GenNext Technologies, a growth-stage company providing instrumentation, software, and services, has earned a second patent protecting the company’s novel radical dosimetry technology which vastly improves the utility of protein footprinting for the study of biopharma-ceutical structure, function, and safety.
EKF Diagnostics, the global in vitro diagnostics company, has acquired Advanced Diagnostic Laboratory (“ADL Health”), a Texas based PCR-focused testing laboratory certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (“CLIA”) for high-complexity molecular diagnostics testing. ADL Health’s CLIA-certified laboratory covers the fields of clinical, forensic and microbiological tests. The business has ISO 15189 Medical Laboratory accreditation […]
A collaboration between Cytel and Pulse Infoframe will support rare disease drug development sponsors seeking real-world evidence where the data generated can be used for a range of purposes, from synthetic controls and comparative effectiveness to pricing reimbursement. Cytel, a leader in the field of advanced analytics for life sciences, has spent the past 30 […]
AMSBIO has expanded its range of custom gene editing services to complement its extensive portfolio of off-the-shelf CRISPR/Cas9 products. AMSBIO CRISPR/Cas9 products are widely used by research groups worldwide in applications including gene mutation studies, epigenetic editing, cell and embryo therapies, and genomic-scale screening.
SOTIO Biotech, a clinical stage immuno-oncology company owned by PPF Group, announced an exclusive, target-specific license and option agreement with LegoChem Biosciences, a biotechnology company focused on developing its clinical-stage platform technology enabling antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) with an excellent therapeutic index. SOTIO will obtain rights to deploy LCB’s ADC technology for up to five therapeutic programs targeting distinct tumour-associated antigens.
The deal enables SOTIO to combine its proprietary antibodies with LCB’s ADC technology platform in order to deliver novel therapeutics for the treatment of solid tumours and includes LCB’s proprietary conjugation technology ‘ConjuAll’ and potent linker-payload platform including multiple different payloads.
Under the terms of the multi-target agreement, LCB is eligible to receive upfront and potential milestone payments worth up to $1027.5 million, payable based on certain developments and regulatory achievements, plus royalties on net sales. The deal includes upfront and near-term milestones worth up to $29.5 million, subject to exercise of the options and achievement of success-based milestones. No further financial details were disclosed.
“At SOTIO we are building an innovative pipeline of ADC programs and plan IND filing for our lead program SOT102 by the end of 2021. The licensing agreement with our new, experienced partner LegoChem allows us to broaden our oncology pipeline with additional programs and solid tumour targets. We are looking forward to using the potential of LegoChem’s ADC technology platform and to develop innovative ADCs for patients in need,” said Radek Spisek, M.D., Ph.D., chief executive officer of SOTIO.
SOTIO will be responsible for research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of the ADC products, while LCB will support and work closely with SOTIO for the research activities and the manufacturing of components that are specifically related to its proprietary ConjuAll and the linker-payload technologies.
Dr. Yong-Zu Kim, CEO and President of LCB added: “This collaboration is yet another example that illustrates how the value proposition of the LCB platform can increase the competitive position of our partners within the ADC space. SOTIO is an ideal partner for LCB due to its expertise and strategic focus on innovative antibody drug conjugates, and we look forward to working closely together on multiple innovative programs.”
Dr. Jürgen Reeß, Chief Medical Officer, SciRhom
SciRhom GmbH, a therapeutic antibody developer, announced the addition of Dr. Jürgen Reeß to the management team as Chief Medical Officer. At the same time, the company is strengthening its business and scientific strategy with the establishment of a Board of Directors. The three members of the Board, Prof. Carl Blobel, Dr. Wolfgang Baiker, and Mr. Hans-Ulrich Rabe, will be instrumental in steering the company along a successful path through the next phase of its development. In January 2022, Dr. Andreas Jenne, currently Chief Business Officer of SciRhom, will move from management and join the Board of Directors as a fourth member.
SciRhom has taken critical steps in advancing their first-in-class antibodies against iRhom2 towards clinical development. Proof-of-principle studies demonstrated preclinical efficacy of the drug candidates in protecting mice against rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The antibodies suppress iRhom2, thereby inhibiting tumour necrosis factor-alpha-convertase (TACE; also known as ADAM17), which conversely blocks several disease-causing signalling pathways. Achievement of this milestone also marks the beginning of the next stage in product development and company progress.
“SciRhom is an agile enterprise,” explained Chief Executive Officer Dr. Jens Ruhe. “As we move into this exciting new development phase, we’ve fine-tuned company structures to ensure that our ranks include top expertise to guarantee successful outcomes. We are in an extraordinary position to have such renowned and experienced partners join our efforts. Each member of our management team and our Board of Directors plays an indispensable role in swiftly moving our innovative therapy concept from our labs to patients with debilitating autoimmune diseases.”
Dr. Jürgen Reeß joins the corporate management team to guide the continued evolution of the therapeutic product and coordinate the company’s development pipelines focused on RA, IBD, and systemic lupus erythematosus glomerulonephritis. A trained physician with a medical and doctorate degree from the University of Ulm, Germany, Dr. Reeß has been a longstanding leader in the pharmaceutical industry. He has supervised the development, approval, and launch of numerous major therapies across several therapy areas, most recently as Corporate Senior Vice President of International Project Management at Boehringer Ingelheim Human Pharma.
The new Board of Directors will include SciRhom co-founder Prof. Carl Blobel, whose groundbreaking research laid the scientific foundation of SciRhom’s technology. Dr. Blobel is Professor of Medicine and of Physiology, Biophysics and Systems Biology at Weill Cornell Medicine, and Chairman of the Arthritis and Tissue Degeneration Program at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. His in-depth knowledge of iRhom2 and TACE will guide the technological roadmap of the company and strengthen the scientific evolution of the product.
The second Board member, Dr. Wolfgang Baiker, is an internationally respected advisor and partner for multiple life science business projects. As Venture Partner at Wellington Partners Venture Fund, Dr. Baiker has leveraged his years-long experience as Board member and CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim USA to help rising companies establish themselves in an international market. He is also an investor in SciRhom. Dr. Baiker fulfils a key role in shaping the corporate strategy to grow SciRhom’s organization and infrastructure.
Hans-Ulrich Rabe rounds off the new Board of Directors. A trusted advisor in strategic asset allocation and direct investment in high-potential biotech companies, Mr. Rabe represents a consortium of four private investors – SciRhom’s largest investment group. With strong business acumen and extensive experience in mentoring companies and fostering their development, Mr. Rabe brings a wealth of expertise in logistics, risk assessment, and finance management to fortify the company’s performance.
Having successfully secured seed funding for SciRhom as the Chief Business Officer, Dr. Andreas Jenne will move from corporate management to the Board of Directors in January 2022. A co-founder of SciRhom, Dr. Jenne has comprehensive knowledge of the company. His appointment to the Board of Directors aligns with the transition of SciRhom from start-up to product-oriented enterprise.
FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific, a leader in the development and manufacture of serum-free and chemically defined cell culture media for bioproduction and cell therapy manufacturing, announced the establishment of an Innovation and Collaboration Center in Suzhou New District, China. Through this new centre, experts will collaborate with customers to design upstream cell culture processes that meet their biomanufacturing needs.
In the past decade, the world has seen rapid growth in China’s biopharmaceutical, vaccine, cell and gene therapy markets. The speed of approval of biosimilar drugs and investment by the government to make more affordable drugs available to its people is accelerating that growth. Accordingly, the market for cell culture media in China has been expanding, and it is currently expected to grow at an annual rate of about 20%. Researchers and drug manufacturers require high-performing, safe, and reliable bioprocesses to drive down the cost of therapeutics.
The Innovation and Collaboration Center will incorporate advanced cell culture automation and analysis into process and media development to enable highly accurate evaluation and identification of optimal upstream cell culture processes. Furthermore, it will provide the local resources and expertise for optimized cell culture media and associated workflows, to achieve the quantity and product quality attributes necessary to support commercial production of new drugs.
Yutaka Yamaguchi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific, General Manager Fujifilm Life Sciences Business Division, commented: “Through our proven media development expertise FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific support some of the most important global biologics commercially available today, including COVID-19 vaccines and therapies. We will continue to expand services globally to provide easier access for customers to collaborate with our scientists and bioprocessing experts, and benefit from rapid development and delivery of high-quality cell culture products and solutions.”
“We are increasing the number of sales and technical support staff throughout China to meet the development needs and support the antibody pharmaceutical industry in the growing Chinese market.”
The new centre in Suzhou will join the network of optimization services offered from FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific’s facilities in the USA and Japan. Construction has begun and is planned for completion by March, 2022.
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden report that a recently discovered inflammatory mediator, interleukin-26, appears to have an important role in pneumonia and contribute to the killing of bacteria. The study is published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Immunology – Microbial Immunology.
Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast have discovered a new tool, which will help to investigate more effective forms of cancer treatment.
AMSBIO report that researchers from the Medical University of Vienna, have used Lipidure – CM5206 to coat channels in their novel microfluidic devices, to prevent cell adhesion.
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