CELL AND GENE THERAPY
PR Newswire | May 12, 2023
Mission Bio, the single-cell DNA and multi-omics company, announced today the Tapestri® Genome Editing Solution, an end-to-end product for genome editing analysis. The product will be previewed next week at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy Conference (ASGCT) 26th Annual Meeting. By enabling robust single-cell insights impacting both efficacy and safety, the solution will be a powerful analytical tool for developing the next generation of gene-edited therapies.
The first CRISPR-modified therapy is now under regulatory review, and many similar cell-based therapies are expected to follow for multiple intractable diseases. However, genome editing can result in complex, heterogeneous mixtures of edits that make it challenging to apply a level of process control over genome-edited cell products. The Tapestri® Genome Editing Solution addresses these challenges by measuring gene editing outcomes at single-cell resolution, capturing the co-occurrence of on- and off-target edits, as well as the zygosity of edits, which conventional bulk analyses cannot. Additionally, this analysis can be completed within days by processing thousands of cells at a time without any prior selection, while conventional analytical methods require months for clonal outgrowth.
An early iteration of the Tapestri® Genome Editing Solution is currently being tested by key genome editing researchers and leading cell therapy developers in academia and industry, who are providing vital feedback on the analysis. Mission Bio recently collaborated with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the Genome Editing Consortium, which provided qualified samples to collaborators to assess technologies that report variant size and frequency within a mixed cell population. Samantha Maragh, NIST Genome Editing Program Leader, will present results of the study at 12:00 p.m. PT on May 17 (Poster 533) at the ASGCT Annual Meeting.
"We look forward to pulling back the curtain on our end-to-end Genome Editing Solution at ASGCT," said Todd Druley, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer at Mission Bio. "The data acquired under the Genome Editing Consortium further demonstrates the Tapestri® Platform's potential as a standard analysis tool within the genome editing community. Given the heterogeneous results of gene editing strategies, there is a great need to address both industry and regulatory genome editing concerns with a consistent and highly precise technology for accurately measuring gene editing outcomes, and our new offering will be a complete solution to do just that."
About Mission Bio
Mission Bio is a life sciences company that accelerates discoveries and cures for a wide range of diseases by equipping researchers with the tools they need to better measure and predict our resistance and response to new therapies. Mission Bio's multi-omics approach improves time-to-market for new therapeutics, including innovative cell and gene therapies that provide new pathways to health. Founded in 2014, Mission Bio has secured investment from Novo Growth, Cota Capital, Agilent Technologies, Mayfield Fund, and others.
The company's Tapestri® Platform gives researchers around the globe the power to interrogate every molecule in a cell together, providing a comprehensive understanding of activity from a single sample. Tapestri® is the only commercialized multi-omics platform capable of analyzing DNA and protein simultaneously from the same sample at single-cell resolution. The Tapestri® Platform is being utilized by customers at leading research centers, pharmaceutical, and diagnostics companies worldwide to develop treatments and eventually cures for cancer.
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CELL AND GENE THERAPY
iTolerance | July 01, 2022
iTolerance, Inc., an early-stage privately held regenerative medicine company developing technology to enable organoid, tissue, and cell therapy, announced entering into a joint collaboration with LyGenesis, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company with an organ regeneration technology platform. The joint collaboration is aimed at evaluating the potential of iTOL-201, a product candidate being developed combining LyGenesis' LYG-LIV-100 liver cell therapy and iTolerance's SA FasL microgel immune tolerance platform to permit the growth of ectopic livers without the requirement for immune suppression.
The joint research effort of iTolerance and LyGenesis has produced in vitro data using iTOL-201 and is now moving toward small animal proof of concept work to assess the potential of the combined technology for producing ectopic livers capable of saving the animals from fatal liver disorders without the requirement for immune suppression.
With our lead therapy now in the clinic in a Phase 2a trial in patients with End Stage Liver Disease, we have turned our attention toward a second-generation therapy capable of growing ectopic organs without the need for immune suppression. iTolerance's platform holds enormous promise in this respect and we look forward to the results from our joint proof of concept work."
Dr. Michael Hufford, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of LyGenesis.
While long-term immunosuppression continues to be an obstacle for the use of cell and regenerative therapies, the research being conducted between both LyGenesis and iTolerance could allow for a major advancement in organ regeneration, As we advance our own pipeline of therapies focused on supporting pancreatic islet engraftments, I believe this synergistic collaborative research with LyGenesis has the potential to successfully combine technologies to drive significant value for both biotech companies and importantly, the patients we work to serve."
Dr. Anthony Japour, Chief Executive Officer of iTolerance.
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MEDICAL
Anitoa | June 30, 2022
Anitoa Systems, market leader in fast, portable molecular testing, today announced the availability of a CE-marked turn-key PCR solution for testing Monkeypox. This portable solution includes one of a family small foot-print real time PCR instruments called the Maverick qPCR, with an extraction-free multiplex PCR reagent that tests OPXV/MPXV gene-targets in the skin lesion sample from patients suspected of infection with Monkeypox. Anitoa's Monkeypox test is designed to be carried out on-site, near patient, thus avoiding the need to transport patient samples to central labs for testing.
The World Health Organization reported that over 2,100 people in 42 countries have been diagnosed with monkeypox as of June 15, nearly all during the past two months. As of June 17, the CDC reports 24 confirmed monkeypox cases in California, US. Although The CDC reports that the threat to the general U.S. population is considered low, it is important for healthcare providers worldwide to have a preparedness plan.
Already having a presence in Africa, Anitoa Systems has started deloying its near-patient Monkeypox test in selected clinics in Africa. Anitoa is prepared to deliver its Monkeypox test solution world-wide when the need arises.
Anitoa's Maverick line of multiplex real time PCR devices are lab-accurate, fast, portable and calibration-free. They can operate on battery power (including car battery) and takes up very little bench space. Maverick qPCR instruments are built on Anitoa's proprietary CMOS biosensor technology. They have been used widely for on-site testing of food, environment samples and agriculture products due to its rugged all solid-state design, small form factor, and lower operation cost.
Anitoa's Monkeypox detection solution is part of an on-going program at Anitoa to develop tests to help combat a series of neglected tropical diseases in low resource settings. These tests currently include IVDR tests for Dengue, Yellow Fever, and Malaria
We are closely monitoring the situation of Monkeypox infections around the world and tailoring our test solutions to the needs of the people affected."
Zhimin ding, CEO of Anitoa Systems, LLC
About Anitoa
Anitoa Systems, a medical device technology start-up established in 2013 with headquarter in Sunnyvale, California, develops highly integrated and portable bio-sensor devices for molecular detection, based on its unique CMOS image sensor-based fluorescence and chemiluminescence molecular imaging. By replacing the traditional bulky and costly photon-multiplier tube (PMT) and CCD-based optical sub-systems, Anitoa's ultra-low-light CMOS sensor technology enables a new generation of compact and inexpensive molecular testing platforms targeting infectious, oncology and cardio-vascular markers. Anitoa manufactures its qPCR instruments and test kits in Hangzhou, China and Fremont, California.
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