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VALANX Biotech (VALANX), a biotechnology company developing site-selectable and site-specific protein binding technologies, today announced that it has secured €3 million to advance its lead antibody drug conjugate (ADC) program. The round includes new investors Fournier-Majoie Foundation and Fujifilm Corporation, joining existing VC investors xista Science Ventures, tecnet equity, SOSV, and angel investors Urs Spitz and SkyGene. The funding will enable preclinical development of VLX-ADC-001, an ADC targeting LIV-1 for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (mTNBC), with candidate selection scheduled for June 2026, as well as support GMP compliance and partnership activities for the company’s GoldenSite™ binding platform. As part of…

Researchers may have identified a promising new approach to diagnosing and treating major depression in its early stages, which could improve the chances of recovery for many patients. Scientists from the University of Queensland teamed up with researchers from the University of Minnesota to examine levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), known as the “energy currency” molecule, in the brains and blood cells of young people with depression. Associate Professor Susanna Tye from the UQ Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) said the findings marked the first time researchers had detected patterns of these fatigue-related molecules in both the brain and bloodstream of…

Combat Medical (Combat), a medical device company optimizing the delivery and efficacy of cancer drugs, today announced that it has raised £2.6 million in the first round of Series A funding to advance HIVEC®, a hyperthermic intravesical chemotherapy treatment, through Phase 3 clinical trials and towards FDA registration. The round was led by T&J Meyer Family Foundation and included investments from Varia Ventures, NW Angel Fund, and non-institutional investors family offices and individuals. The funds will be used to further fund HIVEC HEAT, a pivotal FDA-registered trial currently underway to investigate the efficacy of the company’s HIVEC treatment for BCG-nonresponsive…

ELRIG, a volunteer-led non-profit organization dedicated to the global drug discovery community, today announced the keynote speakers for Advances in Cell-based Screening 2026, to be held at AstraZeneca in Gothenburg, Sweden, May 6-7. Professor Hazel Screen (Queen Mary University of London, QMUL) and Dr Dave Powell (Relation Therapeutics) will deliver keynote addresses during the free-to-attend event, which aims to unite scientists from across pharma, biotech, academia and the supplier ecosystem to discuss what it takes to engineer post-animal drug discovery pipelines. Drug discovery is moving toward a post-animal era with the need for more relevant human biology, scalable experiments, and…

Get the health information and medications you need every weekday with STAT’s free newsletter Morning Rounds. Sign up here. good morning. If you find yourself clicking on links in this newsletter relatively often, please consider subscribing by clicking on this link. Great spring discounts apply. Thank you very much. Doctors who supported the telemedicine GLP-1 boom In recent months, the FDA has focused on telemedicine companies and issued warnings about their marketing practices for compounded weight loss drugs. But it’s worth remembering that companies don’t actually prescribe these drugs directly. It is performed by a doctor from an affiliated medical…

The rare disease field is undergoing a period of great upheaval, caught between a fickle FDA and competition for investor attention from mainstream blockbusters such as obesity drugs. However, despite the “rough waters”, global sales of orphan drugs are expected to increase and exceed $400 billion by 2032, according to Evaluate’s new 2026 Orphan Drug Report. Rare disease drugs generate a whopping $409 billion in annual revenue, representing more than 21% of global prescription drug sales of approximately $1.9 trillion by 2032, according to a new report released Thursday, March 12. This is up from 15% in 2022. While the…

Office layout can shape workplace relationships, with traditional open-plan designs increasing the risk of bullying, while more flexible activity-based spaces appear to avoid the same problems, according to a major national study. Study: Overt workplace bullying: The risks associated with working in an open office. Image credit: wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock.com Open offices have become popular due to their perceived benefits, but they can also reduce employee happiness by increasing stress. Recent reports published in magazines occupational health Employees working in a traditional open office Based on statistical models from a national survey of Swedish workers, the odds of being bullied at work…

Our tendency to favor immediate rewards over long-term goals is partially rooted in our DNA, according to a recent study published in the journal Science. American Journal of Human Biology. The findings suggest that these genetic differences are also related to major milestones in life, such as how much education a person completes and when they start a family. Ultimately, this study shows that both biology and the environment shape our approach to future planning. Psychology and evolutionary biology study how humans allocate their time and energy throughout their lives. This concept is known as life history theory. Evolutionary biologists…

At a nuclear summit near Paris earlier this week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the transition away from nuclear energy, which some EU countries are undertaking, was a “strategic mistake”. Nuclear power is a “reliable, affordable and low-emissions source of electricity,” she said. She announced new EU funding for nuclear power plants. Von der Leyen’s words echoed in Germany, which switched off its last nuclear reactor in 2023. Like her daughter, von der Leyen’s father Ernst Albrecht, a member of Germany’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), served as head of Lower Saxony’s state government in the 1970s…

Scientists at Curtin University have developed a new technique to explore the deep history of Australia’s landscapes. This approach can help researchers understand how the environment responds to geological activity and climate change, while also potentially providing clues about where valuable mineral deposits are located. This international research team was led by the Curtin Mineral Systems Timescale Group at the Faculty of Earth and Planetary Sciences, in collaboration with collaborators from the Universities of Göttingen and Cologne. Scientists examined microscopic zircon crystals collected from ancient beach sand. Zircon is the most durable mineral found on Earth. Because zircon particles can…