CELL AND GENE THERAPY
Vipergen | February 18, 2021
Vipergen ApS announced today a published study depicting a ground-breaking new medication revelation approach that empowers, interestingly, screening DNA-encoded small-molecule libraries (DELs) inside living cells. The study, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Chemical Society, highlights the potential of Vipergen's Cellular Binder Trap Enrichment® (cBTE) technology to significantly grow the ability to discover novel small molecules, including against difficult-to-drug targets, and reduce attrition rates in drug discovery. Vipergen is offering its cBTE DNA-encoded library drug disclosure platform as a service to biotechnology and pharmaceutical company partners to accelerate and improve their drug discovery processes.
"This research validates the potential for Vipergen's Cellular Binder Trap Enrichment platform to become a revolutionary tool in small-molecule drug discovery based on its ability to successfully screen DELs against drug targets inside living cells, with no requirement for purified active target protein," said Nils Hansen, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Vipergen. "We expect the ability to perform DEL screening under the more physiologically relevant conditions of a living cell to significantly lower attrition rates in drug discovery. Furthermore, by uniquely allowing us to eliminate the requirement for highly purified active target protein, this technology will improve timelines and bring about new options for novel drug development by allowing us to screen many more targets, prioritize those giving the most promising screening results, and screen DELs against challenging targets that are difficult to express and purify in an active form. We look forward to providing this new tool to biotechnology and pharmaceutical partners to substantially improve the efficiency and success of their small-molecule drug discovery efforts."
About Vipergen's Cellular Binder Trap Enrichment®(cBTE) Technology
Vipergen's proprietary Cellular Binder Trap Enrichment®(cBTE) is the first and only technology for screening DNA-encoded small-molecule libraries (DELs) inside a living cell. The platform is designed to accelerate and improve the success rate for discovering novel, high-quality small molecules for drug development—including against challenging drug targets that are difficult to express and purify in an active form.
About Vipergen ApS
Vipergen is a world-leading provider of small-molecule drug discovery services based on DNA-encoded library (DEL) technologies and is the first and only company capable of screening DELs inside a living cell. Vipergen provides its proprietary suite of leading-edge DEL technologies as a service to biotechnology and pharmaceutical company partners, including top pharmaceutical companies in the U.S., EU, and Japan.
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CELL AND GENE THERAPY
EXUMA Biotech Corp. | December 22, 2021
EXUMA Biotech, Corp., a clinical-stage biotechnology company discovering and developing cell and gene therapies and delivery solutions for liquid and solid tumors, announced the completion of a $41 million Series B2 financing. The Series B2 brings the total capital raised since its inception to approximately $130 million.
Proceeds will be used to support further development of EXUMA's autologous subcutaneous rPOC CAR-TaNK platform for hematologic and solid tumors and continued clinical investigation of its Tumor Metabolism Regulated CAR technology targeting solid tumors. New investors in the Series B2 financing included Americo Life, Inc., in addition to existing investors.
"We are pleased to expand our investor base with support from this strategic group of investors who recognize the potential of our technologies to translate into life-changing therapies for cancer patients,"
Gregory Frost, Ph.D., EXUMA Biotech Chairman and Chief Executive Offer
"Dr. Holmes is a renowned cancer specialist who will make an outstanding addition to our board of directors. He has dedicated his life to researching advanced cellular and immunotherapy treatments for hematologic malignancies and to the education of the oncology community about these new modalities," said Frost.
Houston Holmes, M.D., received a BS in medical microbiology from Stanford University School of Medicine, an MD from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, and an MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas. He completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Baylor University Medical Center, and fellowship in medical oncology/hematology at the National Cancer Institute/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Dr. Holmes has been in practice for over 20 years.
"It's an exciting time for cell and gene therapies. I'm thrilled to be a part of EXUMA and to join the company in its mission to advance innovative therapies towards the clinic and for cancer patients in urgent need of new treatments," said Houston Holmes, M.D.
About EXUMA Biotech
EXUMA Biotech is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the discovery and development of novel cellular therapies and gene delivery solutions for patients with cancer. The company leverages its global R&D footprint to discover, manufacture and develop gene delivery platforms and gene programs that may overcome the safety, efficacy, and scalability challenges of cellular therapies in solid tumor and hematologic malignancies. The company is headquartered in West Palm Beach.
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AI
Iktos, Kadmon | May 19, 2021
Iktos, a company specializing in Artificial Intelligence for new drug design, announced today that it has signed a Research Collaboration Agreement with Kadmon, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in New York, USA, under which Iktos' generative modeling artificial intelligence (AI) technology will be used to allow the rapid and cost-effective design of novel drug candidates. Iktos will use its de novo structure-based generative modeling technologies to find novel compounds that meet a pre-defined target product profile as part of the deal, to speed up Kadmon's early-stage discovery efforts.
Kadmon discovers, develops, and delivers small molecules and biologics for the treatment of human diseases. Intending to identify and develop new product candidates for significant unmet medical needs, Kadmon is expanding and incorporating novel drug discovery platforms.
The AI technology developed by Iktos, which is focused on deep generative models, aids in the speed and efficiency of the drug discovery process. Iktos' technology creates virtual novel molecules that have all of the properties of a successful drug molecule automatically. This approach, which has been validated by Iktos' other collaborations, is an innovative approach to one of the most difficult problems in drug design: finding molecules that meet several important drug criteria at the same time, such as potency, selectivity, safety, and project-specific properties.
Iktos' technology enables the creation of new hits with optimal protein-ligand interactions in early-stage discovery projects, as predicted by molecular modeling technology. This technique allows for a one-of-a-kind discovery of chemical space, as well as the development of innovative molecule designs with greater Freedom to Operate. Furthermore, allowing multi-parametric in silico optimization from the start of a project greatly reduces the hit finding and hit-to-lead optimization phases.
About Iktos
Iktos, a French start-up founded in October 2016, specializes in the development of artificial intelligence technologies for chemical research, especially medicinal chemistry, and new drug design. Iktos is working on a proprietary and innovative approach focused on deep learning generative models that allow users to build molecules in silico that follow all of the performance criteria of a small molecule discovery project using existing evidence. Iktos technology allows for significant efficiency gains in upstream pharmaceutical R&D. Iktos' software is utilized as both professional services and a SaaS software platform, Makya. Spaya, a synthesis planning software built on Iktos' proprietary AI technology for retrosynthesis, is also in the works.
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