Gene-editing company eGenesis is now carrying out experiments to help solve a critical shortage of human organs available for transplant.

Now, the biotech company Celyad is looking for a non-gene-edited approach to create allogeneic CAR-T cells using RNAi. Last October, Celyad announced a collaboration with shRNA experts Dharmacon, a Horizon Discovery company, to use their optimized shRNA technology to create CAR-T therapies.

For about 12 percent of the world’s population living with the bowel movement disorder, irritable bowel syndrome, abdominal pain is a part of everyday life. While there are drugs available to treat symptoms like constipation and diarrhea, there is one complication that few irritable bowel syndrome drugs treat effectively. “What’s common to all irritable bowel syndrome patients is the presence of abdominal pain, and it is probably the aspect of the condition that is most difficult to treat,” said Dr. Preston Klassen, Head of Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer at Arena Pharmaceuticals.

Virtue Sirolimus-Eluting Balloon (SEB) for the treatment of coronary in-stent restenosis (ISR) secured breakthrough device designation from the FDA. Virtue SEB is a drug/device combination product delivering sustained-release bioabsorbable nanoparticle-encapsulated Sirolimus for preventing restenosis directly to the artery during balloon angioplasty, without the need for a coating.

Alex Ovadia, CEO of Check-Cap, talks about the company’s ingestible imaging capsule-based system for colorectal cancer screening.

Porcine xenotransplantation research was halted in the 1990s because of the risk of transmitting porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV) to patients during organ transplants. To help resurrect the field, genomic pioneer George Church, PhD, and researcher Luhan Yang, PhD, co-foundeed eGenesis, a company devoted to developing human-compatible organs, tissues, and cells. eGenesis is working to make porcine tissue PERV-free and as human-like as possible to enable life-saving medical interventions.

An open-label study has found data that could support the use of ABX464 as a treatment for moderate to severe ulcerative colitis (UC).  Investigators presented information from the ABX464-102 phase 2a study, which found that almost all patients demonstrated clinical response and nearly half were in clinical remission, at Digestive Disease Week 2019 in San Diego, CA

In the life sciences industry, there is a wide variety of directions that companies can go. Many high-profile biopharma companies have a focus on messenger RNA (mRNA), and some are broadening their horizons by taking an interest in artificial intelligence. One company, Anima Biotech, has a unique approach to both.