Het Leidse biotechbedrijf Pharming presenteerde vorige week mooie cijfers over het eerste kwartaal van 2019. De productomzet groeide ten opzichte van Q1 2018 met bijna 20% tot € 35,2 miljoen. Het aantal productverkopen in de VS steeg met 21% tot € 33,7 miljoen, vergelijkbaar met het niveau van het laatste kwartaal van 2018. Ook de nettowinst steeg met 23% tot € 6,7 miljoen. De operationele winst steeg met bijna 50%. Pharming CEO Sijmen de Vries zegt verheugd te zijn met de sterke resultaten. De omzet- en winstprestaties van Pharming bevestigen volgens hem het succes van de marktstrategie voor RUCONEST.

Het hele persbericht lees je hier.

Alveron Pharma, a newly incorporated company established by Okklo Life Sciences BV and Sanquinnovate (part of Sanquin), is pleased to announce the closing of a EUR 6.5M Series A financing round led by Thuja together with Waterman Ventures and Oost NL. This investment allows Alveron Pharma to select a lead compound, conduct non-clinical studies, and complete a first clinical study to demonstrate safety and obtain a first clinical readout.

Alveron Pharma will focus on a unique class of cyclodextrin-based drugs, that have the ability to promote blood coagulation without inducing it in the absence of bleeding. Alveron’s first target is to reverse the effects of anticoagulants. Anticoagulants (“blood thinners”) are widely prescribed to patients with increased thromboembolic risk. While effective in preventing thrombosis, these drugs also inhibit blood coagulation when this is needed urgently, e.g. in patients who suffer a major bleed or in case of emergency surgery. Anticoagulant related bleedings are not uncommon, and may be serious, and difficult to treat since no or only selective reversal agents are available. Alveron’s cyclodextrins are unique in the sense that they restore coagulation independent of the type of anticoagulant used. Sales of selective reversal agents have been estimated at around $2 billion per annum.

Ben Nichols, CEO of Alveron Pharma: “There is a clear unmet clinical need for a universal anti-coagulant reversal agent, and the early pre-clinical data for Alveron’s unique cyclodextrin compounds are compelling. Having recently taken a new class of coagulant into clinical trials, I am thrilled to be joining the founders of this business,  Stephan Peters (who conceived the original idea, CSO) and Alex Zwiers (COO), with their expertise on cyclodextrins, and coagulation expert at Sanquin, Joost Meijers  (Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board). Alex was also involved in the development of the world’s first cyclodextrin-based medicine, Bridion®.”

“Multiple factors come together in this investment that are highly attractive”, says Michel Briejer of Thuja, who led this transaction. “A highly experienced and knowledgeable team, a promising set of drug leads, and a reputable partner in the field of blood, Sanquin. We are extremely pleased to be part of this venture and are confident that Alveron will create success for doctors and patients alike.”

Two Dutch companies – DDL, a state-of-the-art laboratory specializing in molecular diagnostic testing and assay development and ENPICOM, an innovative immunomics data analysis company – Today announced that they have started a collaboration to jointly deliver immune repertoire sequencing and analysis service to organizations studying immune system related diseases or developing drugs influencing this system.

Immune repertoire sequencing is a powerful way to analyze hundreds of thousands to millions of T or B cell receptors swiftly and in a cost-effective way. This new technology is rapidly gaining interest from researchers and physicians who want to unravel the adaptive immune responses in areas like basic and translational immunology, immuno-oncology, autoimmune disorders, inflammatory and infectious diseases, vaccine research and transplantation. From target discovery to patient stratification in clinical trials with immunotherapies, repertoire sequencing is becoming an important addition to accelerate the different drug development processes and make it more cost-effective.

“DDL is very pleased to start this partnership with ENPICOM in this new and challenging field of immunomics”, says Jan Lindeman, DDL’s Chief Executive Officer. “It further expands DDL’s portfolio of tailor-made molecular diagnostic services for our (bio)pharmaceutical customers. ENPICOM’s expertise and know-how are highly complementary to DDL’s expertise and we are confident that this partnership will offer a unique opportunity to accelerate immunotherapy discovery and development.”

Jos Lunenberg, ENPICOM’s Chief Executive Officer comments: “Last month we launched our IGX platform to manage, store, analyze, visualize and interpret immune repertoire sequencing data from T and B cell receptors. Now we are also able to support organizations lacking the specific expertise or capabilities to perform repertoire sequencing with our smart new analysis and visualization methods. In DDL we have found a highly respected business partner with an excellent track record as molecular diagnostic testing laboratory for the biopharmaceutical industry. I’m very pleased to be able to go public with this partnership today.” He continues: “There are a few other kits and services for this specific form of targeted sequencing available in the market, but none or very limited data analysis is included. Clonality analysis is just a first step to bridge the existing gap between producing raw sequencing data and obtaining important insights from the data. So, in essence, we start where others stop.”

SMS-oncology, a full service CRO solely dedicated to oncology, today announces the expansion of its management team by appointing Stephan Winckels MD PhD as Chief Medical Officer (CMO).

Dr. Winckels carries over ten years of experience in cancer research and pharmaceutical industry in both big pharma as well as CROs. Trained as an MD, Dr. Winckels obtained his PhD in Medical Physiology. From 2008 onward, Stephan decided to dedicate his career to oncology and started as a resident in pathology at University Medical Center Utrecht. In 2009, Stephan joined the pharmaceutical industry following Wyeth (now Pfizer), Boehringer Ingelheim and the CRO Julius Clinical in which he fulfilled roles as a medical monitor, project manager, protocol author, safety physician, proposal writer and medical lead, focusing on phase I-III oncology studies. Throughout his career, he gained strong experience in clinical oncology drug development and operational insights.

Dr. Winckels joined SMS-oncology three years ago to head the department of Medical Affairs. Today’s promotion is the evaluation of Dr. Winckels demonstrated results, experience and leadership, which benefited the company’s strong performance.

Ms Philine van den Tol, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at SMS-oncology: “We are pleased to have Stephan join our executive team. His strategic planning and decision-making capabilities combined with extensive industry knowledge is an excellent addition to the company’s growth and development plan. The management team is now further completed and I am confident to say that we possess the right mix of competencies to achieve SMS-oncology’s aim to become the leading oncology CRO in the world.”

Dr. Winckels is delighted to strengthen the management team in his new position as CMO and further contribute to the advancement of medical oncology: “In the upcoming years big data may be the turning point for the clinical trial industry. To ensure effective implementation and to bypass any loss or valuable information we are turning our focus to smart, adaptive and flexible study designs. By integrating our expertise with the newest advances in oncology, we can ensure our current and future clients a successful transition from an oncological compound to meaningful trial results.”

The management team now consists of: Ms. Philine van den Tol (CEO), Mr. Raymond Hoffmans PhD (CBDO), Ms. Eveline Verheijen (COO), Mr. Stephan Winckels MD, PhD (CMO), and Mr. René de Keijzer (CFO).

Source: SMS-oncology