News Archive

Benevento to lead Virginia’s strategic authority that invests in startup companies, entrepreneurship ecosystems, university commercialization, innovation growth

VIPC is well-positioned to lead Virginia in developing, attracting, and retaining talent, capital, and innovation which expands investment, growth, and opportunity across the entire Commonwealth.”— Joe Benevento, VIPC President and CEO
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES, April 24, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Board of Directors of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) has announced that it has unanimously selected Joe Benevento as President and CEO of VIPC.

Benevento has led VIPC as Interim President and CEO since September 2023 and previously served as Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Trade for the Commonwealth of Virginia since 2022. As Virginia’s Deputy Secretary of Commerce, Benevento helped develop Virginia’s “Compete to Win” and “Innovative Framework” strategy for driving economic growth across all regions of the Commonwealth and oversaw an industry portfolio which included Technology, Life Sciences, Aerospace & Defense, Semiconductors, Advanced Manufacturing, Cybersecurity, Unmanned Systems, and other key sectors.

BETHESDA, Md., April 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Gain Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: GANX) (“Gain”, or the “Company”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company leading the discovery and development of the next generation of allosteric small molecule therapies, announces positive results from the single ascending dose (SAD) part of its Phase 1 study. GT-02287 was generally well tolerated up to and including the highest planned dose level, and there were no serious adverse events. The good safety and tolerability profile and the appropriate range of plasma exposure levels achieved after oral administration further bolster GT-02287’s best and first-in-class potential.

The first living recipient of a UThymoKidney, in conjunction with a heart pump implant, is recovering after a successful transplant

This transplant builds on two successful UHeart transplants completed in 2022 and 2023

SILVER SPRING, Md. & RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–United Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq: UTHR), a public benefit corporation, today announced the world’s first successful transplant of a UThymoKidney™, which the company produced, into a living person on April 12, 2024. This transplant represents several historic firsts for transplantation:
– The first-ever transplant of a xenothymokidney into a living human recipient;
– The first-ever combined mechanical heart pump and organ transplant; and
– The first-ever xenotransplant into a living human using only FDA-approved immunosuppressive medicines

The transplant is the third xenotransplant using United Therapeutics’ xeno organs, following two successful UHeart™ transplants at the University of Maryland Medicine in 2022 and 2023.

April 23, 2024, Patrick Sisson, Bisnow National – One of the life sciences real estate’s biggest players sees a clear road to recovery, predicting that momentum, in the form of the increased investment dollars seen in early 2024, will hit its stride as the current glut of new supply tapers off in 2025.

During Alexandria Real Estate Equities’ first quarter earnings call, Chairman Joel Marcus cited “positive signs of rebound” in investment and financing for biotech, as well as strong performance from the REIT, which saw total revenues grow 9.7% to $769M.

Investments in the sector showed strength not seen since the high point of 2021. Nearly $11B in venture capital deployment in biotech was announced in Q1 2024, according to a sector overview from Alexandria Senior Vice President of Science and Technology Hallie Kuhn, who said increased investment was a “robust sign of the health of the industry.”

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – April 22, 2024 – AMPEL BioSolutions has been selected as a member – or “spoke” – of the Customer Experience Hub of ARPANET-H, a prestigious nationwide health innovation network launched by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).  This national effort is designed to accelerate commercialization of health breakthroughs for populations that urgently need them.  

The Customer Experience Hub in Dallas joins Boston and the Nation’s Capital as the three hubs across the country tasked with creating better health outcomes for all by accelerating commercialization of groundbreaking technologies that focus on health in two ways, by optimizing clinical trials for disease-altering therapies and implementing technologies that monitor & predict health outcomes.  This “prevent-detect-treat” effort connects biotechnology companies with funders, universities and non-profits in order to scale health breakthroughs.  

Rockville, MD, April 22, 2024 – U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) is honored to announce its selection as a member of the Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Preparedness Consortium (BioMaP-Consortium), an organization that brings together biopharmaceutical industry partners across the manufacturing supply chain to support the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

The BioMaP-Consortium serves a critical role in ensuring that the United States can respond rapidly to public health emergencies by convening public and private industry partners to expand capacity and capabilities to produce medical countermeasures, products that help diagnose, prevent, or treat diseases related to chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear threats.

Shenzhen Salubris commits additional funding to continue research and development of novel, complex biologics

First patient enrolled in RENEU-HF, the Phase 2 clinical trial of JK07 in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF)

Clinical trial application filed for JK06, SalubrisBio’s first-in-class biparatopic ADC

April 22, 2024 07:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
GAITHERSBURG, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Salubris Biotherapeutics, Inc. (SalubrisBio), a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to discovering and developing novel complex biologic therapeutics, today announced a new capital infusion of $35 million to fund continued research and development of clinical and pre-clinical programs. SalubrisBio also provided progress updates for JK07, the first investigational antibody fusion protein for heart failure, JK08, the first investigational IL15-CTLA4 antibody fusion for solid tumors and JK06, a first-in-class biparatopic antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting a known tumor antigen.

Pioneering Move Unites Medical and Pharmacy Benefits, Enhancing Access, Affordability, and Adherence for Specialty Medications and Procedures

ROCKVILLE, Md., April 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Healthcare technology pioneer DrFirst today announced it has acquired substantially all assets of Myndshft Technologies, Inc., a leader of end-to-end real-time medical benefits and automated prior authorization (PA) software-as-a-service (SaaS). This strategic acquisition aims to improve the patient experience and expedite access to vital specialty medications, such as infusions and in-office injectables primarily covered by medical benefits. Combined with DrFirst’s platform and scale, the technology will also lighten the substantial administrative load on healthcare providers and their staff.

Founded in 2018, Myndshft is the only unified platform that streamlines prior authorization and related services for both medical and pharmacy benefits. This innovative technology uses AI, machine learning, and robotic process automation (RPA) to automate and streamline complex benefits, pricing, and PA processes across various payers and therapeutic classes into one seamless, intuitive workflow. The Myndshft platform also supports labs, imaging, and other procedures covered under medical benefits, which are often prerequisites for patients prescribed specialty medications.

April 18, 2024
For Global Investor Audience Only

Novavax’s Nuvaxovid XBB.1.5 dispersion for injection, COVID-19 Vaccine (recombinant, adjuvanted) (NVX-CoV2601) is now available to pharmacies across the United Kingdom (U.K.) for private healthcare providers to offer an updated protein-based non-mRNA option as part of the 2024 vaccination season.

Today is an important milestone for our organization. It demonstrates our commitment to deliver an updated protein-based COVID-19 vaccine as we evolve into an endemic market. It also underscores our place as a long-term partner to public health. We believe a diverse vaccine portfolio and broader access can play vital roles in protecting communities in the U.K. and elsewhere.

Multi-institute clinical trial demonstrates therapy can be safely used in pediatric regional centers

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In a first-of-its-kind clinical trial, researchers found that intravenous therapies made from virus-specific T-cells (VST) can effectively treat immunocompromised pediatric patients, far surpassing the current standard of care, according to new research published in Nature Communications.

More than 60% of patients in the phase 2 clinical trial led by investigators from Children’s National Hospital and Huntsman Cancer Institute responded to the innovative VST therapy. This new treatment uses blood from healthy donors to manufacture a highly specialized immune therapy that, when given to immune-compromised patients, prompts their immune system to fight off potentially life-threatening viruses, including cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr and adenovirus. Without this therapy, estimates suggest that less than 30% of patients would recover, using standard protocols.