MEDTECH, INDUSTRIAL IMPACT
BioNTech and InstaDeep | January 12, 2023
BioNTech and InstaDeep Ltd. recently signed an agreement wherein the former is set to acquire InstaDeep, a worldwide leader in AI and ML technologies.
The acquisition involves a total upfront payment of about £362 million in cash, while BioNTech shares will be used to buy the remaining 100% of InstaDeep shares, excluding those currently held by BioNTech.
The acquisition strengthens BioNTech's aim to establish world-leading abilities in AI-driven drug discovery and develop vaccines as well as next-generation immunotherapies to treat diseases with significant unmet medical needs. In addition, the company will enhance its network of worldwide research collaborators and expand its presence in many talent hubs throughout the United States, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe due to the acquisition.
With the acquisition of InstaDeep, BioNTech's proven and new AI- and ML-based models will be added to all of its discovery platforms and linked to an automated lab infrastructure through InstaDeep's DeepChainTM platform.
MD, CEO and Co-Founder of BioNTech, Prof. Ugur Sahin, said, "Since the inception of BioNTech, we have focused on leveraging computational solutions to create personalized immunotherapies that can reach a wide patient population."
(Source: Globe Newswire)
Adding to this, CEO and Co-Founder of InstaDeep, Karim Beguir, stated, "AI is progressing exponentially and our mission at InstaDeep has always been to make sure it benefits everyone. We are very excited to join forces and become one team with BioNTech, with whom we share the same culture of deep tech innovation and focus on positive human impact."
(Source: Globe Newswire)
About BioNTech
BioNTech is a fully-integrated and worldwide leader in immunotherapy. It has been focusing on automating and digitizing processes and developing capacities for the specialized production of individual vaccinations and large-scale goods, such as the COVID-19 vaccine. As immunotherapy pioneers, the company believes that science and innovation can make a difference for humankind. Therefore, since the beginning, it has focused on harnessing the immune system's total capacity to combat cancer and infectious diseases.
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CELL AND GENE THERAPY, INDUSTRIAL IMPACT
Sana Biotechnology | January 30, 2023
Sana Biotechnology, Inc., a firm focused on producing and delivering engineered cells as medicines, recently announced that the FDA has approved the company's Investigational New Drug (IND) application to begin a first-in-human trial of SC291 in patients with different types of B-cell malignancies.
SC291 is an allogeneic CAR T cell therapy that targets CD19. It is developed by Sana using its hypoimmune platform. The hypoimmune platform's objective is to overcome the allogeneic cells' immunologic rejection, which, if valid for SC291, could lead to prolonged CAR T cell persistence and increased rates of durable complete responses in patients with B-cell lymphomas or leukemias.
The hypoimmune platform includes disruption of the major histocompatibility (MHC) class I and class II expression to conceal cells from the adaptive immune system, which consists of antibody and T cell responses and overexpression of CD47 to inhibit activation of the innate immune cell system, especially macrophages and natural killer (NK) cells. The company has provided evidence from numerous preclinical models demonstrating the potential of this platform to cloak cells from immune detection and the therapeutic potential of SC291 for patients with B-cell malignancies.
About Sana Biotechnology
Founded in 2018, Sana Biotechnology is a firm focused on utilizing engineered cells as medicines for patients. It is constructing differentiated capabilities across the spectrum of cell and gene therapy. The company is motivated by three goals as it seeks solutions for people with poor outcomes or diseases that are currently incurable. The first is the ability to repair and control the genes in any cell in the body. It is developing innovative delivery technologies in order to deliver any payload to any cell in a precise, predictable, and repeatable manner, paving the way for next-generation in vivo gene therapy. Next comes the ability to develop pluripotent stem cells ex vivo into immune-cloaked functional cells, to replace any missing or damaged cells in the body. Finally, it believes that it can also enable broader access to its therapies by focusing on scalable manufacturing solutions, the manufacturing costs, and aligning with key stakeholders.
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INDUSTRIAL IMPACT, MEDICAL
Molecular Assemblies, Inc. | March 15, 2023
On March 14, 2023, Molecular Assemblies, Inc., a leading life sciences company, made a significant announcement regarding its enzymatic DNA synthesis technology. The company has successfully shipped the first enzymatically synthesized oligonucleotides to leading researchers in biotechnology, academic, and synthetic biology. The capacity to synthesize lengthy, extremely pure DNA promptly utilizing a proprietary Fully Enzymatic Synthesis (FES) technology solves critical unmet demands in DNA synthesis, thus allowing demanding and high-value applications such as CRISPR gene editing.
Long, highly pure single-stranded oligonucleotides are critical in various applications, such as CRISPR gene editing tools used in therapeutic development, research discovery and protein engineering. However, the availability of desired sequences required to make advanced edits has been a significant bottleneck.
Molecular Assemblies' Key Client Program gives chosen researchers priority access to lengthy and customized oligonucleotides synthesized utilizing the company's FES technology. Thanks to this initiative, customers are expected to speed up their research in CRISPR gene editing and other applications needing long oligonucleotides. In addition, key customers can give input to shape the future of enzymatic DNA synthesis. Molecular Assemblies plans to present more details about the technology at the SynBioBeta 2023 conference in Oakland, California, from May 23-25.
Molecular Assemblies' President and CEO Michael J. Kamdar commented, "With the achievement of this significant commercial milestone, we are proving that fully enzymatic synthesis can deliver the DNA that customers want today, without compromise," He further emphasized, "Customers want application-ready DNA, unrestricted by length and sequence-complexity, which we know is essential to power new breakthroughs in scientific research and accelerate innovation for many industries, including next generation medicines and technologies."
(Source – PR Newswire)
About Molecular Assemblies, Inc.
Molecular Assemblies, Inc. is a leading company dedicated to developing enzymatic DNA synthesis technology to address key challenges in DNA synthesis. Its proprietary Fully Enzymatic Synthesis (FES) technology aims to provide an innovative solution to produce long, pure DNA quickly, efficiently, and sustainably. As a result, molecular Assemblies' FES technology has the potential to transform the field of DNA synthesis by enabling the production of high-quality, long oligonucleotides. This development has significant implications for research discovery, therapeutic development, and protein engineering, particularly in the context of CRISPR gene editing. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in San Diego, California. It has received significant funding from various sources, including venture capital firms, angel investors, and government agencies.
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