INDUSTRY OUTLOOK
Xalud Therapeutics | August 25, 2021
Xalud Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel non-viral gene therapies to treat pathologic inflammation, announced today that it has raised $30 million in a Series C financing.
“We are well positioned to continue advancing XT-150, our lead therapeutic candidate, through clinical development and further expand our platform”
XT-150 is a locally injectable plasmid DNA gene therapy expressing IL-10v – a proprietary long-acting, modified variant of IL-10 with enhanced durability properties over the naturally occurring wild-type cytokine. XT-150 is currently being evaluated in a Phase 2b study for moderate-to-severe pain caused by osteoarthritis of the knee, a Phase 1/2a study for peripheral neuropathic pain and a study for facet joint syndrome is expected to be initiated by end of year. While serving as milestones along a potential route to approval for each of these indications, the studies also provide valuable safety and efficacy data to guide future clinical development for additional indications currently in the IND-enabling stage.
“We are proud to lead Xalud’s Series C financing and continue to support their efforts to build a leading gene therapy company that will address a significant unmet need in the field of chronic inflammatory diseases,” said Paul Manning, chief executive officer and chairman of PBM Capital. “Xalud has assembled an experienced leadership team, supported by diverse and distinguished strategic advisors, who have made strides in progressing their clinical programs and exploring additional indications with large potential.”
About Xalud Therapeutics
Xalud Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing a non-viral gene therapy platform to treat pathologic inflammation through immune modulation. The company is harnessing the power of interleukin-10 (IL-10), a potent cytokine that acts as a master regulator for multiple inflammatory pathways, to address the root cause of inflammation and subsequently restore homeostasis in the immune system. Xalud’s lead product candidate, XT-150, is a locally injectable plasmid DNA gene therapy expressing IL-10v, a proprietary modified variant of IL-10, that addresses pathologic inflammation and pain.
Read More
INDUSTRY OUTLOOK
Ginkgo Bioworks | September 07, 2021
Tantu, a company engineering living biotherapeutic products to treat gastrointestinal diseases, and Ginkgo Bioworks, which is building the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, today announced a partnership to accelerate the research and development of Tantu's therapeutic genes. Ginkgo, which recently announced a business combination with Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp., serves customers across industries seeking to develop new and better products using biology.
Tantu is working to create an orally administered, living biotherapeutic that will produce and apply anti-inflammatory therapeutic proteins directly into diseased sites in the gut, resulting in improved gut barrier function and faster mucosal healing in patients where systemic anti-inflammatory therapies are not enough. Ginkgo plans to apply its automated foundry to accelerate the traditionally slow steps of candidate strain construction and genomic integration and validation with the aim of accelerating Tantu's first program and potentially helping them reach clinical proof of concept in patients faster.
"Each year, 62 million Americans are diagnosed with a digestive disorder and current treatments don't sufficiently promote gastrointestinal healing, meaning many patients need to undergo invasive surgeries to improve their quality of life," said Neel Joshi, co-founder of Tantu. "A therapeutic to aid intestinal mucosal healing could transform patient care for a significant patient population."
"We are excited to partner with a pre-seed company like Tantu with the goal of reducing their time-to-market because we view it as an opportunity to invest in the biotech industry through the startups that are driving forward so much innovation," said Jason Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Ginkgo Bioworks. "Working with Tantu provides Ginkgo with the opportunity to leverage its expertise in pharmaceuticals to support the development of a potentially transformative therapeutic for the millions struggling with digestive disorders."
Companies across numerous industries use Ginkgo's cell programming platform to find more effective, environmentally friendly ways to create products including food ingredients, fragrances, cosmetics, medicines, and more. By enabling the design of organisms that can produce valuable biological products, Ginkgo helps accelerate the development of innovative, bio-based solutions to the world's most pressing challenges.
About Tantu Therapeutics
Tantu is developing living biotherapeutic products to treat gastrointestinal diseases. Its lead therapeutic candidate is an engineered microbe that produces anti-inflammatory and healing agents from inside the gut lumen – something that no clinically approved therapeutic currently does. Tantu's local delivery strategy is designed to improve patient outcomes by reducing reliance solely on systemic anti-inflammatory drugs that can suppress the immune system. Tantu's living biotherapeutic products are being designed to complement proven approaches to further improve patients' health and quality of life.
About Ginkgo Bioworks
Ginkgo is building a platform to enable customers to program cells as easily as we can program computers. The company's platform is enabling biotechnology applications across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to industrial chemicals to pharmaceuticals. Ginkgo has also actively supported a number of COVID-19 response efforts, including K-12 pooled testing, vaccine manufacturing optimization and therapeutics discovery. In May 2021, Ginkgo announced a business combination with Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: SRNG), which, if completed, will result in Ginkgo, through a parent entity, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc., becoming a public company. The extraordinary general meeting of Soaring Eagle's shareholders in connection with the transaction has been scheduled for September 14, 2021 and the transaction is expected to close shortly thereafter, subject to customary closing conditions.
Read More
MEDICAL
Berkery, Noyes & Co. | October 08, 2021
Entopsis, Inc., the developer of an unbiased approach to diagnostics using bio-molecular signatures with a focus on oncology, announced that it has engaged Berkery Noyes & Co. as its financial advisor to assist the company in pursuing strategic alternatives for their OpsisDxTM platform.
OpsisDxTM is a urine-based technology platform that shifts the focus away from conventional RNA and DNA approaches, offering a highly sensitive and specific diagnostic test for the detection of early-stage cancers. Its IP-protected platform detects urine chemical signatures via a proprietary array, achieving clinically significant results through its proprietary machine learning algorithms. Validation studies on OpsisDxTM have initially focused on detecting early-stage cancers, and the platform has now expanded to detecting multiple other diseases in a highly scalable fashion.
Now is the time to launch OpsisDxTM. There's greater acceptance of multi-disease testing platforms from a scientific, regulatory and business perspective; the industry as a whole has crossed the tipping point, We are seeking an established partner who shares our vision of empowering people with actionable, low costs and accurate healthcare information with an eye towards the long-term interests of Entopsis.
- Obdulio Piloto, CEO of Entopsis Inc.
AboutEntopsis, Inc.,
Entopsis utilizes a proprietary material science screening platform to develop cost-effective and impactful products.
Read More