The latest Business updates from the science industry
by Heather Hobbs
New CMO to Drive Clinical Development at Neuroprotection Biotech
Spanish biotech company Bionure, specialised in neuroprotection, has appointed Dr Lucia Septien as Chief Medical Offi cer, as the company is preparing for a phase 2 clinical study with its lead compound, BN201. Her wealth of experience in drug development and regulatory challenges will help the company fi nalise and deploy its clinical development plan and regulatory strategy and execute the upcoming phase 2 program.
Dr Septien has worked as a clinical doctor in neurology and psychiatry and held senior medical and regulatory roles with a focus on neuroscience at major pharmaceutical companies, including Pfi zer, Wyeth, GSK, Servier and Ipsen. She later moved to the biotech sector as chief medical offi cer at DBV Technologies.
“We warmly welcome Lucia to Bionure. With her sensitivity for patients, her solid experience in CNS drug development and her leadership skills, she will strengthen our team,” said Laurent Nguyen, CEO of Bionure. “We are convinced of her ability to successfully implement our neuroprotection projects.”
“In my practice as a medical doctor and drug developer, I encountered many patients made desperate by the progression of their neurodegenerative disease,” said Lucia Septien. “I am thrilled to join an enthusiastic team dedicated to changing the course of the current path towards disability.”
Barcelona-based Bionure recently completed its successful phase 1 study investigating the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of BN201, a fi rst-in-class compound that demonstrated neuroprotective activity and stimulation for remyelination. The company’s prime focus areas are Acute Optic Neuritis (AON) and Multiple Sclerosis (MS), for which there are still high unmet medical needs.
Dr Lucia Septien
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Partnership Working Towards Early Detection of PAH
Billy Boyle Owlstone Medical
Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a global leader in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), and Owlstone Medical, developers of Breath Biopsy® for applications in early disease detection and precision medicine are collaborating on research to discover and validate a breath-based test to help facilitate the early diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension and its subtypes. This development program will be solely funded by Actelion.
The collaboration will initially involve collecting breath exhaled Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from over 1,000 patients using Owlstone Medical’s proprietary sampling device, ReCIVA® from sites in the UK, US and other countries in the EU. These VOCs will be analysed by Owlstone Medical to identify those that are associated with PH, in order to develop biomarker signature(s) that can help facilitate earlier detection of the disease.
Verder Scientific to Acquire Microtrac and MicrotracBEL To be included in our next issue, send all
your News stories to:
heather@intlabmate.com
The Verder Group has entered into an agreement to acquire the American Microtrac, Inc and the Japanese MicrotracBEL Corporation from Nikkiso Co Ltd. Verder’s Scientifi c Division is herewith extending its product portfolio with product lines for particle characterisation by laser diffraction, dynamic light scattering and surface analysis.
Microtrac is a leading manufacturer and pioneer of instruments for particle analysis using laser diffraction and dynamic light scattering technologies. The instruments are used both for industrial applications and material research. Microtrac has two facilities in the USA located in Montgomeryville, PA and York, PA where Microtrac develops and manufactures all products.
MicrotracBEL is a leading manufacturer of instruments for surface area and porosity analysis applying adsorption technologies. The instruments are used in research intense fi elds for particle characterisation. MicrotracBEL has three facilities in Japan located in Osaka (headquarter), Tokyo and Nagoya.
Verder Scientifi c is a division of the Verder Group, a family owned group of companies already deeply engaged and well reputed in the global development, manufacturing and distribution of products and services of state-of-the-art scientifi c applications.
The Microtrac and MicrotracBEL portfolio complements the offering of Verder Scientifi c, by adding more than 150 employees and more than €35 million in revenues, creating a larger footprint within the particle characterisation market.
“With Microtrac and MicrotracBEL two technological leaders in particle and surface analysis are united under the roof of Verder Scientifi c. We look forward to welcoming the Microtrac and MicrotracBEL teams to our group. Both companies will have access to additional resources to push international expansion and extend its innovative product range,” explained Dr Jürgen Pankratz, CEO of Verder Scientifi c.
Paul Cloake, Managing Director of Microtrac, is confi dent that “the worldwide synergy effects will contribute to the positive development of our organisation and further accelerate our company’s growth. We are excited to join Verder Scientifi c with its fl at organisation and collaborative business culture to take our business to the next level.”
Dr Kazuyuki Nakai, Managing Director of MicrotracBEL adds: “By leveraging our combined capabilities, along with our commercial scale and customer relationships, we will strengthen our position as a trusted partner to our customers worldwide. The MicrotracBEL team welcomes the long-term engagement of Verder Scientifi c which will enable us to develop our products further.”
True to the Verder Group’s established acquisition strategy Microtrac and MicrotracBEL will not only maintain their headquarters in the US and Japan but these locations will also be used to support further expansion of the Verder Group. The existing Mictrotrac and MicrotracBEL management team will continue to be in charge.
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Hiroshi Nakamura, Executive Vice President of Nikkiso Co Ltd (left) and Andries Verder, owner of the Verder Group (right).
Billy Boyle, co-founder and CEO at Owlstone Medical, said: “Owlstone Medical was founded with the objective of improving the early diagnosis of disease in order to save lives through the application of Breath Biopsy. This strategic collaboration with Actelion, which is focused on improving the lives of those suffering from PH and PAH, represents a tremendous opportunity to do just that. This is particularly true in underdiagnosed areas such as PH, where early diagnosis is diffi cult and so screening has to be simple, reliable, and cost effective. We believe Breath Biopsy will deliver a program from discovery through to the launch of a test to the market, and this novel approach will make a real difference for the healthcare of patients suffering from PH.”
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