EuroBiotech:​​ ​​More​​ ​​Articles​​ ​​of​​ ​​Note

> Bicycle Therapeutics lured Nicholas Keen away from Novartis. Keen, the former head of oncology research at Novartis’ Cambridge, Massachusetts, site, will work as CSO alongside two other executives who swapped life at a Big Pharma for a chance to build something at Bicycle. The British biotech closed out 2016 by penning a pact with AstraZeneca that could be worth up to $1 billion. Release

> Enterome began its first clinical trial. The French microbiome player is trialling EB8018 in healthy volunteers with a view to showing the safety and tolerability of the Crohn’s disease candidate. Enterome thinks EB8018, a small molecule, can prevent local cytokine production in patients with Crohn’s disease by blocking FimH. Release

> Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Novo Seeds led a €9 million Series A in HepaRegeniX. The German liver disease specialist will use the money to move kinase inhibitors toward the clinic. HepaRegeniX is aiming to have an acute liver failure candidate in human testing in 2019, and also sees its approach as potentially yielding a NASH program. Release

> A phase 2 trial of Ogeda’s treatment for menopausal hot flashes met its primary endpoints. The trial linked the drug, tachykinin NK3 receptor antagonist fezolinetant, to reductions in the severity and frequency of hot flashes as compared to placebo. Ogeda plans to start a phase 2b trial of the drug in the second half of the year. Release

> Bavarian Nordic said data from its phase 3 Prostvac trial are due in the second half of the year. The readout is later than expected as the rate of monthly events has fallen, pushing back the date on which the trial is expected to hit the target needed to run the analysis. Release

> AiCuris Anti-infective Cures started a clinical trial of its beta-lactam antibiotic. The first stage of the study will look at the safety of the candidate in 48 healthy volunteers. AiCuris thinks the asset could play a role in treating complicated urinary tract and intra-abdominal infections. Release