CELL AND GENE THERAPY
Y-Biologics | November 23, 2020
The South Korean biotech organization Y-Biologics and the French pharmaceutical group Pierre Fabre have declared their arrangements to frame a key association in the field of immuno-oncology research. The choice has been recognized through a letter of aim endorsed by the two players and will be affirmed in the coming a very long time through an itemized arrangement. The joint effort is set to run for a very long time, with the chance of a two-year expansion.
Y-Biologics, which spends significant time in the revelation of monoclonal antibodies, and the Pierre Fabre gathering, France's second-biggest private drug lab, plan to join their subject matters with the point of recognizing and creating novel restorative monoclonal antibodies focusing on key immunosuppressive mechanisms activated within solid tumors.
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MEDICAL
Felix Biotechnology | January 08, 2021
Felix Biotechnology reported the inception of CYPHY, a Phase 1/2 examiner started single focus preliminary at Yale University for focused phage treatment YPT-01 in the therapy of constant P. aeruginosa diseases in cystic fibrosis. This twofold visually impaired, fake treatment controlled study (NCT 04684641) will evaluate the wellbeing and adequacy of YPT-01 added to standard antimicrobial treatment in 36 patients. CYPHY will likewise evaluate the capacity of YPT-01 to lessen the harmfulness and anti-infection obstruction of P. aeruginosa, improving patient results and re-empowering utilization of conventional anti-infection agents against multi-drug safe strains. The lead specialist for this investigation, Dr. Jon Koff, Associate Professor and Director of Yale's Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program, is supported by an academic grant from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
"This is a fantastic opportunity to show how effective phage therapy can be when deployed in an evolutionary framework. We know that pathogens evolve resistance to any antibiotic or therapy we use, so our approach turns that to our advantage," said Dr. Paul Turner, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, co-inventor of YPT-01, and co-founder of Felix Biotechnology. "By targeting phage to mechanisms of virulence, we ensure that if pathogens evolve resistance to phage, they lose traits that make them effective pathogens, putting them in an evolutionary Catch-22."
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CELL AND GENE THERAPY
Curi Bio Inc. | December 30, 2021
Curi Bio Inc., a leading developer of human stem cell-based platforms for drug discovery, announced the second closing of a $10 million oversubscribed Series A financing. New investors include UTC Investment and DS Asset Management, joining current Curi Bio investor and Series A lead Dynamk Capital. The investment will be used to scale Curi’s existing business and accelerate the development of its innovative engineered tissue analysis platforms, including its Mantarray™ platform.
“Curi Bio is thrilled to partner with the distinguished teams at UTC Investment, DS Asset Management, and Dynamk Capital to fuel our next stage of growth. To discover new therapies requires human-relevant disease models. Curi is working to close the gap between preclinical results and clinical outcomes, not only in small molecule discovery, but also in frontier areas like next-generation genetic medicines and cell therapies.”
Michael Cho, JD, CEO of Curi Bio
With costs to develop a single new medicine now exceeding $2Bn, the need for more human-relevant disease models to improve translational efficiency in the drug development process has never been greater. Curi’s core platform – the Curi Engine™ – integrates human stem cells, tissue specific biosystems, and A.I./M.L.-enabled data analysis to accelerate the discovery and development of new therapeutics. With this three-pronged strategy — human cells, systems and data — Curi is rapidly becoming a market leader in creating high-fidelity models of human diseases for drug discovery, especially for striated muscle, including cardiac and skeletal muscle, and neuromuscular models.
“Curi Bio’s technology platforms create significant value for pharma and biotech companies by accelerating discovery timelines and increasing the chances of success for new therapies in development,” said Dr. Gustavo Mahler, Managing Partner, Dynamk Capital. “We look forward to strong growth in Curi Bio’s customer portfolio.”
Curi Bio’s core technologies and products include NanoSurface™ Plates for structural maturation, Cytostretcher™ cell-stretching instruments, and the Mantarray platform for contractility analysis. The Mantarray platform enables researchers to generate and analyze 3D engineered human muscle tissues, providing clinically relevant functional readouts, and reducing reliance on poorly predictive animal models. Curi also offers a suite of customized research services utilizing the Curi Engine, including new assay and model development and phenotypic screening. Curi Bio counts all of the top-ten global pharmaceutical companies among its clients, customers, and partners.
About Curi Bio
Curi Bio’s preclinical discovery platform combines human stem cells, systems, and data to accelerate the discovery of new medicines. The Curi Engine is a seamless, bioengineered platform that integrates human iPSC-derived cell models, tissue-specific biosystems, and A.I./M.L.-enabled phenotypic screening data. Curi’s suite of human stem cell-based products and services enable scientists to build more mature and predictive human iPSC-derived tissues—with a focus on cardiac, musculoskeletal, and neuromuscular models—for the discovery, safety testing, and efficacy testing of new drugs in development. The company’s proprietary technologies are supported by over 100 publications and 19 patents. By offering drug developers an integrated preclinical platform comprising highly predictive human stem cell models to generate clinically-relevant data, Curi is closing the gap between preclinical data and human results, accelerating the discovery and development of safer, more effective medicines.
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