​CategoriesCategoriesEnglishHEALTH, INNOVATIONAstraZeneca to pay up to 1bn dollars for Belgian cell therapy firm17 March 2025 British pharma group AstraZeneca will pay up to 1 billion dollars based in Mont-Saint-Guibert in Walloon Brabant is developing immunotherapies to treat cancer AstraZeneca will make an initial payment of 425 million dollars upon completion of the deal expected in the second quarter of this year while payment of the remaining 575 million dollars depends on the further development of EsoBiotec's technology and market approvals It has created the so-called ENaBL platform which uses highly targeted lentiviruses to deliver genetic instructions to specific immune cells Cell therapy can thus be administered through an injection into a vein eliminating the need to take the cells out of the body to genetically modify them and then administer them again its technology can make cell therapy easier treatment can be delivered “in minutes” instead of “weeks” a treatment against multiple myeloma – a type of bone marrow cancer – is at the clinical stage of research the company also sees potential for treating autoimmune diseases both companies underline that “promising early clinical activity” has already been demonstrated the therapies will be optimised faster with AstraZeneca's support Current shareholders of EsoBiotec include Belgian pharma group UCB Walloon public investment companies Wallonie Entreprendre and SambrInvest and the private-public investment firm Investsud Illustration © BELGA PHOTO PRESSASSOCIATION Copy linkGet updates in your mailboxYour email addressSubscribeBy clicking "Subscribe" I confirm I have read and agree to the Privacy Policy rapid and high-quality information 24 hours a day from Belgium and abroad to all Belgian media not to mention entertainment and lifestyle our journalists and press photographers produce hundreds of photos and news stories Since the end of March 2022 English has been added as a language businesses and various organisations that need reliable information Belga News Agency also offers a comprehensive range of corporate services to meet all their communication needs www.belganewsagency.eu BioSenic provides third quarter 2024 Business Update BioSenic is actively seeking one or more new assets through a merger or acquisition process Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium, October 28, 2024, 7.00 am CEST – Regulated Information - BIOSENIC (Euronext Brussels and Paris: BIOS) the clinical stage company specializing in serious autoimmune and inflammatory diseases today provides its business update for the third quarter Outlook for the remainder of 2024 and 2025 BioSenic is a leading biotech company specializing in the development of clinical assets issued from its Medsenic’s arsenic trioxide (ATO) platform Key target indications for the autoimmune   platform include graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD) and now systemic sclerosis (SSc).Following the merger in October 2022 BioSenic combined the strategic positionings and strengths of Medsenic and Bone Therapeutics The merger specifically enables Medsenic/Biosenic to develop an entirely new arsenal of various anti-inflammatory and anti-autoimmune formulations using the immunomodulatory properties of ATO/oral ATO (OATO) BioSenic is based in the Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium. Further information is available at http://www.biosenic.com About the main Medsenic/BioSenic technology platform The ATO platform provides derived active products with immunomodulatory properties and fundamental effects on the activated cells of the immune system One direct application is its use in onco-immunology to treat GvHD (Graft-versus-Host Disease) in its chronic cGvHD is one of the most common and clinically significant complications affecting long-term survival of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) Medsenic has been successful in a phase 2 trial with its intravenous formulation which has orphan drug designation status by FDA and EMA The company is heading towards an international phase 3 confirmatory study Another selected target is moderate-to-severe forms of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) ATO has shown good safety and significant clinical efficacy on several affected organs (skin Systemic sclerosis is now full part of the clinical pipeline of Medsenic/BioSenic This serious chronic disease badly affects skin Preclinical studies on pertinent animal models are positive giving good grounds to launch a phase 2 clinical protocol using new immunomodulatory formulations of APIs recognized to be active on the immune system The company is currently focusing its present R&D and clinical activities on a selective accelerated development of its autoimmune platform BioSenic SAinvestorrelations@biosenic.com ​CategoriesCategoriesEnglishGENERAL, ECONOMYGoogle ordered to pay 76m euros to Belgian start-up in advertising dispute17 March 2025 Google has been ordered to pay a penalty of 76 million euros to Belgian start-up Proxistore following a legal battle over blocked advertising campaigns specialises in online advertising and developed a geolocation-based system in 2011 This technology allows companies to display highly localised adverts on international websites Proxistore secured a Belgian patent in 2016 and a European patent in 2017 Google blocked several of the company’s advertising campaigns for a total of 76 hours demanding that its services be reinstated and seeking 1 million euros in penalties for each hour the ads were blocked - amounting to a total claim of 76 million euros as it had done in a previous case in early February a judge at the Walloon Brabant commercial court ordered the seizure of the disputed amount from Google’s Irish bank account A letter from the court instructed that the funds be frozen in the Citibank account of Google Ireland Limited the company’s European headquarters in Dublin If Google fails to pay or appeal the ruling the 76 million euros will be transferred to Proxistore within 14 days California © AFP PHOTO / SUSANA BATES SUSANA BATES / AFP Copyright ©2025. 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Sportradar Group AG Feldlistr VAT identification number CHE-164.043.805 MWST Office: +41 71 517 72 00 Fax: +41 71 517 72 99 E-Mail: [email protected] Press Enquiries: [email protected] Sign up to our newsletter and never miss an update Late sprint by young Belgian too much for Senechal and Consonni Timo Kielich (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won with room to spare in Mont-Saint-Guibert on stage 3 and took the overall lead at Tour de Wallonie on Monday Florian Sénéchal (Soudal-QuickStep) grabbed second place just ahead of Simone Consonni (Cofidis) from the large bunch sprint From the start in Thuin there was an immediate attack by three rides Alex Colman (Flanders-Baloise) and Tord Gudmestad (Uno-X Pro Cycling) Only once did it appear there might be trouble for the trio as Gudmestad having to stop for a flat tyre with 122km to go They stayed away for 137km and were picked up by the peloton before entering the local circuit at Mont-Saint-Guibert Meens used his efforts to consolidate his white jersey lead in the mountain classification,  The final circuit of 25km saw Dries De Bondt (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Ande Holter (Uno-X) attack but the attempt to stay away lasted only 10km The sprint teams positioned at the front headed to the final kilometre and with under 500 metres to go Kielich made a massive acceleration to the front.  also moved into the points classification lead “It's really nice to win a stage in a ProSeries race The last kilometers made the final difficult We were still three riders at Alpecin-Deceuninck and one rider attacked we were pushing hard until the last corner to catch up with him I was able to continue my effort and I resisted until the line This result proves that I have my place in the team,” Kielich said saying that he did not expect to keep the orange leader’s jersey after the individual time trial on Tuesday Results powered by FirstCycling a sports marketing and public relations agency which managed projects for Tour de Georgia a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast) Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France) Information on the total number of voting rights and shares Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium, September 1, 2023, 7.00 am CEST – BIOSENIC (Euronext Brussels and Paris: BIOS) the innovative company addressing unmet medical needs in in the areas of innate immunity today announces an increase in the total number of voting rights and shares as a result of the issuance of new shares following the conversion of convertible bonds The following information is published in accordance with article 15 of the Belgian law of 2 May 2007 on the publication of major shareholdings in issuers whose shares are admitted to trading on regulated market BioSenic is a leading biotech company specializing in the development of clinical assets issued from: (i) the arsenic trioxide (ATO) platform (with key target indications including Graft-versus-Host Disease (GvHD) systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and systemic sclerosis (SSc)) and (ii) the development of innovative products to meet unmet needs in orthopedics Following a reverse merger in October 2022 BioSenic combined a strategic positionings and strengths to use an entirely new arsenal of various anti-inflammatory and anti-autoimmune formulations using the immunomodulatory properties of ATO/oral ATO (OATO) with its innovative cell therapy platform and strong IP for tissue repair protection BioSenic is based in the Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium. Further information is available at http://www.biosenic.com About BioSenic technology platformsBioSenic’s technology is based on two main platforms: has immunomodulatory properties with fundamental effects on the activated cells of the immune system The first effect is the increase of the cell oxidative stress in activated B T and other cells of the innate/adaptative immune system to the point they will enter a cell death program (apoptosis) and be eliminated The second effect is potent immunomodulatory properties on several cytokines involved in inflammatory or autoimmune cell pathways cGvHD is primarily mediated by the transplanted immune cells that can lead to severe multiorgan damage BioSenic has been successful in a Phase II trial with its intravenous formulation The Company is heading towards an international Phase III confirmatory study mucosae and the gastrointestinal tract) in an early Phase IIa study Systemic sclerosis is also part of the clinical pipeline of BioSenic and has no actual current effective treatment giving good grounds to launch a Phase II clinical protocol 2)   The allogeneic cell and gene therapy platform developed by BioSenic with differentiated bone marrow sourced Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs) which can be stored at the point of use in hospitals ALLOB represents a unique and proprietary approach to organ repair and specifically to bone regeneration by turning undifferentiated stromal cells from healthy donors into bone-forming cells on the site of injury ALLOB has recently been evaluated in a randomized placebo-controlled Phase IIb study in patients with high-risk tibial fractures after a successful first safety and efficacy study (Phase 1/2a) on fractured long bones BioSenic decided to suspend its interventional trial on fracture healing using ALLOB following negative results obtained for the primary endpoint in this exploratory Phase IIb clinical trial interpreted as a failure of a too early cell injection BioSenic is now focusing on determining the best time to optimise the efficacy of ALLOB (choice between early or late treatment).Note: Biosenic has reevaluated a previous important and years-long clinical development program after the clinical identification of distinct OA subtypes BioSenic delivered a new post-hoc analysis of its Phase III JTA-004 trial on knee OA demonstrating positive action on the most severely affected patient subpopulation This new post-hoc analysis drastically changes the therapeutic profile of the combined components and allows for better patient targeting in future clinical developments off-the-shelf enhanced viscosupplement to treat knee osteoarthritis (OA) made of a unique combination of mammalian plasma proteins derivatives of hyaluronic acid (a natural component of synovial fluid in the knee) and a third active component JTA or some derivatives are intended to provide effective lubrication and protection to the cartilage of the arthritic joint and to alleviate osteoarthritic (OA) pain and inflammation will nevertheless focus its present R&D and clinical activities on a selective accelerated development of its autoimmune (ATO/OATO) platform Chief Executive OfficerTel: +33 (0)671 73 31 59investorrelations@biosenic.com International Media Enquiries:IB CommunicationsNeil Hunter / Michelle BoxallTel: +44 (0)20 8943 4685neil.hunter@ibcomms.agency / michelle@ibcomms.agency For French Investor Enquiries:Seitosei ActifinGhislaine GasparettoTel: +33 (0)1 56 88 11 22ggasparetto@actifin.fr beliefs and opinions in this press release are forward-looking the Company directors’ current expectations and projections about future events forward-looking statements involve a number of risks uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements uncertainties and assumptions could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein performance or results to differ significantly from any anticipated development Forward looking statements contained in this press release regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release as a result of any change in expectations or any change in events assumptions or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based Neither the Company nor its advisers or representatives nor any of its subsidiary undertakings or any such person’s officers or employees guarantees that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does either accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date of this press release Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium, September 1, 2023, 7.00 am CEST – BIOSENIC (Euronext Brussels and Paris: BIOS) BioSenic is based in the Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium. Further information is available at http://www.biosenic.com Note: Biosenic has reevaluated a previous important and years-long clinical development program UK pharma group acquires Belgium’s EsoBiotec as it announces EU has approved Imfinzi lung cancer drug AstraZeneca has struck a $1bn (£773m) deal to buy a Belgian biotech company that specialises in cancer immunotherapies, the latest in a string of acquisitions that also yielded positive results for a late-stage rare disease drug on Monday. EsoBiotec, a small privately held firm, develops in-vivo CAR-T cell therapies that empower the immune system to attack cancers, and could offer many more patients access to cell therapy treatments, provided in minutes rather than weeks. The deal marks the latest acquisition by AstraZeneca, which is Britain’s biggest listed company valued at £184bn, as the pharmaceutical group continues to expand its global operations. Its share price fell by 1.2% on Monday afternoon. Read moreEsoBiotec’s approach uses highly targeted lentiviruses to deliver genetic instructions to specific immune cells which program them to recognise and destroy tumour cells for cancer treatment or tackle autoreactive cells (that target the body’s own tissues or cells) for potential use in autoimmune diseases This means cell therapies can be given through a simple injection off-the-shelf therapies” that engineer immune cells within the patient’s body Effectively it turns the patient into a factory,” he said He founded the business four years ago after serving as chief operating officer of the Belgian biotech company Celyad Oncology and working for the US chemical producer Dow Corning having begun his career as a senior scientist at the US drugmaker Johnson & Johnson which is based in Mont-Saint-Guibert in Walloon Brabant is backed by Benelux investment groups Thuja Capital The company’s approach is much quicker and less complicated than traditional cell therapies and then put back into the patient as a medicine after immune cell depletion This can take three to five weeks and costs $450,000 to $500,00 for each treatment the executive vice-president of oncology research and development at AstraZeneca said the company had been “looking for things out of the ordinary” and negotiated the deal quickly after seeing EsoBiotec present data from its first patient at JP Morgan’s healthcare conference in San Francisco in mid-January the Belgian group launched a clinical trial for its lead product for multiple myeloma Galbraith added: “We believe it has the potential to transform cell therapy and will enable us to scale these innovative treatments so that many more patients around the world can access them.” She said only 10% to 20% of people who could benefit from cell therapy can obtain it at the moment because clinics in many countries are not set up for the weeks-long process whereas EsoBiotec’s technology means treatments can be given as a simple infusion “at a fraction” of the cost of traditional cures it could ease the pressure on health systems including the NHS AstraZeneca, which fended off a hostile £69bn takeover approach from the US drugmaker Pfizer in 2014 will pay $425m initially for the Belgian drug developer and up to $575m based on development and regulatory milestones Free daily newsletterGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning European pharmaceuticals analyst at Barclays described the latest deal as a “sensible bolt-on in cell therapy with preliminary but promising data on seven patients” It builds on other investments, and means AstraZeneca has seven cell therapy programmes in its pipeline, including one for multiple myeloma acquired with China’s Gracell Biotechnologies in a $1.2bn deal in late 2023 AstraZeneca’s biggest deal was the $39bn acquisition of the US rare disease drug developer Alexion in 2020 but it was criticised for paying a high price who runs the division and is AstraZeneca’s chief strategy officer defended the deal as a “fantastic acquisition” last month when the company took a $753m hit for scrapping one of the Alexion drugs while two other medicines from the acquisition have also been abandoned Britain’s biggest pharmaceutical company said on Monday that its Imfinzi treatment had been approved in the EU as the first and only immunotherapy for patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer whose disease has not progressed after platinum-based chemoradiation therapy AstraZeneca also announced that a drug for a rare endocrine disease which can lead to bone density loss and osteoporosis had met its goal of normalising calcium levels in the blood after 24 weeks and the trial continues as planned to 52 weeks The company acquired the medicine along with the French rare disease specialist Amolyt Pharma in a deal worth more than $1bn a year ago The European Commission has closed its investigation into the tax treatment of Renewi's activities at a landfill in the Belgian region of Wallonia, the Dutch-English waste management company announced earlier this month. The resolution of the in-depth probe, which was launched in February 2020 would allow Renewi to release a €15m provision it had taken in the 2020 financial year in connection with the case The Commission had been investigating a complaint that the use of some waste materials at the Mont-Saint-Guibert landfill to contour the site for closure and rehabilitation was being incorrectly classified as a recovery activity Because recovered waste was subject to a more favourable tax rate than waste undergoing disposal concerns were raised that any inappropriate waste classification might have given the waste management company a "selective advantage over its competitors" Renewi said that over the course of the past two years both it and the Belgian Walloon Region had "provided extensive information to the European Commission demonstrating that all materials used in the landfill rehabilitation were appropriate and that there was no selectivity in the Walloon Region’s treatment of Renewi." 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You can find more information on the individual external services in our privacy policy Publication relating to transparency notifications 10:30 pm CET / 4:30 pm ET – In accordance with article 14 of the Act of 2 May 2007 on the disclosure of large shareholdings Nyxoah SA (Euronext Brussels/Nasdaq: NYXH) announces that it received a transparency notification as detailed below Nyxoah received a transparency notification from ResMed Inc following the passive crossing of a threshold representing 4.62% of the total number of voting rights on October 9 This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Air Belgium will increase its volume of flights to Martinique and the islands of Guadeloupe Air Belgium had already extended its two weekly flights to the French Antilles beyond the winter season by expanding its flight schedule throughout the summer of 2020 up to 5 September Given the ongoing and growing strong interest in the new destinations from Brussels Charleroi airport the airline confirms that tickets for the 2020 winter season will go on sale on Monday based on a modified schedule that includes dividing the flights Flights to Fort-de-France and Pointe-à-Pitre will resume for the All Saints Day holidays on 31 October 2020 the current triangular flights will make way for two weekly direct return flights to Fort-de-France on Wednesdays and Saturdays and two weekly direct return flights to Pointe-à-Pitre on Tuesdays and Fridays Inter-airline agreements will strengthen and complement connection possibilities for passengers Schedule of flights to the French Antilles from 20 November 2020: the market size for destinations in the Antilles has more than doubled since Air Belgium made the announcement The launch of these connections from Brussels Charleroi airport enables the Belgian public to discover the French Antilles which had previously not been served from Belgium and were difficult to access Direct and convenient road connections also allow travellers from Northern France Western Germany and Luxemburg to reach Brussels Charleroi airport by car or a dedicated shuttle bus and to enjoy the airline’s direct flights Air Belgium offers a complete and attentive on-board service at attractive rates a minimum 30 kg hold baggage allowance and meals across all classes Passengers can choose from three service classes at the following rates:  Air Belgium continues to develop its activities and will soon be announcing its new destination Air Belgium SA is a Belgian company headquartered at Mont-Saint-Guibert in the Walloon Brabant province of Belgium Its mission is to offer low-cost long-haul flights for business and leisure travellers alike Air Belgium’s main operational base is at Brussels Charleroi airport Three new direct routes available from Brussels South Charleroi Airport next summer: Salerno – Amalfi Coast (Italy) Brussels South Charleroi Airport gets into the winter spirit: With direct flights to 100 destinations there’s something for everyone Wizz Air announces a new route to Chișinău (Moldova) from Brussels South Charleroi Airport starting on 19 December 2024 BRUSSELS — A six-year-old Belgian boy drowned on Wednesday afternoon in a man-made river at the funfair Parc Astérix near Paris The child was among a group of 100 children on a holiday programme from Mont-Saint-Guibert in Wallonian Brabant The family has been informed of the boy’s death Senlis public prosecutor Thierry Pocquet du Haut Jussé said the boy was with a group of friends and supervisors in a boat propelled by rapids waterfalls and geysers in the attraction ‘La Descente du Styx’ The boy is alleged to have stood up too early as the boat reached the end point Another boat gently collided with the boy’s boat but he’d disappeared in the artificial waves of the attraction The boy’s body was then taken to the Creil hospital The prosecution has closed the attraction down to await the results of an investigation The Mont-Saint-Guilbert mayor and the co-ordinator of the municipal holiday programme said all regulations were followed They stressed that there was there were two registered supervisors with the group of 22 children The group could legally have had 24 children The mayor and co-ordinator have not raised questions about the safety of the Parc Astérix attraction The management of the park has reacted with shock and expressed its condolences to the boy’s family