Category: Timeline Stories
All timeline stories.
2006: Revolution in HIV treatment. First EMA approval for single tablet regimen taken once a day
Nominated by: Gilead Sciences Organisation in nomination: Gilead Sciences Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has played an instrumental role in the treatment of HIV, increasing the life..Read More
2019: Large scale microbial production of next generation, zero-calorie, non-artificial EVERSWEET™ Stevia sweetener
Nominated by: DSM Organisation in nomination: DSM, Cargill Most people consume too many calories that originate from sugar, increasing the risk of being overweight or..Read More
1996: Understanding how the immune system recognises virus-infected cells. Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine
Nominated by: Swiss Biotech Association Organisations in nomination: Rolf M Zinkernagel, Professor of Experimental Immunology at the University of Zurich Viruses infect host cells and reproduce inside..Read More
Improved food safety through asparaginase produced via genetically modified micro-organisms: reduced acrylamide in cooked food
Nominated by: DSM Organisation in nomination: DSM and Novozymes Acrylamide can arise during the cooking process of foods via reaction of the amino..Read More
It’s Coming…
2017: First Radioligand therapy (RLT) approved in Europe for the treatment of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours – Lutathera®
Nominated by: Novartis Organisations in nomination: Novartis Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours are a rare type of cancer that can form in the pancreas or in other..Read More
2014: First Industrial Fermentation-derived perfume ingredient Clearwood®
Nominated by: Scienceindustries Switzerland Organisation in nomination: Firmenich Terpenes are complex natural compounds and important raw materials for the fragrance & flavour and the pharmaceutical..Read More
2007: Landmark European publication behind ‘Knowledge Based Bioeconomy’ in Europe
Nominated by: BIO Deutschland Under the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union, 42 experts from academia and industry across 13 countries were..Read More
2007: First production of spider silk through biotechnology
Nominated by: BIO Deutschland Organisation in nomination: AMSilk Spider silk has long been hailed for its properties, the ultimate biomaterial, however production from spiders directly..Read More
2003: Human Genome Project completion
Nominated by: Voisin Consulting Life Sciences Launched in 1990, the Human Genome project was an unprecedented international scientific research project with the primary goal to..Read More
1996: First European Commission-approved product following European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA, later EMA) recommendation
Nominated by: Voisin Consulting Life Sciences Organisation in nomination: European Commission 1996 saw the first legal/regulatory framework for medicinal products in the European Union. GONAL-f..Read More
2014: Checkpoint inhibitor innovation as key part of cancer immunotherapy
Nominated by: UK BioIndustry Association Organisation in nomination: LifeArc (From 2004) US Biotech company Organon’s scientists focused on the discovery of antibodies as therapeutics..Read More
2016: First curative gene therapy for ADA-SCID approved for infants
Nominated by: Federchimica Assobiotec Organisation in nomination: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), currently moved to Orchard Therapeutics, Telethon Foundation (Telethon), l’IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital (SRH) Italy and Molecular Medicine..Read More
1996: Introduction of law in Italy for early access to drugs (648/1996) to support rare disease patients
Nominated by: Federchimica Assobiotec Organisation in nomination: Government of Italy Early access programmes for novel medicines can benefit patients suffering from serious illnesses for which..Read More
2006: Globally accessible Gene Sequencing Technology
Nominated by: UK BioIndustry Association Organisation in nomination: Solexa: Professor Sir Shankar Balasubramanian and Professor Sir David Klenerman Following establishment of UK SME Solexa in 1997, Professor..Read More
1997: First clinical trial with D2E7 (Humira), the first fully human monoclonal antibody approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Nominated by: BIO Deutschland Organisations in nomination: BASF, Abbott, AbbVie, Cambridge Antibody Technology (now MedImmune) Diseases linked to the immune system, such as rheumatoid arthritis were..Read More
1999: Messenger RNA (mRNA) patented in relation to therapeutic applications
Nominated by: Nominees: Dr Ingmar Hoerr, co-founder CureVac Professor Katalin Karikó, University of Pennsylvania and BioNTech The existence of mRNA was hypothesized early in the..Read More
2000: Vitamin B2 shifts from chemical synthesis to exclusive biotechnological production in less than 15 years
Nominated by: DSM, BASF Organisation in nomination: DSM, BASF Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), is a water-soluble compound, which can be synthesized by plants and microorganisms..Read More
2001: First enzyme replacement therapy for to treat Fabry disease approved in the European Union, plus world’s largest database of Fabry disease patients
Nominated by: Sanofi Organisation in nomination: Sanofi Genzyme Fabry disease (also Anderson–Fabry) disease, is a rare and heritable genetic disorder. The genetic fault behind the..Read More
CRISPR-Cas genome editing technology
Nominated by: Spanish Bioindustry Association – AseBio, Lithianian Biotechnology Association People in nomination: Professor Francisco Martinez Mojica, Department of Physiology, Genetics and Microbiology, University..Read More
2003: Targeting regulation of protein production for new medicines
Nominated by: PTC Therapeutics Organisation in nomination: PTC Therapeutics Diseases associated with protein disorders, such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and spinal muscular atrophy have long..Read More
It’s coming…
2005: Europe’s largest medicines biotechnology facilities open: Pfizer Grange Castle, Dublin
Nominated by: Pfizer Organisations in nomination: Pfizer The Pfizer Grange Castle Biotechnology facility commenced construction in 2000 and was licensed and officially opened in 2005. ..Read More
2007: Trabectedin (ET-743, Yondelis®) first anti-cancer drug from marine origins approved in Europe
Nominated by: Spanish Bioindustry Association – AseBio Organisation in nomination: Pharmamar (Spain) Marine environments are considered more biologically diverse..Read More
It’s coming…
It’s coming…
It’s coming…
2018: First CAR T cell therapy approved in the US for adult patients with DLBCL and amongst the first approved in Europe
Nominated by: Kite (a Gilead Company) Organisations in nomination: Kite (a Gilead Company) Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) can occur at any age, and accounts for..Read More
2012: Collaborative patient partnership delivers first treatment approved in Europe for genetic disease, Alkaptonuria (AKU)
Nominated by: Sobi, Swedish Orphan Biovitrum Organisations in nomination: DevelopAKUre Consortium AKU is a serious, multi-system disorder affecting approximately 1 in 250,000 people, first described..Read More
2013: First approved cancer treatment using antibody glycosylation (glycoMAb) – Gazyvaro
Nominated by: Swiss Biotech Association Organisations in nomination: Glycart Biotechnology (now Roche Glycart AG) Pioneer in antibody glycosylation (glycoMAb) technology increasing immune-mediated killing of cancer..Read More
2000: Provitamin A enriched “Golden Rice” to combat vitamin A deficiency and blindness
Nominated by: Scienceindustries Switzerland Organisation in nomination: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, University of Freiburg In 2000, the research teams of Ingo Potrykus (Swiss..Read More
2020: First large scale application of AI to protein structure determination: AlfaFold
Nominated by: UK BioIndustry Association Organisation in nomination: DeepMind An artificial intelligence (AI) network developed by Google AI offshoot DeepMind made a gargantuan leap in..Read More
2018: Autologous CAR-T cell therapy Kymriah – unique to each patient. First EC approval for two indications (pALL and DLBCL)
Nominated by: Novartis Organisations in nomination: Novartis Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is a type of cancer that affects white blood cells. It progresses quickly and..Read More
2018: European “1+ Million Genomes” Initiative launched
Nominated by: Voisin Consulting Life Sciences The European “1+ Million Genomes” Initiative builds from the achievements of the Human Genome Project and aims to have..Read More
2020: First vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 to receive conditional marketing authorization from the European Medicines Agency: COMIRNATY® (BNT162b2/Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine)
Nominated by: Pfizer Organisations in nomination: Pfizer, BioNTech In March 2020, the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic. At “lightspeed,” Pfizer collaborated with BioNTech,..Read More
2016: World’s first industrial scale plant for production of butanediol (1,4 BDO) from renewable materials via biosynthesis (fermentation from micro-organisms)
Nominated by: Federchimica Assobiotec Organisation in nomination: Novamont (Italy) 1,4, Butanediol is a chemical intermediate used for a wide range of applications, including industrial processes..Read More