Fabentech has received Marketing Authorisation in France for Ricimed, an antidote designed to treat ricin poisoning, marking a significant milestone for the Lyon-based biopharmaceutical company and for European biodefence readiness.

Ricin is considered one of the most toxic naturally occurring substances and is recognised internationally as a priority biological threat.

Exposure can lead to death within hours or days, regardless of the route of entry, and until now no vaccine or specific treatment has been available. Ricimed offers a new therapeutic option for severe cases requiring rapid intervention, complementing supportive care.

The therapy uses polyclonal antibodies to target and neutralise ricin before irreversible damage occurs. Its approval follows evidence demonstrating its ability to counteract the toxin effectively, addressing a long-standing unmet medical need in the management of acute ricin intoxication.

The authorisation also marks a turning point in Fabentech’s commercial development. The company has already secured more than €20 million in multiyear contracts with several European countries and is preparing for the international rollout of Ricimed.

The programme has been supported by the French Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs, including the Directorate General of Armaments and the French Military Health Service.

Fabentech’s broader pipeline includes five active programmes focused on medical countermeasures, three of them dedicated to biodefence and two targeting emerging infectious diseases. In 2024, the company received €20 million in financing from the European Investment Bank under the HERA Invest programme to accelerate research, bioproduction and commercial expansion.

Sébastien Iva, Chief Executive Officer of Fabentech, said: “Ricin represents a critical challenge at the crossroads of security and public health. Its toxicity and potential use as a biological weapon make it a major threat, closely monitored by governments and public authorities worldwide.”

Oxford Drug Design has announced new in vivo results that further validate its emerging first-in-class oncology programme, marking a significant step forward for the Oxford-based AI drug discovery company.

Using its GenAI platform, the company has completed in vivo validation of a novel therapeutic mechanism designed to target multiple tumour types.

In a genetically engineered mouse model replicating the earliest mutational events in colorectal cancer, its lead compound showed statistically significant anti-tumour activity with efficacy comparable to rapamycin, a benchmark therapy, while demonstrating no detectable toxicity.

Rapamycin and related drugs are often limited by the emergence of KRAS mutations that render them ineffective.

Oxford Drug Design’s findings indicate a potential way to bypass this challenge. In advanced 3D tumour models derived from RAS-driven colorectal cancers, the company’s compound induced cancer cell death in scenarios where rapamycin failed. These models represent two of the most aggressive human colorectal cancer subtypes that carry KRAS mutations associated with poor clinical outcomes.

The work was conducted by the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute as part of an ongoing grantfunded collaboration. The lead molecules originate from Oxford Drug Design’s proprietary chemical scaffolds, refined through its in-house structural biology capabilities. This marks the company’s third first-in-class programme to achieve clear in vivo validation using its AI-driven platform.

Paul Finn, CSO of Oxford Drug Design, said: “We continue to develop this breakthrough programme successfully against major tumours, applying our integrated expertise in generative AI and target biology. A significant milestone has been achieved and our rapidly advancing efforts are now focused on bringing this potential first-in-class treatment into the clinic”.

Professor Sarah Blagden added: “These latest results of Oxford Drug Design are impressive.”