Drug Discovery

In this eBook, sponsored by Precision for Medicine, we have brought together best practices and leading-edge developments in the industry to help researchers optimize sourcing, utilization, and storage of biospecimens as they move their research and development programs forward.

The goal is to target people with high-level skills in industries that are in decline and retrain them for the growing cell and gene therapy or vaccine manufacturing industry.

Like the firm's three earlier funds, the new venBio Global Strategic Fund IV is expected to fund 12 to 15 companies, with each company typically receiving $30-40 million--though the firm has invested more in a few companies.

PREVENT-19 met a key exploratory endpoint of the study by showing 93.2% efficacy against both “variants of concern” (VoC) and “variants of interest (VoI). Variant data was based on sequencing data that was available for 54 of the 77 COVID-19 cases seen in the study.

Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine has been shown to be protective against several SARS-CoV-2 variants. The authors of the work noted that their findings should "alleviate concerns that vaccines will become ineffective but suggest the importance of continued surveillance for potential new variants.” While this is good news, the same study includes results suggesting that the only approved monoclonal antibody therapy for SARS-CoV-2 might be less effective against some variants.

Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin have developed a new method to track genes through space and time within a one-cell zebrafish embryo. The method may one day allow scientists to measure cellular responses to drugs in organoids.

Scientists have discovered two new antigens in a species of malaria-causing parasite P. falciparum that elicit antibodies that appear in humans and are linked with lower malaria transmission in mice. The findings that could inform the development of a malaria vaccine that disrupts the parasite’s life cycle and prevents the transmission of malaria.

Structure-based virtual screening has been used to identify compounds that inhibit bacterial production of hydrogen sulfide. These inhibitors enhanced bactericidal antibiotics in vitro and in mouse models of infection. They also suppressed bacterial tolerance, disrupted biofilm formation, and reduced the number of persister bacteria.

GEN Edge speaks with Codiak Biosciences’ president and CEO Douglas E. Williams, PhD, about how the company has grown from the ground up to develop a new class of medicines with the potential to transform the treatment of a wide spectrum of diseases with high unmet medical need. Codiak designs and engineers exosomes, loads them with various types of therapeutic molecules including nucleic acids and small molecules, and directs them to target and specific cells.

Synlogic's proprietary pipeline includes Synthetic Biotics for the treatment of metabolic disorders including phenylketonuria (PKU) and enteric hyperoxaluria (HOX). The company is also building a portfolio of assets suitable for partnering in immunology and oncology.