Michael Tattory

For Anima Biotech, it’s all in the translation—that is, mRNA translation. Drug development and small molecule discovery have long targeted small binding pockets or catalytic sites on proteins’ surfaces. This approach has yielded many therapeutic molecules as well as substantial returns on investment, but it is not without its pitfalls.

Chairman and CEO Krish Krishnan is an experienced biotech executive. But even he didn’t expect to go from self-funding Krystal Biotech to IPO in 18 months. The Pittsburgh-based company, which Krishnan co-founded with his wife and COO Suma Krishnan, is working to develop to develop treatments for rare, orphan skin diseases caused by the absence of,

Social media has become increasingly important in the biopharma space as it not only allows emerging clinical-stage companies to efficiently increase their visibility online by posting interesting content, but it also provides a unique platform to engage with members of specific disease communities. By listening to these members’ voices online, valuable insight can be gained

Wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to see a protein being made in a cell in real time? And wouldn’t it be even better if you could use that capability to discover new drugs to previously “undruggable” targets, creating new medicines? Well that’s exactly what Anima Biotech is aiming to do. “We are going after

After four decades, it’s time to get our summers back. This time of year in New England should mean beach days, ice cream, hikes in the mountains. Instead, for thousands of residents, year in and year out, it means a debilitating bout of Lyme disease, the often-painful tick-borne bacterial illness that arrived with day-glo in

As the threat of Lyme disease grows and fears surrounding it spread faster than the ticks that carry the infection, researchers are developing two vaccine or vaccine-like approaches to prevent this increasingly problematic disease. But don’t expect to get one soon. They are at least three to five years away from clinical use, according to

A novel topical gene therapy, developed by Krystal Biotech, shows promise for treating wounds of patients with dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB). The therapy KB103 targets the type VII collagen gene (COL7A1), missing in patients with DEB, to improve wound closure and skin cohesion.

Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer Elizabeth Jeffords told BioWorld that the endpoints in Alkahest Inc.’s just-begun phase II trial with human plasma fraction GRF-6021 will not only test how well patients bounce back from hip or knee arthroplasty but “could absolutely support the work in cognitive and neurodegenerative indications as well,” where data rolled out earlier this

Last month at the 2019 Congress of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH), Catalyst Biosciences Inc. presented Phase 2 data regarding its subcutaneous (SQ) Factor VIIa (FVIIa) variant marzeptacog alfa (activated) (MarzAA) for prophylaxis in patients with hemophilia A or B with inhibitors. The study met its primary endpoint of significantly reducing the annualized bleed

The FDA has cleared an investigational new drug application for QR-1123, an investigational oligonucleotide treatment candidate for vision loss with autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa due to the P23H mutation in the rhodopsin gene, according to a press release from ProQR Therapeutics.

OSE Immunotherapeutics S.A. and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH are testing the SIRPA inhibitor BI 765063 in solid tumors as a monotherapy and in combination with Boehringer’s anti-PD1 mAb BI 754091. OSE Immunotherapeutics CSO Nicolas Poirier told BioCentury BI 765063 overcomes resistance to checkpoint inhibition in preclinical models by modulating macrophage activity and allowing more T cells

Officials are optimistic about the initial results of a phase 2 clinical trial for a new plasma-based treatment for mild-to-moderate Alzheimer disease (AD). California-based Alkahest announced that GRF6019, a proprietary plasma fraction comprised of about 400 proteins, was both safe and well-tolerated with no cognitive decline as a treatment for AD.

Alzheimer’s patients who received an experimental protein cocktail derived from young blood plasma maintained their performance on measures of cognition and function after six months, the biotech company behind the therapy, Alkahest, said on Monday.

Newcomer NeuBase Therapeutics is re-engineering antisense oligos to access a broader range of targets, while simultaneously solving the modality’s dosing and delivery issues. With three approvals since the start of 2016, antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) have started to hit their stride, yet first-generation technologies are limited on multiple fronts.

Alkahest announced that its phase 2a trial of AKST4290, an orally-administered small molecule CCR3 inhibitor, met the primary endpoint of achieving an increase in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in patients with refractory wet or neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). AKST4290 was also found to be safe and well-tolerated, meeting the secondary endpoint of the

The Gaitherburg biotech’s CEO, not yet a year into his tenure, sees the prospect of more acquisitions or licensing deals going forward.

Check-Cap announced positive final results from its completed post-CE approval study evaluating the efficacy and safety of the C-Scan system. “The final results from the post-CE approval study confirm the potential clinical value of the C-Scan system. The results also demonstrate an advancement in the detection of larger polyps, generally considered to have higher potential for

Francis R. Amato is Chief Executive Officer of electroCore, Inc. Prior to being the Chief Executive Officer and joining electroCore in 2012, Mr. Amato spent 22 years in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently at Merck, where he served as Vice President of the Specialty Commercial Operations Group within Global Human Health.

Usher syndrome is an inherited retinal degeneration that affects hearing, balance, and vision. Usher syndrome caused by USH2A mutations is one of the most common causes of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) with syndromic features. Currently there is no treatment for the sensory deficits caused by Usher syndrome. In an attempt to fill this void, QR-421a is

New Hope, Pa.-based Orchestra Biomed Inc. scooped up $34 million in a series B-1 preferred stock financing led by Perceive Advisors, RTW Investments and Soleus Capital. The funds will be used to advance development of the company’s Backbeat cardiac neuromodulation therapy (CNT) system, to support commitments to Orchestra’s strategic global partnership with Tokyo-based Terumo Corp. for

Armon Sharei developed an interest in novel cell therapies while pursuing his PhD in chemical engineering at MIT. While pursuing that interest, he made a discovery that today is the foundation of SQZ Biotech, a cell-therapy company where he serves as CEO. Sharei discovered a new method of inserting materials into cells more effectively than

For years, Christina Giuffrida had been experiencing an on-again, off-again sore throat. The 19-year-old from Yonkers, New York, also had slight balance issues and would struggle to hear people speaking at normal volumes. One doctor told her and her parents, it was a problem with her eyesight. Another said it was a flare-up from a previous

Ifirst learned about drug discovery and development in the mid-1990s when two of my sons were diagnosed with a brutal, untreatable genetic disease called ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T). Children with A‑T struggle with immune deficiency and lung problems, and have an extremely high cancer risk.

If you know that there’s a way to detect cancer early, would you get screened? Many people would say yes, but statistics disagree. About 40 percent of Americans do not get screened for colorectal cancer because they refuse to get or cannot get a colonoscopy. According to the American Cancer Society, 51,000 people in the US