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Helping robots to build new antibiotics

Phys.org | July 19, 2019

A team from The University of Manchester have engineered a common gut bacterium to produce a new class of antibiotics by using robotics. These antibiotics, known as class II polyketides, are also naturally produced by soil bacteria and have antimicrobial properties which are vital in the modern pharmaceutical industry to combat infectious diseases and cancer. he naturally produced Escherichia colibacteria are difficult to work with as they grow in dense clumps that are incompatible with the automated robotic systems used for modern biotechnology research. By transferring the production machinery from the soil bacteria into E. coli, the Manchester team is now making this class of antibiotics accessible for much more rapid exploration.

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ATPlite assay performance in human primary cells

One of the criteria for a compound to be considered druggable is the ability to cause or block a biological activity without toxic effects in an in vitro setting using primary human cells. As a read-out for compound-induced activity or toxicity, it is common to determine cell proliferation or cell death.  Proliferation and cytotoxicity can be by looking at ATP levels in the cell. See how ATPlite and ATPlite 1step serve as robust, rapid, high-throughput luminescence assays to quantitatively evaluate proliferation and cytotoxicity in cultured human primary cells.

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Spotlight

ATPlite assay performance in human primary cells

One of the criteria for a compound to be considered druggable is the ability to cause or block a biological activity without toxic effects in an in vitro setting using primary human cells. As a read-out for compound-induced activity or toxicity, it is common to determine cell proliferation or cell death.  Proliferation and cytotoxicity can be by looking at ATP levels in the cell. See how ATPlite and ATPlite 1step serve as robust, rapid, high-throughput luminescence assays to quantitatively evaluate proliferation and cytotoxicity in cultured human primary cells.

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MEDICAL

SOPHiA GENETICS Launches New Solution to Advance Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Care, in Collaboration with IDIBAPS

biotech, biotechnology, cell, gene, tissue | June 10, 2022

SOPHiA GENETICS (Nasdaq: SOPH), the Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) of Barcelona, and the Spanish Diagnóstica Longwood today announced from the European Hematology Association Congress in Vienna that they have combined their expertise to develop a new Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) solution to advance CLL care. This collaboration will unify the wide variety of current guideline recommendations into one single application aiming to improve CLL characterization and CLL research practices in Iberia. SOPHiA GENETICS has already facilitated the analysis of one million genomic profiles through the SOPHiA DDM™ Platform, including a significant amount of onco-hematological-related diseases such as acute myeloid leukemia and lymphomas. The Platform computes a wide array of genomic variants needed to continually hone machine learning algorithms designed to accurately detect rare and challenging cases. The growing number of users of the SOPHiA DDM™ community can share and access insights by pulling the relevant signals detected from the noise, ultimately saving time and helping to make better-informed decisions. The new CLL solution allows for progress of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia research using genomic analysis. This could lead to better detection of the disease, which accounts for 25-30% of all leukemia cases in Western countries and affects yearly more than 100,000 people globally[1], and ultimately improve patient care. Thanks to the SOPHiA DDM™ Platform and IDIBAPS, hematopathologists can now access guidelines for the mutational status of TP53, immunoglobulin (IG) gene rearrangements and their somatic hypermutation status, while benefitting from the identification of 23 CLL-specific genes for SNVs, InDels and CNVs including NOTCH1, SF3B1, ATM, IGLV3-21, BTK, PLCG2, BCL2, del13q14, and trisomy 12, all in one single NGS workflow. The new CLL solution has already been used in routine in Spain, with further opportunities throughout the country, and in Latin America through Diagnóstica Longwood's distribution channels. We are proud to work together with some of the most renowned experts in the field of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia research around the world. This partnership is a great example of how combining advanced data analytics with emerging CLL strategies can move the possibilities of data-driven medicine forward." Lara Hashimoto, Chief Business Officer at SOPHiA GENETICS. It is a great satisfaction to see how thanks to the partnership with SOPHiA GENETICS and Diagnóstica Longwood we will be able to transfer into clinical practice the relevant information generated for so many years in the research of CLL using a simple and robust assay." Elías Campo, principal investigator and director of IDIBAPS. About SOPHiA GENETICS SOPHiA GENETICS (Nasdaq: SOPH) is a healthcare technology company dedicated to establishing the practice of data-driven medicine as the standard of care and for life sciences research. It is the creator of the SOPHiA DDM™ Platform, a cloud-based SaaS platform capable of analyzing data and generating insights from complex multimodal data sets and different diagnostic modalities. The SOPHiA DDM™ Platform and related solutions, products and services are currently used by more than 790 hospital, laboratory, and biopharma institutions globally. About IDIBAPS The August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS) is a biomedical research center of excellence that addresses the most common diseases in our environment. It is a public consortium comprising the Catalan Government (Generalitat de Catalunya), the Hospital Clínic Barcelona, the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Barcelona and the CSIC Institute of Biomedical Research of Barcelona. About 1,500 professionals are organized in a hundred research groups. IDIBAPS undertakes translational research. It focuses on ensuring that the questions that arise at the patient's bedside have a response in the laboratory, and that advances made in the laboratory are promptly applied to patients. With over 1,200 articles published annually, it is the leading biomedical research center in Spain.

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Lesaffre and Recombia Biosciences Announces Strategic Partnership to Advance Innovative Gene Editing Technology

Recombia Biosciences | November 02, 2020

Recombia Biosciences announces the launch of operations in Brisbane, California. The company aims to harness its proprietary genome editing technologies to accelerate the development of yeast for sustainable production of fermented ingredients. For the next few years Recombia and Lesaffre will be joining forces in the area of yeast strain development. With its partnership with Recombia, Lesaffre is investing in major pioneering technology. The ability to generate thousands of yeast strains in parallel, combined with laboratory automation, is expected to exponentially accelerate development of projects in the areas of health, the environment, and energy. The partnership also signifies Lesaffre's entry into the world of Synthetic Biology, considered to be the major biotechnological opportunity of this decade. Recombia Biosciences was founded by three Stanford University researchers in 2019 as a spin-off from the prestigious Stanford Genome Technology Center (SGTC). Recombia's technologies are based upon techniques that increase the efficiency of genome editing and enable engineering of yeast at very high throughput. The strategic collaboration with Lesaffre aims to advance Recombia's proprietary gene editing technologies to identify new yeast strains, discover novel yeast physiology of industrial relevance and optimize the production of biosourced ingredients and biofuels.

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MEDICAL

Moderna Announces Supply Agreement with UK Government for Additional 2 Million Doses of mRNA-1273, Moderna’s Vaccine Candidate Against Covid-19

Moderna | November 30, 2020

Moderna, Inc., a biotechnology organization pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines to make new generation of transformative medicines for patients, today reported a supply agreement with the UK government for an extra 2 million doses of mRNA-1273, Moderna's vaccine candidate against COVID-19, to the United Kingdom starting in March 2021. The UK government has now made sure about 7 million dosages of mRNA-1273. This confirmation comes as the UK proceeds with its efforts to secure access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines by establishing a broad portfolio of the most promising vaccines. On November 16, Moderna reported that the autonomous, NIH-appointed Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) for the Phase 3 investigation of mRNA-1273, its vaccine candidate against COVID-19, has informed Moderna that the trial has met the statistical criteria pre-specified in the study protocol for efficacy, with a vaccine efficacy of 94.5%. This study, known as the COVE study, enrolled more than 30,000 participants in the U.S. and is being conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Read More

MEDICAL

SOPHiA GENETICS Launches New Solution to Advance Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Care, in Collaboration with IDIBAPS

biotech, biotechnology, cell, gene, tissue | June 10, 2022

SOPHiA GENETICS (Nasdaq: SOPH), the Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) of Barcelona, and the Spanish Diagnóstica Longwood today announced from the European Hematology Association Congress in Vienna that they have combined their expertise to develop a new Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) solution to advance CLL care. This collaboration will unify the wide variety of current guideline recommendations into one single application aiming to improve CLL characterization and CLL research practices in Iberia. SOPHiA GENETICS has already facilitated the analysis of one million genomic profiles through the SOPHiA DDM™ Platform, including a significant amount of onco-hematological-related diseases such as acute myeloid leukemia and lymphomas. The Platform computes a wide array of genomic variants needed to continually hone machine learning algorithms designed to accurately detect rare and challenging cases. The growing number of users of the SOPHiA DDM™ community can share and access insights by pulling the relevant signals detected from the noise, ultimately saving time and helping to make better-informed decisions. The new CLL solution allows for progress of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia research using genomic analysis. This could lead to better detection of the disease, which accounts for 25-30% of all leukemia cases in Western countries and affects yearly more than 100,000 people globally[1], and ultimately improve patient care. Thanks to the SOPHiA DDM™ Platform and IDIBAPS, hematopathologists can now access guidelines for the mutational status of TP53, immunoglobulin (IG) gene rearrangements and their somatic hypermutation status, while benefitting from the identification of 23 CLL-specific genes for SNVs, InDels and CNVs including NOTCH1, SF3B1, ATM, IGLV3-21, BTK, PLCG2, BCL2, del13q14, and trisomy 12, all in one single NGS workflow. The new CLL solution has already been used in routine in Spain, with further opportunities throughout the country, and in Latin America through Diagnóstica Longwood's distribution channels. We are proud to work together with some of the most renowned experts in the field of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia research around the world. This partnership is a great example of how combining advanced data analytics with emerging CLL strategies can move the possibilities of data-driven medicine forward." Lara Hashimoto, Chief Business Officer at SOPHiA GENETICS. It is a great satisfaction to see how thanks to the partnership with SOPHiA GENETICS and Diagnóstica Longwood we will be able to transfer into clinical practice the relevant information generated for so many years in the research of CLL using a simple and robust assay." Elías Campo, principal investigator and director of IDIBAPS. About SOPHiA GENETICS SOPHiA GENETICS (Nasdaq: SOPH) is a healthcare technology company dedicated to establishing the practice of data-driven medicine as the standard of care and for life sciences research. It is the creator of the SOPHiA DDM™ Platform, a cloud-based SaaS platform capable of analyzing data and generating insights from complex multimodal data sets and different diagnostic modalities. The SOPHiA DDM™ Platform and related solutions, products and services are currently used by more than 790 hospital, laboratory, and biopharma institutions globally. About IDIBAPS The August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS) is a biomedical research center of excellence that addresses the most common diseases in our environment. It is a public consortium comprising the Catalan Government (Generalitat de Catalunya), the Hospital Clínic Barcelona, the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Barcelona and the CSIC Institute of Biomedical Research of Barcelona. About 1,500 professionals are organized in a hundred research groups. IDIBAPS undertakes translational research. It focuses on ensuring that the questions that arise at the patient's bedside have a response in the laboratory, and that advances made in the laboratory are promptly applied to patients. With over 1,200 articles published annually, it is the leading biomedical research center in Spain.

Read More

Lesaffre and Recombia Biosciences Announces Strategic Partnership to Advance Innovative Gene Editing Technology

Recombia Biosciences | November 02, 2020

Recombia Biosciences announces the launch of operations in Brisbane, California. The company aims to harness its proprietary genome editing technologies to accelerate the development of yeast for sustainable production of fermented ingredients. For the next few years Recombia and Lesaffre will be joining forces in the area of yeast strain development. With its partnership with Recombia, Lesaffre is investing in major pioneering technology. The ability to generate thousands of yeast strains in parallel, combined with laboratory automation, is expected to exponentially accelerate development of projects in the areas of health, the environment, and energy. The partnership also signifies Lesaffre's entry into the world of Synthetic Biology, considered to be the major biotechnological opportunity of this decade. Recombia Biosciences was founded by three Stanford University researchers in 2019 as a spin-off from the prestigious Stanford Genome Technology Center (SGTC). Recombia's technologies are based upon techniques that increase the efficiency of genome editing and enable engineering of yeast at very high throughput. The strategic collaboration with Lesaffre aims to advance Recombia's proprietary gene editing technologies to identify new yeast strains, discover novel yeast physiology of industrial relevance and optimize the production of biosourced ingredients and biofuels.

Read More

MEDICAL

Moderna Announces Supply Agreement with UK Government for Additional 2 Million Doses of mRNA-1273, Moderna’s Vaccine Candidate Against Covid-19

Moderna | November 30, 2020

Moderna, Inc., a biotechnology organization pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines to make new generation of transformative medicines for patients, today reported a supply agreement with the UK government for an extra 2 million doses of mRNA-1273, Moderna's vaccine candidate against COVID-19, to the United Kingdom starting in March 2021. The UK government has now made sure about 7 million dosages of mRNA-1273. This confirmation comes as the UK proceeds with its efforts to secure access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines by establishing a broad portfolio of the most promising vaccines. On November 16, Moderna reported that the autonomous, NIH-appointed Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) for the Phase 3 investigation of mRNA-1273, its vaccine candidate against COVID-19, has informed Moderna that the trial has met the statistical criteria pre-specified in the study protocol for efficacy, with a vaccine efficacy of 94.5%. This study, known as the COVE study, enrolled more than 30,000 participants in the U.S. and is being conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Read More

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