Industry Outlook
Businesswire | July 07, 2023
Tempus, a leader in artificial intelligence and precision medicine, announced a new collaboration to develop a companion diagnostic (CDx) test with TScan Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of T cell receptor (TCR)-engineered T cell therapies (TCR-T) for the treatment of cancer patients. The collaboration supports TScan’s screening protocol for its Phase 1 solid tumor clinical trial which is designed to enable customized mixtures of TCR-Ts to be administered to patients based on tumor antigen positivity and intact HLA expression.
TCR-Ts genetically reprogram a patient’s immune system to recognize and fight their cancers. TScan plans to enroll patients with solid tumors including non-small cell lung cancer, melanoma, head and neck cancer, ovarian cancer, and cervical cancer. Up to 40% of these tumors lose half of their HLA genes, which is a frequent and overlooked cause of resistance to immunotherapies such as TCR-Ts. TScan is collaborating with Tempus to use the xT assay, Tempus’ 648-gene panel, to prospectively identify patients with HLA loss in the tumor to select TCR-Ts that recognize HLA genes still intact in the patient’s tumor.
“Utilizing the assay developed in collaboration with Tempus will help determine if the clinical trial participants’ tumors have undergone partial HLA loss and so will enable us to choose the most appropriate TCR-Ts that are customized for the patient’s tumor antigens and preserved HLA genes,” said Debora Barton, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at TScan. “The breadth and depth of selection criteria in this study, including the Tempus companion diagnostic, has the potential to help a significant number of patients across multiple solid tumor types through identification of patients most likely to respond to TCR-T treatment.”
“This CDx work is unique because we’re looking for information that’s not currently in the list of readouts you typically receive from next-generation sequencing of a solid tumor,” said Michael Yasiejko, Executive Vice President at Tempus. “Tempus is uniquely positioned to develop a custom pipeline to extract information from standard tests that need to guide TCR-T therapy development and ultimately help identify patients that may benefit from these therapies.”
About Tempus
Tempus is a technology company advancing precision medicine through the practical application of artificial intelligence in healthcare. With one of the world’s largest libraries of clinical and molecular data, and an operating system to make that data accessible and useful, Tempus enables physicians to make near real-time, data-driven decisions to deliver personalized patient care and in parallel facilitates discovery, development and delivery of optimal therapeutics. The goal is for each patient to benefit from the treatment of others who came before by providing physicians with tools that learn as the company gathers more data.
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Medical, Industry Outlook
Globenewswire | August 16, 2023
Graf Acquisition Corp. IV and NKGen Biotech, Inc. on August 14, 2023 announced that Graf’s registration statement on Form S-4 relating to the previously announced business combination (the “Business Combination”) with NKGen, has been declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Graf also commenced mailing the definitive proxy statement/prospectus on August 14, 2023, which was included in the Registration Statement, relating to the special meeting of its stockholders to be held in connection with the Business Combination (the “Special Meeting”) to stockholders of record as of the close of business on August 7, 2023 (the “Record Date”).
The Special Meeting will be held virtually at 10:00 a.m., New York City time, on August 30, 2023 at https://www.cstproxy.com/grafiv/sm2023. Graf’s stockholders of record as of the Record Date are entitled to vote at the Special Meeting. In connection with the Special Meeting, Graf’s stockholders who wish to exercise their redemption rights must do so no later than 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on August 28, 2023 by following the procedures specified in the definitive proxy statement/prospectus for the Special Meeting.
In addition, Graf announced on August 14, 2023 that it intends to voluntarily transfer the listing of its shares of common stock and public warrants to The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) from the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) following the completion of the Business Combination. In connection with the closing of the Business Combination, Graf will change its name to “NKGen Biotech, Inc.” and NKGen will change its name to “NKGen Operating Biotech, Inc.” The common stock and public warrants of the post-combination company are expected to commence trading on Nasdaq the day after the closing of the Business Combination under the symbols “NKGN” and “NKGNW,” respectively. Graf’s units, common stock and public warrants will continue to trade on the NYSE until the transfer is complete.
The decision to list on Nasdaq was made in consideration of the Business Combination and enables the post-combination company to be listed alongside the other innovative biotechnology companies that are also listed on Nasdaq. At the closing of the Business Combination, Graf will delist its units, shares of common stock and public warrants from the NYSE. The Nasdaq listing and NYSE delisting are subject to the closing of the Business Combination and fulfillment of all Nasdaq listing requirements and NYSE delisting procedures.
About Graf Acquisition Corp. IV
Graf is a blank-check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses.
About NKGen Biotech, Inc.
NKGen is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative autologous, allogeneic, and CAR-NK natural killer cell therapies. NKGen is headquartered in Santa Ana, California, USA.
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Cell and Gene Therapy, MedTech
PRNewswire | June 30, 2023
Eurofins Genomics Blue Heron is thrilled to announce the launch of our cutting-edge IVT mRNA Synthesis Service. With this revolutionary service, we aim to offer a game-changing solution to the challenges of gene expression research.
The new service offers a comprehensive solution for researchers seeking high-quality, customizable mRNA synthesis with fast turnaround times. The IVT mRNA Synthesis Service is based on the latest in vitro transcription (IVT) technology, which allows for the rapid and efficient synthesis of high-quality messenger RNA (mRNA) transcripts.
The IVT mRNA Synthesis Service has been designed to meet the needs of scientists in a wide range of fields, including molecular biology, drug discovery, vaccine development, and gene therapy. With our service, researchers can customize mRNA transcripts to suit their specific research needs, including modifying the sequence, length, and purity of the mRNA.
Our cutting-edge IVT mRNA Synthesis Service offers
High-quality mRNA synthesis for a wide range of applications
Fast turnaround times and delivery options
Customizable mRNA synthesis to meet specific research needs
Competitive pricing to fit all budgets
A dedicated team of experts to assist with all aspects of the synthesis process
"We are excited to offer this groundbreaking service to the scientific community," said Isaiah Chuang, President of Eurofins Genomics Blue Heron. "Our IVT mRNA Synthesis Service is a game-changer for researchers seeking to advance their work in gene expression research, drug discovery, and beyond. We look forward to partnering with researchers to help them achieve their goals."
About Eurofins Genomics
Eurofins Genomics US is a leading provider of DNA synthesis, sequencing services, and gene synthesis. The company's strengths are its speed, quality, and commitment to customers, which include the pharma, diagnostics, food, agriculture, biotechnological and research sector.
About Eurofins Scientific
Eurofins Scientific, through its subsidiaries (hereinafter "Eurofins" or "the Group"), believes it is a global leader in food, environmental, pharmaceutical and cosmetics products testing and in agroscience CRO services. It is also one of the global independent market leaders in certain testing and laboratory services for genomics, discovery pharmacology, forensics, CDMO, advanced material sciences and in the support of clinical studies. In addition, Eurofins is one of the leading global emerging players in esoteric clinical diagnostic testing. With over 61,000 staff across a network of more than 900 independent companies in over 54 countries generally specialised by end client markets and operating more than 1000 laboratories, Eurofins offers a portfolio of over 200,000 analytical methods to evaluate the safety, identity, composition, authenticity, origin, traceability and purity of biological substances and products, as well as providing innovative clinical diagnostic testing services. The Group's objective is to provide customers with high-quality and innovative services, accurate results on time and, when requested, expert advice by its highly-qualified staff.
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