News and Trends 26 Jul 2022 Valo Therapeutics acquires PeptiCHIP technology to identify tumor antigens Finnish immunotherapy company Valo Therapeutics Oy (ValoTx) has obtained exclusive licensing of intellectual property rights (IPR) from the University of Helsinki, Finland, for the institution’s PeptiCHIP technology. Following further validation by ValoTx, and the achievement of specific milestones, the IPR will transfer in full to the company. Valo said the deal will enable the rapid […] July 26, 2022 - 2 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 26 Jul 2022 How DNA sequencing can safeguard against biodiversity loss Preserving Earth’s biodiversity is crucial as we rely on healthy ecosystems for many services, from clean air and water to protection from floods and pandemics. DNA sequencing is an invaluable tool for characterizing biodiversity and informing conservation efforts. In Earth’s history, there have been five major mass extinction events — the most recent of which […] July 26, 2022 - 8 minutesmins - By Omnia Ibrahim Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 26 Jul 2022 Ginkgo acquires Zymergen for $300M and picks up Bayer facility for $83M U.S. cell programming company Ginkgo Bioworks has signed definitive agreements to acquire two teams and technologies. The deals are with Bayer and Zymergen. Bayer transaction The company confirmed the previously announced transaction with Bayer to expand Ginkgo’s platform capabilities in agricultural biologicals. Ginkgo will acquire Bayer’s 175,000-square-foot West Sacramento Biologics Research & Development site, team, […] July 26, 2022 - 5 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 Jul 2022 Drug that could be the first and only in Europe to treat rare brain condition recommended for marketing authorization The Committee for Medical Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended the European Commission (EC) make a marketing authorization under exceptional circumstances for a drug to treat a rare condition characterized by brain dysfunction. The drug is called NULIBRY (fosdenopterin) for injection therapy for the treatment of patients with molybdenum cofactor deficiency (MoCD) Type A. […] July 25, 2022 - 4 minutesmins - By Liza Laws Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 Jul 2022 Bavarian Nordic gets European monkeypox approval for smallpox vaccine Danish company Bavarian Nordic A/S says the European Commission (EC) has extended the marketing authorization for the company’s smallpox vaccine, IMVANEX, to include protection from monkeypox and disease caused by vaccinia virus. The approval, which follows a positive opinion by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) on July 22, 2022, is valid […] July 25, 2022 - 3 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 Jul 2022 Drug for acute treatment of social anxiety disorder did not meet primary endpoint A nasal spray to treat anxiety did not meet its primary endpoint and was not significantly better than the placebo given during a phase 3 clinical trial. Vistagen Therapeutics Inc’s drug, PH94B, was designed to treat people living with anxiety, depression and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders announced the topline results on Friday (July […] July 25, 2022 - 4 minutesmins - By Liza Laws Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 Jul 2022 NEOsphere Biotechnologies closes financing round NEOsphere Biotechnologies GmbH has completed a series A financing round to expand its proteomics platform, which screens extensive small-molecule libraries for degraders of pathogenic proteins previously considered undruggable. The funding amount was not disclosed, however, the company told us there were four investors, with the main amount coming from Munich-based Ventura BioMed Investors GmbH. NEOSphere […] July 25, 2022 - 3 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 Jul 2022 Macao university research finds mRNA vaccine booster offers more protection against Omicron variants A study in Macao has found people taking the BioNTech mRNA vaccine as the third booster dose produce more neutralizing antibodies against Omicron variants. The study, led by Daniel Baptista-Hon, assistant professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the Macau University of Science and Technology (M.U.S.T.), and Ligong Lu, director of Zhuhai People’s Hospital, was […] July 25, 2022 - 3 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 Jul 2022 Replay launches with $55M to reprogram biology by writing and delivering big DNA Replay, a genome writing company reprogramming biology by writing and delivering big DNA, has launched with $55 million in seed financing. The round was led by KKR and OMX Ventures, with additional participation from ARTIS Ventures and Lansdowne Partners, SALT, DeciBio Ventures, and Axial. Replay, which is based in San Diego, Cal., and London, U.K., […] July 25, 2022 - 3 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Opinion 25 Jul 2022 How to improve patient recruitment in your precision medicine research Precision medicine research relies on genetic testing at scale, but has long suffered recruitment and retention headaches. The answer, says Patrick Short, CEO of Sano Genetics, is to start early and engage participants deeply. I witnessed first-hand the power of national scale genomics research through my PhD work analyzing genome sequence data from more than […] July 25, 2022 - 7 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 22 Jul 2022 Positive news for Aurinia’s voclosporin drug Lupkynis to treat lupus nephritis British Columbia-based Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today (July 22) that its voclosporin drug has been recommended for marketing authorization to treat adults with active lupus nephritis (LN). The Canadian biopharma company said it is committed to delivering therapeutics that change the course of autoimmune disease after the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) […] July 22, 2022 - 3 minutesmins - By Liza Laws Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 22 Jul 2022 People with hemophilia B could be protected from bleeding by a single dose of a drug currently being trialed London-based Freeline Therapeutics Holdings plc has just announced that positive data on treating haemophilia has been published by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). This expands upon previous data for up to three-and-a-half years from the phase 1/2 dose-finding B-AMAZE of the company’s AAVS3 gene therapy candidate, FLT180a for people with the debilitating, hereditary […] July 22, 2022 - 3 minutesmins - By Liza Laws Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email