CELL AND GENE THERAPY
BioFluidica, Inc. | September 28, 2022
Biofluidica, Inc., and Hamilton Company, announced a co-marketing agreement to bring advanced Liquid Biopsy capabilities to laboratories worldwide. Biofluidica has developed the next-generation liquid biopsy platform, enabling Hamilton liquid handlers to process biological samples to isolate extremely rare circulating tumor cells, circulating Leukemic cells, fetal cells, cfDNA, and exosomes. The Biofluidica platform, LiquidScan™, integrates seamlessly into the Hamilton pipetting robots. The high precision fluid control provided by the Hamilton automated pipetting channels is designed to avoid processing loss using the Biofluidica proprietary closed-loop pipetting interface with the Biofluidica microfluidic biomarker selection chips.
This announcement represents early commercialization for BioFluidica and a unique alliance for Hamilton Company. The STARlet offers a custom application-configurable liquid handling robot with sensitive programmable pneumatic features that enable walk-away automation for precision biological procedures. LiquidScan utilizes these features to isolate and enrich rare biomarker populations directly from biological samples such as a blood draw potentially replacing the need for surgical biopsies and making testing available for cancer types not previously amenable to surgical biopsy.
"LiquidScan is a novel platform that enhances the ability to perform diagnostic testing applied to many diseases, including several types of cancer, prenatal diagnostics, stroke, and infectious diseases. We have worked with Hamilton to ensure seamless automation allowing for high-throughput and lower-cost testing than current surgical biopsy procedures. There is a win-win scenario here for patients, physicians, and the healthcare system. Because LiquidScan uses a standard blood draw, and non-invasive screening, patients can receive closer monitoring of treatment regimens, and physicians can attain higher quality and earlier patient results. Expensive and time-consuming surgical procedures can be removed from the health-care system."
Rolf Muller, BioFluidica CEO
About Hamilton
Hamilton is a leading global manufacturer, providing automated liquid handling workstations and laboratory automation technology to the scientific community. With a focus on innovative design, Hamilton products incorporate patented liquid handling technologies into a portfolio that includes liquid handling platforms, standard application-based solutions, small devices, consumables, and OEM liquid handling solutions.
Known for advancing life science, clinical diagnostics, forensics, and biotechnology industries, Hamilton products offer reliability, performance, and flexibility. Ensuring a continuous commitment to quality, Hamilton utilizes state-of-the-art manufacturing at production facilities in Reno, Nevada, and Bonaduz, Switzerland and has earned a global ISO 9001 certification. Privately held, Hamilton maintains headquarters in Reno, Nevada; Franklin, Massachusetts; and Bonaduz, Switzerland, along with subsidiary offices throughout the world.
About BioFluidica
BioFluidica Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company that has developed a revolutionary liquid biopsy platform.
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INDUSTRIAL IMPACT
Applied DNA Sciences | October 11, 2022
Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. a leader in PCR-based DNA technologies, announced that it received its largest single purchase order for LinearDNA™ valued above the mid-six-figures. The order was placed under a long-standing supply agreement for the bulk manufacture of LinearDNA for a global manufacturer of in vitro diagnostics. Under the terms of the repeat order, the Company will deliver quantities of LinearDNA to the customer in the current quarter, with the full order expected to be fulfilled over the subsequent three quarters.
LinearDNA is produced using an enzymatic manufacturing platform that eliminates the use of fermenters and bacteria required by plasmid DNA, the industry’s current manufacturing standard for DNA. LinearDNA eliminates many of the challenges associated with current plasmid-based DNA manufacturing and produces a DNA product without the risks of bacterial contamination and non-target DNA sequences. The enzymatic process provides the means to optimize a customer-specific chemistry and sequence of LinearDNA. This capability has been leveraged for diagnostic applications, including today's announced repeat order, and is commonly used when customers order LinearDNA for use as IVT templates for RNA production.
“The application of DNA-based probes in molecular diagnostics is rapidly expanding to give the industry powerful new tools to enhance the diagnosis of infectious diseases, genetic disorders, and malignancies. Our proprietary enzymatic approach to manufacturing DNA via PCR underpins our ability to produce DNA more efficiently and rapidly relative to other DNA production methods and at scale. Applying this capacity also to the manufacture of therapeutic DNA for the next generation of genetic medicines, we believe LinearDNA sits at the intersection of two growing life sciences segments that hold the potential to transform human health.”
Dr. James A. Hayward, president and CEO of Applied DNA
About Applied DNA Sciences
Applied DNA Sciences is a biotechnology company developing technologies to produce and detect deoxyribonucleic acid . Using PCR to enable both the production and detection of DNA, we operate in three primary business markets: (i) the manufacture of DNA for use in nucleic acid-based therapeutics; (ii) the detection of DNA in molecular diagnostics testing services; and (iii) the manufacture and detection of DNA for industrial supply chain security services.
The Company’s common stock is listed on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol ‘APDN,’ and its publicly traded warrants are listed on OTC under the ticker symbol ‘APPDW.’
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CELL AND GENE THERAPY
BioAge Labs, Inc. | October 14, 2022
BioAge Labs, Inc. a privately held clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapeutics that target the molecular causes of aging to extend healthy human lifespan, announced that it will present updates on its NLRP3 inhibitor program at two upcoming conferences in the United States, Neurodegeneration Targets and the Inflammasome Therapeutics Summit, and at the BIO-Europe 2022 conference in Leipzig, Germany. BioAge is developing its novel, proprietary class of NLRP3 inhibitors, which have distinct structural and biological properties and include molecules that penetrate the blood–brain barrier, for neurodegenerative and neurosensory disorders associated with aging.
“Our family of potent, structurally differentiated NLRP3 inhibitors demonstrates BioAge’s capability to discover novel compounds for promising targets emerging from our discovery platform. I am excited about the potential of these drugs to treat diseases driven by brain aging, and our team is looking forward to the opportunity to share recent data from this program at multiple important scientific gatherings.”
BioAge CEO and co-founder Kristen Fortney, PhD
At the inaugural Neurodegeneration Targets meeting hosted by Cambridge Healthtech Institute [link], Rusty Montgomery, PhD, Vice President, Biology, will deliver a talk titled “Identification of a Novel Class of Highly Potent, CNS-Penetrant NLRP3-Specific Inhibitors with Excellent Drug-Like Physical Features” in Boston, MA on Oct. 20, 2022. Kevin Willhelmsen, PhD, Associate Director of Immunology, will present on the same topic at the Inflammasome Therapeutics Summit [link] in Boston on Nov. 29, 2022.
In addition, at BIO-Europe [link], Peng Leong, PhD, MBA, Chief Business Officer and Head of Brain Aging at BioAge, will speak on a panel titled “Immuno-inflammation: A Gateway to Therapeutic Areas and New Partners” on Oct. 24, 2022. He will be joined by panelists Vishal Sahni, Director, Corporate Business Development and Strategy at H. Lundbeck A/S; Duncan Emmerton, Executive Director, Pharma Intelligence; and Andrew Mackie, Chief Business Officer, Imcyse.
“The BioAge target discovery platform revealed that NLRP3 activity is correlated with mortality and cognitive decline,” Leong said, “Inhibition of NLRP3 and other mediators of chronic inflammation identified by our platform has the potential to prevent multiple age-related disorders driven by pathologic inflammation.”
Leong will be available at BIO-Europe for potential partnership discussions. Attendees can send meeting requests to BioAge via the contact information in this release.
About BioAge Labs, Inc.
BioAge is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a pipeline of treatments to extend healthy lifespan by targeting the molecular causes of aging. The company uses its discovery platform, which combines quantitative analysis of proprietary longitudinal human samples with detailed health records to map out the key molecular pathways that impact healthy human aging. By targeting the mechanisms of aging with a large and mechanistically diverse portfolio of drugs, BioAge is unlocking opportunities to treat or even prevent age-related disease in entirely new ways. BioAge currently has multiple clinical-stage programs in its growing portfolio targeting muscle, immune, and brain aging. To date, BioAge has raised $127M from Andreessen Horowitz, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, and others.
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