 2017 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

Curing all diseases in the next 20 years: the new hype amongst billionaires?

Despite the initial intent of charitable foundations to be not-for-profit, some of them tend to morph into organizations with bigger aspirations.

April 17, 2017 · V-Bio Ventures

CMAST: Bringing ideas from a risky early stage to a viable healthcare solution

CMAST knows that much more than good science is needed to create innovative healthcare solutions that will have an impact […] April 14, 2017 · Turnstone Communications

Investing in European biotech faced with many challenges

Investing in biotech companies is a capital-intensive and risky business, and it’s no secret that more money and less risk-averse investors are available in the US than in Europe. To keep innovations, companies, and their economic benefits from being transferred to regions outside Europe, many national and international European initiatives are in place. The question remains whether this is sufficient to fundamentally improve Europe’s currently underfunded biotech ecosystem. The biotech investment specialists of V-Bio Ventures take us through Europe’s biotech investment landscape.

March 16, 2017 · V-Bio Ventures