Gene Editing Startups Fabricate Industrial-Grade CRISPR Tools
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.
ABX464 as a Treatment for Ulcerative Colitis
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
mRNA and Artificial Intelligence: An Interview with Anima Biotech’s Yochi Slonim
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.
Reata’s drug, Bardoxolone, shows promising results for chronic kidney disease
Reata is in its ‘final pivotal study’ for its new drug, bardoxolone. In the trials, the drug has showed promising results to reverse kidney damage. Yahoo Finance sits down with the CEO of Reata, Warren Huff, who founded the company in 2002, to discuss the plans to launch the product in the near future.
Deep, transcranial magnetic stimulation for OCD
BrainsWay’s so-called depression helmet—which focuses powerful electromagnetic waves to stimulate and help rewire neurons firing deep within the brain—picked up its second clearance from the FDA last August, making it the first noninvasive device for obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Reata’s big test approaches
Reata Pharmaceuticals has shown that perseverance can pay off. Its lead project, bardoxolone, which is now focused on rare kidney diseases, is forecast to sell $1.3bn in 2024 after earlier flopping in a broader indication. The company should soon find out whether bardoxolone is approvable, with phase III data in the project’s first indication, Alport syndrome, due in the second half of the year. And Reata and analysts alike are confident after positive results from the phase II portion of the same study.
A booster for immuno-oncology drugs
Touting a new, more robust class of immune-oncology drugs to date, Noxopharm has released data from the first series of preclinical studies confirming that idronoxil (IDX), the active ingredient in the company’s anti-cancer drug candidate, Veyonda, not only activates, but potentially boosts the function of current immuno-oncology drugs.
The Eye Travels Wide: ProQR’s Bid For Leadership In The Genetics Of Sight
How did a youthful vendor of IT services, faced with a personal exposure to crippling illness, attract some of the best minds in biotech to launch a company with a then-untested RNA technology that today is a contender for leadership in the rarified space of inherited retinal disease? The answer may lie in the ambitiously definitive name that 36-year-old founder Daniel de Boer gave to his enterprise with a mission: ProQR – an active synonym for finding cures.
