Medical
PR Newswire | October 25, 2023
Flagship Pioneeringannounced the combination of Laronde and Senda Biosciences to launch Sail Biomedicines, a company pioneering the design and deployment of fully programmable medicines to transform patient care. Sail harnesses the power of first-in-category programmable payloads of Endless RNA™ (eRNA), first-in-category programmable nanoparticles, and emerging, proprietary AI technologies, to unlock the comprehensive programming of medicines for the first time. Guillaume Pfefer, Ph.D., MBA, who is also CEO-Partner at Flagship Pioneering, will become Sail's CEO and board member, while John Mendlein, Ph.D., who also serves as Executive Partner, Flagship Pioneering, will become the company's Executive Chairman.
Sail unites Laronde and Senda Biosciences, two companies that deliver more than eight years of combined data and multi-product platform building. Senda's platform was the first to leverage a universal chemical code of natural nanoparticles that enables directed and repeatable deployment of payloads, such as translatable RNA, directly to cells and tissues of choice. Laronde pioneered eRNA, a new class of synthetic, translatable RNA that can be programmed to express diverse proteins inside the body, with vast therapeutic potential.
"Endless RNA has the potential to create an entirely new class of programmable medicines across therapeutic areas that we will now be able to deliver directly to cells and tissues via deployment molecules with unique properties to confer specificity and greater tolerability," said Mendlein. "We believe these programmable medicines will be greatly enhanced via our proprietary generative AI technologies and rapid prototyping abilities to achieve breakthroughs currently beyond the grasp of the human mind. I look forward to working with the Sail Biomedicines team in this exciting new chapter."
"Our deployment platform utilizes natural nanoparticles to shuttle biomolecules into human cells, with unique tropism, potency, and redosability," said Pfefer. "I look forward to leading the integration of these two teams to accelerate the development of new product candidates, build strategic partnerships, and enable diverse value pools, with the goal of swiftly delivering life-changing vaccines and therapies for the people who need them."
"Sail Biomedicines builds on the progress made by two leading Flagship bioplatform companies and will enable integrative design for more effective programmable medicines," said Noubar Afeyan, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering. "I am confident the combined leadership team and board will carry forward this company to realize its bold ambitions and ultimately deliver maximum impact for patients."
In addition to Mendlein and Pfeffer, the Sail Biomedicines Board of Directors will comprise all current members of the Laronde and Senda Biosciences boards, as follows
Pablo Cagnoni, M.D., President and Head of Research & Development, Incyte
Jose "Pepe" Carmona, MBA, Chief Financial Officer, ADC Therapeutics
Paula Hammond, Ph.D., Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Head of Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Avak Kahvejian, Ph.D., General Partner, Flagship Pioneering
Ignacio Martinez, MBA, General Partner, Flagship Pioneering
Sheri McCoy, M.S., MBA, Former Vice Chairman, Johnson & Johnson
Mary Szela, MBA, CEO and President, TriSalus Life Sciences
About Sail Biomedicines
Sail Biomedicines is pioneering the integrative design and deployment of fully programmable medicines to transform patient care. Sail's platform combines first-in-class programmable circular RNA technology (Endless RNA™ or eRNA), and an industry-leading platform of programmable nanoparticles, utilizing natural components, to unlock comprehensive programming of medicines for the first time. By leveraging cutting-edge eRNA and nanoparticle deployment technology, Sail is building a wealth of data, enabling unparalleled use of generative AI techniques to identify and design fully programmable medicines that are potent, targeted, versatile, and tunable. Sail was founded by Flagship Pioneering.
About Flagship Pioneering
Flagship Pioneering is a biotechnology company that invents and builds platform companies, each with the potential for multiple products that transform human health or sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has originated and fostered more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in more than $90 billion in aggregate value. To date, Flagship has deployed over $3.4 billion in capital toward the founding and growth of its pioneering companies alongside more than $26 billion of follow-on investments from other institutions.
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Medical
businesswire | October 19, 2023
Global genomics solutions provider Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), an operating company in the Life Sciences segment of Danaher Corporation announced the completion of its new Therapeutic Oligonucleotide Manufacturing facility in Coralville, Iowa. The milestone marks a significant achievement in the company’s 35-year-history—its entrance into the therapeutics space—and enables IDT to manufacture products for research use through to current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) grade cell and gene therapy reagents to provide researchers with a single partner that can help them rapidly transition from the lab to therapeutic development.
The 41,000-square-foot-site will produce cGMP cell and gene therapy reagents, including single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) and donor oligos for homology-directed repair (HDR) with additional offerings to follow. These new capabilities and offerings will be supported with comprehensive documentation and testing, a support team, and regulatory guidance to help accelerate researchers’ path to the clinic.
“An increasing number of customers are seeking out IDT as a trusted partner for their CRISPR genome editing needs, and are asking us to be the provider that can help them bridge the gap from lab to clinic,” said Demaris Mills, president, IDT. “Now, with our new cGMP manufacturing facility, IDT can provide a complete CRISPR workflow—from design to analysis—that supports cell and gene therapy developers in all stages of therapeutic development, with the same support and expertise they have come to know from IDT. These new manufacturing capabilities, which have been informed by our decades of oligonucleotide synthesis manufacturing expertise, evolves IDT’s business model from Research Use Only to cGMP, and enables us to help more people.”
Danaher Vice President and Group Executive Chris Riley added, “The future of genomic medicine hinges on the industrialization of biology to make life-saving therapies more accessible to people. As a pioneer in genome editing, IDT’s continued investments will enable customers to rapidly move from clinical development to commercialization. This new facility is another significant milestone in IDT’s innovation journey, one we envision will have a profound impact in genomic medicine for years to come.”
The Therapeutic Oligo Manufacturing facility features ISO 8 cleanrooms, purification suites, chemical distribution and storage rooms, quality control labs, analytical lab space for product testing, ancillary and office spaces and shell space for future expansion. Manufacturing is performed in accordance with ICH Q7 cGMP standards for consistent and reliable quality. The controlled-access building features environmental controls for temperature, humidity and air pressure throughout, supported by an environmental program and continuous monitoring system. The addition of this new facility expands IDT’s global manufacturing footprint and enables the company to provide a range of manufacturing capabilities, including Research Use Only (RUO), large scale RUO, Engineering Run and cGMP (ICH Q7).
A Decade of CRISPR Innovation
Since 2015, IDT has continued to accelerate the pace of genomics with its complete portfolio of Alt-R™ CRISPR genome editing solutions. Its portfolio includes several first-to-market research products as well as solutions to meet researchers’ complete workflow—from design to analysis—to enable greater quality, simplicity, and cost efficiency. Last year, IDT launched the Alt-R™ HDR Donor Blocks, an improved solution for increasing homology-directed repair (HDR) rates in large fragment knock-in experiments, and expanded access to its Alt-R™ Custom CRISPR gRNA Libraries for drug discovery. In 2021, IDT also unveiled its rhAmpSeq™ CRISPR Analysis System, an end-to-end solution for characterizing and quantifying the full array of on- and off-target genome editing events in CRISPR research products.
IDT’s research and development teams have also been at the forefront of CRISPR innovation, with achievements that include the development of multiple proprietary CRISPR reagents such as IDT’s Alt-R™ S.p. HiFi Cas9 Nuclease and the Alt-R L.b. and A.s. Cas12a (Cpf1) Ultra enzymes. Notably, their groundbreaking research and collaborations with scientists around the globe has been published in more than 200 scientific journals as peer-reviewed articles, and is helping to shape the future of genomics and biotechnology.
IDT collaborated with M.A. Mortenson Company, a team led by OPN Architects and Barr Engineering Co. on the facility design and construction of its cGMP facility.
About IDT
For more than 35 years, Integrated DNA Technologies, Inc. (IDT) has been empowering genomics laboratories with an oligonucleotide manufacturing process unlike anyone else in the industry, with the most advanced synthesis, modification, purification, and quality control capabilities available. Since its founding in 1987, IDT has progressed from a leading oligo manufacturer to a genomics solutions provider supporting key application areas such as next generation sequencing, CRISPR genome editing, synthetic biology, digital PCR, and RNA interference. IDT manufactures products used by scientists researching many forms of cancer and most inherited and infectious diseases.
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Medical
PR Newswire | October 17, 2023
Ginkgo Bioworks which is building the leading platform for cell programming and biosecurity, and Zenfold Sustainable Technologies, a company focused on developing and manufacturing specialty ingredients using sustainable technologies and precision fermentation, today announced a collaboration to leverage Ginkgo Enzyme Services in its effort to discover an enzyme critical to the manufacturing of veterinary products. This partnership aims to replace traditional chemical processes in veterinary active ingredient production with a sustainable biological method.
"This collaboration marks a significant step forward in Zenfold's mission to bring sustainable manufacturing technology to the veterinary medicine industry," said Dr. BSV Prasad, CEO and Managing Director of Zenfold Sustainable Technologies. "By utilizing Ginkgo's expertise and innovation, we are well-positioned to develop a sustainable solution that will have a lasting impact on the Indian market and beyond."
"We are excited to partner with Zenfold, which brings a powerful vision of sustainable biotechnology to veterinary active ingredient development. This collaboration will enable us to apply our state-of-the-art enzyme discovery module to enable more innovation in the veterinary medicine space," said Jennifer Wipf, SVP, Head of Commercial, Cell Engineering at Ginkgo. "The project involves creating a broad library of cDNA candidates from a metagenomic collection of billions of enzyme sequences. That's the kind of scale visionary projects like this need, and Ginkgo is committed to scaling up this solution for the betterment of animal health and the environment."
About Ginkgo Bioworks
Ginkgo Bioworks is the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, providing flexible, end-to-end services that solve challenges for organizations across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to pharmaceuticals to industrial and specialty chemicals. Ginkgo's biosecurity and public health unit, Concentric by Ginkgo, is building global infrastructure for biosecurity to empower governments, communities, and public health leaders to prevent, detect and respond to a wide variety of biological threats.
About Zenfold
Zenfold Sustainable Technologies is a pioneer in the field of sustainable biology, with a focus on veterinary actives and enzyme supply. This collaboration with Ginkgo Bioworks marks Zenfold's expansion into the global veterinary market and further emphasizes their commitment to environmental responsibility and innovative biological solutions.
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