BIO-Europe Spring 2026 brought together more than 3,700 innovators in the life sciences industry all under the same roof. Another biotech at BIO-Europe Spring 2026 that was a part of the discussion was Milan-based AAVantgarde Bio, which scored $141 million in a series B funding round in November 2025 to fund two gene therapies AAVB-039 for Stargardt disease and AAVB-081 for Usher syndrome, both of which are rare diseases, the latter characterized by combined hearing and vision loss as well as balance issues. As a space for partnerships to forge, most, if not all the biotechs at BIO-Europe Spring 2026 were there seeking licensing deals and funding. While mergers and acquisitions (M&As) were part of the biopharma scene in 2025, albeit not thriving, the funding landscape in general has not been considered favourable over the past few years. Another biotech in the neurology space at BIO-Europe Spring 2026 was Prosperodes, but both its R&D and partnering goals were different from that of Vesper’s. To end the need for better biomarkers to diagnose neurodegenerative diseases, Prosperodes has built a technology platform over the past three years. Meanwhile, in women’s health and gynaecological care, Hungarian pharmaceutical company Gedeon Richter is eyeing innovation and collaborations to address female fertility, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, female contraception, infectious disease, and hormone replacement therapy (HRT). It has tapped Swiss biotech FimmCyte to potentially begin first-in-human trials to treat the root cause of endometriosis, a chronic, often painful disease where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus.

Original title: “BIO-Europe Spring 2026: partnership event brings funding hope to biotechs”