Welcome to the Bioeconomy Newsletter!

Bioeconomy News

Biotech startups overview 

1. Meissa Scores $30M to Test Vaccine for Dangerous Respiratory Virus
2. Amphivena Closes $62 Million Series C Financing to Expand the Clinical Development of AMV564 into Solid Tumors and to Develop its T Cell Engagement Portfolio
3. ZielBio Closes $25.1 Million Series A Financing
4. High-Flying Ginkgo Nets Another $290M to Program Cells Like Computers
5. Edgewise Therapeutics Closes $50 Million Series B Financing

Alnylam Presents New Evidence Demonstrating Significant Association of V122I, a Highly Prevalent, Pathogenic Transthyretin (TTR) Mutation, with Clinical Diagnosis of Polyneuropathy

• Early in September Alnylam presented findings from an analysis of the UK Biobank demonstrating a significant association of the V122I mutation, a highly prevalent mutation in the transthyretin (TTR) gene, with a clinical diagnosis of polyneuropathy. Data indicate that carriers of the mutation have an increased likelihood of clinical diagnosis of polyneuropathy and have an increased risk for other symptoms of hATTR amyloidosis. This data support the need for broader patient health assessments to investigate multisystem manifestations.  

Novartis chalks up another phase 3 asthma win as approval nears

• A Phase 3 trial in patients with uncontrolled asthma has met its primary endpoint- Novartis’ drug combination is better at improving lung function than an inhaled corticosteroid alone. After 26 weeks of treatment, patients experienced a statistically significant improvement in lung function. However, in an extremely competitive field, it’s unclear if Novartis’ treatment will make a significant difference as compared to other drug combinations.  

ESMO: Roche, Genentech see success with lung cancer blood tests

• New data collected by Genentech and Roche may mean invasive tissue biopsies could be replaced by simple genomic blood tests. Data from the Blood First Assay Screening Trial (BFAST) showed that a blood-based diagnostic was able to identify specific genetic mutations that help drive progression within lung cancer tumors. These findings are significant for patients with difficult to sample tumors like those in non-small cell lung cancer, suggesting BFAST could be the next-generation diagnostic tool. 

Therapeutic Research

1. Cell Metabolism:Miro1 Marks Parkinson’s Disease Subset and Miro1 Reducer Rescues Neuron Loss in Parkinson’s Models
2. Science Translational Medicine:CAR T cells targeting BAFF-R can overcome CD19 antigen loss in B cell malignancies
3. Nature Biotechnology:Targeted transcriptional modulation with type I CRISPR–Cas systems in human cells
4. The Journal of Clinical Investigation:Cadherin-11 blockade reduces inflammation-driven fibrotic remodeling and improves outcomes after myocardial infarction
5. Science Translational Medicine:Development of combination therapies to maximize the impact of KRAS-G12C inhibitors in lung cancer
6. The Journal of Clinical Investigation:Enhancing glycolysis attenuates Parkinson’s disease progression in models and clinical databases

MassTERi Entrepreneurship Club (eClub)  acknowledges Alnylam as our sponsor.

https://www.alnylam.com/