Recent Headlines First single cell atlas of the lung published Helmholtz Munich scientists, together with an international team of researchers, have developed the "Human Lung Cell Atlas". The atlas shows the diversity of individual lung cell types and allows conclusions to be drawn about the changes that age, smoking, or lung diseases cause in the cells of the respiratory organ. It is the first single-cell atlas of a major organ and was produced as part of the Human Cell Atlas (HCA), a global collaborative project to map the entire body at the single-cell level. The results have now been published in Nature Medicine. © istock Nearly 100 partners and 60 international institutes collaborated to analyze the approximately 2.4 million cells of the human lung. They have thus succeeded in the first mapping of a large organ down to the single cell level. To do so, the scientists relied on artificial intelligence and machine learning, combining data from nearly 40 existing lung studies. For each cell in this lung atlas, the researchers now know which genes were active in which cell, allowing them to draw conclusions about how these cells function, including how cells differ between individuals based on age, gender or disease. Read more ITM raises record sum of EUR 255 million Garching-based ITM has announced one of the largest private investment rounds in European biotechnology to date. With the sum of 255 million euros, the company plans to advance its radiopharmaceutical pipeline and expand its radioisotope production capacities. Among the investors are the Strüngmann brothers. Founded in 2004, ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE, based in Garching near Munich, specializes in the de- velopment, production and worldwide supply of targeted diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals and radioisotopes for use in cancer treatment - including neuroendocrine tumors, glioblastoma, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer or NSCL adenocarcinoma, as well as osteosarcoma and bone metastases. The announced EUR 255 million equity investment round, led by Temasek and with participation from BlackRock Alternatives1, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Nextech2 and Carbyne, will be used by ITM to further develop its oncology pipeline for targeted radionuclide therapies (TRT). For the first time involved are Thomas and Andreas Strüngmann and their company ATHOS. The brothers, founders of Hexal, a pharmaceutical company based in Holzkirchen, Germany, were involved in the founding of BioNTech as well and hold about half of the shares in the Mainz-based biotech company through the Athos Family Office. Read more © ITM Bavarian Biotech News, July 2023 www.bio-m.org 5