Across the country today, not just in Boston and San Francisco, in leading and emerging life science clusters, life sciences institutions and innovative companies are working on cell and gene therapies, corona virus vaccines and drugs, and new bioengineering technologies that have the potential to change the way we feed, fuel and heal the world.
ROCKVILLE, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc., (“ITI”), a privately-held clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the study of nucleic acid immunotherapy platforms and Ichor Medical Systems (“Ichor”), a privately held biotech company based in San Diego, CA, announced today that the companies have entered into a license agreement to support the development of ITI’s investigational plasmid DNA vaccine therapy, ITI-1001.
ITI will leverage Ichor’s TriGrid® Electroporation technology to increase cellular uptake of ITI-1001 when administered to patients with newly diagnosed Glioblastoma, or GBM. DNA vaccines delivered by conventional injection have experienced challenges to delivery efficiency, resulting in suboptimal immune responses in clinical trials. Ichor’s TriGrid technology utilizes the application of electrical fields in a target tissue to increase intracellular nucleic acid uptake in the local area, resulting in enhanced gene expression.
The latest issue of The Life Sciences Report features an interview with Matthew J. Meyer, the firm’s chief client corporate development officer, who has broad management experience in the life sciences sector; a piece authored by Paul Grand and Kathryn Zavala of MedTech Innovator outlining 10 reasons why health care start-ups fail; an interview with Ryan Phelan, co-founder and executive director of Revive & Restore, a 501(c)(3) foundation using 21st century biotechnology to address urgent conservation challenges; and an article by Paul P. Campbell of W. L. Gore & Associates on life sciences innovation culture and deconstruction. In addition, the publication includes articles covering life sciences venture financings in which firm clients participated during 2019, the FDA’s recent issuance of a MAPP on the conversion of ANDA approval to tentative approval, and a sampling of COVID-19-related client activity in which the firm has been involved, as well as a summary of other select recent life sciences client highlights.
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Alex Philippidis joins Rich Bendis on BioTalk to discuss the BioHealth Capital Region from a National viewpoint, other Hubs, and how the industry has adapted in the age of COVID-19.
Alex specializes in biopharma business news and industry issues for GEN. He joined GEN in 2011 after four years at GenomeWeb, where he covered research institutes and spent three years following biotech economic development as editor of the weekly newsletter BioRegion News. Alex reports a variety of news stories for GEN and Clinical OMICs and compiles the popular A-Lists series.
Our newest Johnson & Johnson Innovation JLABS location, JLABS @ Washington, DC, continues to move closer to opening later this year. We recently caught up with Sally Allain, Regional Head of JLABS @ Washington, DC to get the latest updates on construction, how the team has adjusted in response to COVID measures, and what we can expect for the remainder of 2020.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today launched Project Patient Voice, an initiative of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE). Through a new website, Project Patient Voice creates a consistent source of publicly available information describing patient-reported symptoms from cancer trials for marketed treatments. While this patient-reported data has historically been analyzed by the FDA during the drug approval process, it is rarely included in product labeling and, therefore, is largely inaccessible to the public.
Image: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/astrazeneca_today-the-fdas-oncology-center-of-excellence-activity-6681307663625728000-S01t/
Johnson & Johnson Innovation is recruiting a Scientific Engagement Lead of Johnson & Johnson Innovation JLABS. The goal of Johnson & Johnson Innovation is to advance transformative healthcare solutions that improve the lives of people around the world and, in so doing, to deliver value to Johnson & Johnson (“J&J”). JJI accomplishes this by catalyzing new science and technology through collaboration and exchange of ideas. This growing team is looking for a colleague inspired to help build and innovate new ways of fostering a productive life-science ecosystem.
Scott Plank’s latest investment is in a company that aims to solve logistical challenges within the organ transplant industry.
MediGO offers a hardware and software platform for organ transplantation logistics, designed to make it easier to track donated organs as they are delivered to their recipients.
Image: https://www.bizjournals.com – JONATHAN MUNSHAM
Novavax Inc. plans to advance its Covid-19 vaccine candidate with new additions to the company and about $200 million in new funds from selling convertible preferred stock — the latest cash infusion for the Gaithersburg vaccine maker.
The preferred private placement with a Boston-based RA Capital Management investment fund, in a deal that closed June 16, came fewer than two weeks after Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) won a Department of Defense contract worth up to $60 million to help manufacture its coronavirus vaccine candidate. It also builds upon $388 million Novavax landed from the Norway-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations for the same program. And it follows the company’s preparations to sell up to $250 million in common stock, a move that sent its stock soaring toward the end of May.
Charlottesville, Va., June 24, 2020 – HemoShear Therapeutics, a clinical stage company developing treatments for rare metabolic disorders, has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Investigational New Drug (IND) application to conduct a phase 2 clinical trial of HST5040, an oral small molecule drug for the treatment of patients with methylmalonic acidemia (MMA) and propionic acidemia (PA). MMA and PA are rare genetic disorders caused by the deficiency of certain enzymes required to metabolize amino acids. The diseases result in the rapid buildup of life-threatening metabolites that can lead to severe organ damage, seizures, developmental deficits, and premature death.
