- | Fountain Therapeutics
Targeting Diseases of Aging at a Cellular Level
To see the affects of aging all you have to do is look in a mirror and watch the changes over time. Fountain Therapeutics is training its artificial intelligence platform to look at individual cells to detect changes that occur as cells get older and discover therapeutics that target underlying mechanisms of aging. The company believes this will provide new ways to target therapies to treat a range of diseases associated with aging. We spoke to John Dimos, CEO of Fountain, about the company’s AI platform, it’s approach to understanding aging at a cellular level, and how it provides new ways of discovering and developing therapeutics for diseases of aging
- | Acepodia
Boasting antibody-cell conjugation, Acepodia licenses out two cell therapies to JW Therapeutics
Taiwan biotech Acepodia Inc., of Burlingame, Calif., and Taipei, has licensed out two of its cell therapy candidates, ACE-1702 and ACE-1655, to Chinese CAR T therapy developer JW Therapeutics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. to develop and commercialize them in China, Hong Kong and Macau. Acepodia will receive up-front and milestone payments from JW Therapeutics, plus royalties on sales.
- | Fountain Therapeutics
Fountain Therapeutics: an AI-based platform to reverse cellular aging
Fountain is using an unbiased data-driven approach to identify compounds that reverse the biological process of aging, and in contrast to the traditional disease hypothesis-driven approach, the company is agnostic to indication.
- | Celyad Oncology
FDA clears IND application for off-the-shelf, BCMA-directed CAR-T for advanced myeloma
The FDA cleared an investigational new drug application for CYAD-211, a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, according to a press release from the agent’s manufacturer.
- | NantKwest
Covid-19 pandemic: the need for second-generation vaccines
It is astounding how quickly Covid-19 vaccines have progressed into and through clinical trials. However, there are concerns that these vaccines may not be particularly effective at preventing Covid-19 infections in the long-term, leading to the need for improved, next-generation vaccines against this novel coronavirus. One pair of companies working on the next phase of vaccine development are sister biotechs NantKwest and ImmunityBio.
- | Cerevance
Cerevance Is Exploring the Brain at Depths Never Before Possible
Neurodegenerative and other central nervous system disorders are some of the hardest to develop treatments for due to our limited understanding of the brain. But Cerevance developed a new technology capable of profiling neuronal and glial cell populations at depths not previously possible, which is allowing the clinical-stage pharmaceutical company to identify potential drug targets in specific cell types critical to circuits disrupted by disease. By selectively targeting those cell types, the company hopes to develop more effective and safer therapeutics for CNS diseases. PM360 spoke with CEO Brad Margus about the company’s journey and its potential impact on the future of drug development.
- | Avadel Pharmaceuticals
Once Nightly Treatment for Narcolepsy and Other Sleep Disorders with Dr. Jordan Dubow Avadel Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Jordan Dubow, Chief Medical Officer, Avadel Pharmaceuticals, intent on improving drug delivery technology, is focusing on narcolepsy, a disease that causes severe excessive sleepiness and in many cases cataplexy. While there seems to be a genetic predisposition for narcolepsy, like many neurological diseases, this rare disease is difficult to diagnose with medicines that treat daytime sleepiness and cataplexy episodes presenting significant limitations. Avadel’s once-nightly FT218 is an extended release long acting version of sodium oxybate that treats both features of the disease and allows patients to get a full night sleep without need for middle of the night dosing.
- | Immunomedics
Launching during Lockdown
At the end of April, Immunomedics (Morris Plains, N.J), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) for hard-to-treat cancers, received FDA accelerated approval for its first ADC, Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan-hziy). Although COVID-19 was by then in full swing, the company nonetheless pushed ahead with its launch strategy. Thanks to preparations it had begun making in the early days of the encroaching pandemic, it was able to launch Trodelvy within days of the FDA approva
