Koenraad Wiedhaup

Investing in vision: Innovation in retinal therapeutics and the influence on venture capital investment https://lnkd.in/d2QHx_bH by Dr. Dmitrij Hristodorov, Tim Lohoff, Nanna Lüneborg, Geert-Jan Mulder, Simon J. Clark. Highlights: 1. The acquisition of Gyroscope by Novartis for up to $1.5 Billion in 2022, including an upfront payment of $800 million. It was a landmark deal for the founding investor, Syncona Limited, delivering an impressive ~$424 million upfront return. Other investors in Gyroscope, including Forbion, Sofinnova Investments and T. Rowe Price Associates enjoyed a quick return following their investment into the company in 2021. Regrettably, Novartis has recently announced that further development of GT005 has been stopped. In a press release, Novartis states that “this decision was based on a recommendation from the independent Data Monitoring Committee following an overall risk-benefit assessment of available data from the program studies, which concluded futility criteria had been met. Importantly, no new safety signals were identified” 2) Increasingly clinical-stage programs can be developed by biotech companies on a standalone basis, with increasingly larger financing rounds. Between 2004 and today, the average financing round has almost quadrupled from around $17 M in 2004 to around $63 M in 2022 and 2023 3) The likelihood of drug approval for ophthalmic drugs after a positive Phase 2 read-out is ~47% only and compares unfavorably to several other therapeutic areas. The availability of larger funds provided by VCs to run larger Phase 2 b and/or even pivotal Phase 3 studies will allow us to close this potential gap of innovation in the coming future 4) 9 out of the 15 largest financings were for gene therapy companies 5) The surge of investment has been paralleled by a growing appetite from pharma in the ophthalmology sector, highlighted by the most recent mega-deal, the acquisition of Iveric Bio, An Astellas Compan by Astellas for $5.9 billion. Pharma companies have become aware of the enormous impact and financial success they can generate, as showcased by blockbuster anti-VEGF drugs, such as Lucentis and Eylea

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Still ongoing: The European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) 2024 Congress in Rotterdam, NL! If you haven't done so yet, please make sure to stop by the Panome Bio booth #92a to learn about our latest advancements in metabolomics, proteomics, and integrated multi-omic analysis and how they can be applied in cancer research. hashtag #EACR2024 hashtag #metabolomics hashtag #proteomics hashtag #multiomics hashtag #cancerresearch

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💥 Keytruda is a (forgotten?) Dutch invention. Did you know KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) HCP, currently the world's best selling drug - a checkpoint inhibitor for cancer therapy - was invented in the Netherlands and originates from Dutch biotech R&D infrastructure? 🧬 The early developments of Keytruda (pembrolizumab) took place at Organon Biosciences, which was based in Oss, the Netherlands. Organon was later acquired by Schering-Plough in 2007, and Schering-Plough itself merged with Merck (MSD). Key figures in the development, such as Dr. Gregory Carven, Dr. Hans van Eenennaam, and Dr. John Dulos, conducted significant portions of their research in the Netherlands before the project continued under the larger umbrella of Merck's global research network. 🤔 A nice anecdote; Merck even stopped the developments in 2010. But it was picked up again later after checkpoint inhibitor successes by competition. It was a long way. #cancer #cancervaccines #immunotherapy

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🔥 Proud to announce we’ve raised $5.3M to fuel our U.S. expansion and to develop digital therapeutics for lower urinary tract symptoms! 💪 With the continued support from White Fund SA, Capricorn Partners, and PMV, and the participation of a new investor, imec.istart future fund, we’re driving international growth with our existing Digital Diagnostics products and we will launch game-changing Digital Therapeutics to help millions struggling with frequent urination, incontinence and other urinary problems. 🌍 Over 160,000 patients in more than 20 countries have benefited from our innovative digital health solutions so far. 🎯 What’s next: Scaling in the US: increase adoption of our Homeflow and Diary Pod products in the United States. These solutions, including our at-home uroflowmetry system, will enable better management of conditions like Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) and Overactive Bladder (OAB). Digital Therapeutics: Minze Health is working on bringing Prescription Digital Therapeutics (PDTs) for lower urinary tract symptoms to the market, with an initial focus on Germany and France. By empowering patients to manage their symptoms remotely and efficiently, PDTs have the potential to transform the treatment landscape for urological disorders, offering an innovative approach that improves patient outcomes while reducing healthcare costs. Leadership Expansion: We are also welcoming Drew Moore as the new VP of Marketing & Sales. Drew’s 20+ years of experience in digital healthcare will be crucial in scaling the company in the US. Thanks for your support Katrin Geyskens, Antoine D'Hollander, Philippe Stas, Nathalie Van Bruaene, Ruth Janssens, Kris Vandenberk, Sven De Cleyn #DigitalHealth #Medtech #Urology #MinzeHealth #HealthcareInnovation #DigitalTherapeutics #HealthTech #UrinaryHealth

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💥 Immunotherapy replaces chemo. The (R)evolution is here. Two weeks ago I posted on the start of the (R)evolution in the treatments of cancer. The post below is a perfect illustration: immunotherapy given before (not after, as is standard practice) chemo turns out to be as effective. Chemo is not required in certain (many) cases. This BELLINI trial explores chemotherapy free immunotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Patients with high tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) received nivolumab with ipilimumab or relatlimab. Approximately 47% of patients receiving nivolumab/relatlimab achieved a pathologic complete response, compared to 33% with nivolumab/ipilimumab. This is a great result, a big applause for all investigators. #cancer #cancervaccines

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Breaking news for CAN-3110 in recurrent glioblastoma (recurrent high-grade glioma): ongoing survival > 12 months (12.2, 13.0, and 18.7 months, respectively) after repeated administration of CAN-3110 in half of the patients with brain tumor despite previous neurosurgical resection, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. #CandelTherapeutics #CAN-3110 #glioblastoma #glioma #braintumor #viral #immunotherapy #IOVC2024 $CADL

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This is radical transformation with AI: Potential of 95% reduction in Clinical Prep Time! Preprint now available of our first results generating patient summaries (https://lnkd.in/dd6Tss7j). UMCG and ETZ were the first hospitals to release this new function of ChatGPT into Epic EHR system. Our science team has processed the first results and has submitted these to The Lancet and is now available in preprint. Introducing this technology has the potential to reduce clinical prep time by an astonishing 95%!   This technological advancement is transforming healthcare, allowing physicians to focus more on patient care and less on administrative tasks. No more pyjama time prepping for clinics!!   Recent studies have explored the application of large language models (LLMs) in electronic health records (EHRs), particularly for complex and time-consuming tasks like summarizing medical charts. Conducted in a non-English clinical environment, this non-inferiority validation study compared physician-written summaries with those generated by LLMs, assessing quality, preference, and trust.   Key Findings: - Time Efficiency: Physicians spent an average of 7 minutes per summary, while the LLM required only 15.7 SECONDS. - Quality Metrics: The completeness and correctness of LLM-generated summaries were on par with those written by physicians. - Conciseness: Physician summaries were slightly more concise (3.5 vs. 3.0, p=0.001). - Trust and Preference: 57% of physicians preferred or rated LLM-generated summaries equally to their own. Trust in the summaries for clinical decision-making was high (77% vs. 81%, p=0.187).   The collaboration and innovation driving this project underscore the transformative impact of AI in healthcare. The seamless integration of ChatGPT into EPIC EHR can empower clinicians, enabling more effective patient care.   Want to learn more about how UMCG and Elisabeth-TweeSteden Ziekenhuis (ETZ) have integrated these systems, join our event on June 27th, some seats are still available! (https://lnkd.in/e84QySBH)   Are you an innovator in this space, keep a close watch on our socials, we are developing an Applied AI Accelerator lab to ensure that the innovation is accelerated! Prof. Dr. Nico L.U. Van Meeteren Pieter Jeekel Nederlandse AI Coalitie | NL AIC Edith van de Weg Health~Holland   #healthcareinnovation #artificialintelligence #clinicalefficiency #healthtech #futureofmedicine #aiinhealthcare #medicalinnovation   Fantastic work Rosanne Schoonbeek Jessica Workum Stephanie Klein Nagelvoort Schuit Job Doornberg Tom van der Laan Charlotte B. and all the team behind you!

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This is cornerstone document for #organonachip technologies, the kind that makes history pages! OOC companies are proliferating following the hype driven by some market players, but were not able to agree on standards so far. This document is changing it! We are still mainly talking about technical parameters rather than validation strategies, but it's without any doubt a step forward! I'm looking forward to a follow-on document where animal/human comparison data are shown, to really bring arguments for the reduction of animals in human health research! ————————— I am Davide - Founder & CEO of Lab4Paws . With my life science company I help #AnimalHealth scientists develop therapeutic & diagnostic solutions for companion animals and work to reduce animal testing for human drug development. Like my content? Click my name + follow + 🔔

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Planning to start a #biotech startup? Check out this seminar!

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Another big step for Cube Biotech . Every week we show you how efficient our 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗠𝗣™ 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 is and that we can express, solubilize and purify any membrane protein and of course perform any biophysical characterization. But our 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗠𝗣™ 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 can do even more . The technology is the entry into diagnostics and perhaps for more . Viruses change their envelope all the time to hide from our immune system, but they will never change their entry point into our cells. With the ability to create both the viral membrane protein and the corresponding human receptor with our 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗠𝗣™ 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 we have the tools in hand to fundamentally change diagnostics. What a great day for Cube biotech !!!!!!!

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Pharmaeconomica BV is thrilled to share progress on our groundbreaking project - Peptide Engineering for Obesity. Our goal is to design selective agonists for GPR10, a promising approach to treating obesity by targeting energy balance and appetite regulation. What sets our work apart? We’ve integrated cutting-edge AI-based homology modeling with traditional techniques that has allowed us to achieve unprecedented accuracy and reliability in modeling GPR10. This innovative integration of AI and advanced computational methods ensures that our research is at the forefront of science alongside paving the way for novel therapeutic approaches. We’re excited about the potential impact of our work and are confident that our unique approach will lead to significant breakthroughs in obesity treatment. To collaborate with us or to learn more about our work, please reach out to us at www.pharmaeconomica.com Follow Pharmaeconomica BV and stay tuned for more updates as we continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in this critical area of research! #ObesityResearch #AIinHealthcare #PeptideEngineering #GPCR #Innovation #Pharmaeconomica

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…from 2D to 3D, creating brain organoids with the #ClinoStar system #organoids Cytosens

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It’s great that the Netherlands continues to lead the way on genomics by opening access to comprehensive sequencing for lung cancer patients. In the fight against non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the Netherlands, the Zorginstituut Nederland (ZIN) is recommending reimbursement of broad molecular testing, including Whole Genome Sequencing, for patients with NSCLC in stages II-IV. Lung cancer affects approximately 13,000 new patients annually in the Netherlands. This decision is a significant step forward in ensuring that advanced cancer patients receive the most precise and effective treatments available and helps to make cutting-edge genomic medicine available to more patients, supporting equitable healthcare. https://lnkd.in/ecVqyShd

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In the era of #precisiononcology, biomarker-driven personalized cancer care remains inaccessible and often under-utilised in clinical practice. In a new publication by multi-stakeholder group led by Mark Lawler and Jaap Verweij at The Cancer Drug Development Forum (CDDF) highlighted the ongoing challenges for adoption of biomarker-driven care in oncology from the perspectives of regulators, payers and clinicians.   According to the publication: 91% of approvals by the FDA were for targeted drugs and biologics between 2000-2022 in the US and 70 cancer drugs with predictive biomarker tests were approved by EMA by end of 2019 in the EU. However, these regulatory approvals have rarely materialized as patient benefits in clinical practice.   As a community, we are starting to make progress in addressing some areas but much more needs to be done. Three of the biggest barriers that needs to be addressed #urgently to make point of care access a reality are: ➡ insufficient cooperation in assay development ➡ harmonization and validation of the assays ➡ lack of infrastructure for point of care implementation   Biomarker-driven decision-making has a potential for not only improving outcomes for people with cancer (by eliminating unnecessary patient harm) but also reducing healthcare costs by identifying the most cost-effective treatment pathways. Kudos to The Cancer Drug Development Forum (CDDF) for bringing the stakeholders across academia, industry, patient advocacy, regulatory bodies and clinical practice together to identify a path towards adoption. The need for purpose-driven #partnerships amongst all the stakeholders has never been greater to truly realize the dream of #personalizedcare in oncology.   Congratulations 👏 👏 to the representatives from the CDDF Industry Platform Claudia Popp from Roche, Jessica Vermeulen from Johnson & Johnson and Richard Vart from Eli Lilly and Company for bringing the industry voice to this very important discussion. Get access to the publication 👉 https://lnkd.in/eQ_GMTEs

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𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬! It’s a key philosophy for me personally, but it’s also something we live by at Avetix.   That’s exactly why we’re taking on an Ironman! 🏊‍♂️🚴‍♂️🏃‍♂️   At Avetix Group, we believe in 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 in every area of life—inside and outside of work.   For me, 2025 is shaping up to be a huge year. We’re dramatically expanding the biotech team (it’s already been incredible—you may have seen our numbers!), I’m running two marathons, a triathlon, and, of course, taking on the 𝐈𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐧.   For those who don’t know, an Ironman is no small feat: it’s a 2.4-𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐦, 𝐚 112-𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐧 (26.22 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬)—all in one go. That’s 140.6 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬, roughly the distance from Leeds to Luton! 😅   And I’m not doing this alone. Tom Weir is right there with me—not just at Avetix but also alongside me in these personal challenges. Without getting too sentimental, Tom and I have already accomplished a lot together, but there’s so much more ahead. 🙌   This challenge wouldn’t be possible without the 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 we have at Avetix, and the incredible team around me who are always pushing to better themselves. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲.   2025 is going to be an unforgettable year. 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞! 👀

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Pharmaeconomica BV is actively seeking collaborations to advance our cutting-edge work in drug discovery. Our team of experts is utilizing advanced AI and state-of-the-art computational chemistry to drive multiple promising projects. Here’s what we bring to the table: 1. Designing selective agonists and antagonists targeting novel receptors to address significant health challenges. 2. Exploiting sophisticated AI algorithms for the rapid identification and optimization of therapeutic candidates. 3. Utilizing cutting-edge computational approaches to enhance precision and efficacy in drug development. 4. A team of computational chemists and data scientists dedicated to transformative research. Our innovative approach has already led to a patent pending for a groundbreaking BuChE inhibitor, highlighting our platform's potential in addressing neurodegenerative disorders. Our ongoing projects showcase our capability and ambition to revolutionize the pharmaceutical landscape. We believe in the power of collaboration to unlock new therapeutic possibilities. Interested in partnering with us? Let’s explore potential opportunities to work together on transformative therapies. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/dPx7prkU #DrugDiscovery #Collaboration #PeptideEngineering #AIinPharma #Healthcare #CADD

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