Nature Chemical Biology

Orbis Medicines Launches with €26 Million Seed Financing to Transform Macrocycle Drug Development through Next-Generation Orally Dosable ‘nCycles’

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 29, 2024
Biotechnology, Health, Science, Pharmaceutical, Research, Nature Chemical Biology, General partnership, Drug development, Growth, Drug discovery, Macrocycle, Swiss, Seed, EPFL, Patient, Medicine, Nature Communications, CBO, Pharmaceutical industry

The funding will support Orbis’ expansion and advancement of its portfolio of next-generation macrocycle drugs it calls ‘nCycles’.

Key Points: 
  • The funding will support Orbis’ expansion and advancement of its portfolio of next-generation macrocycle drugs it calls ‘nCycles’.
  • nCycles are systematically designed by Orbis’ nGen1 platform to be orally bioavailable and membrane permeable, solving decades-long challenges in macrocycle drug design.
  • It’s a milestone for drug development,” said Morten Døssing, Chair of the Orbis Board and Partner at Novo Holdings.
  • Additionally, research recently published in Nature Chemical Biology demonstrates nGen’s ability to deliver nCycles that are orally bioavailable, marking a new era for macrocycle drug discovery.

South Korean Biotech, ToolGen Leads the Development of Numerous Cutting-Edge Genome Editing Techniques

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
CRISPR, Gene, University, Nature Communications, Innovation system, Head, Research, Multimedia, Genome Biology, Nature Chemical Biology, Patent, Cell, PES, Genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 knockout screens, Environment, Society, Conference, Pharmaceutical industry, Vaccine, Cas9

Not anymore; Toolgen, a South Korea-based biotech company, has reported three breakthrough techniques in top-tier scientific journals.

Key Points: 
  • Not anymore; Toolgen, a South Korea-based biotech company, has reported three breakthrough techniques in top-tier scientific journals.
  • PEs are powerful tools that allow for more precise genome editing, but until now, methods for predicting off-target effects have relied on analyzing the activity of Cas9 nucleases or nickases.
  • This puts Toolgen's patent strategies on the high ground as Toolgen can now evergreen its patent via using its biobetter Sniper2L.
  • Now the torch has been passed to other sectors, and Toolgen, a South Korea-based biotech, has proudly joined the league of innovators for genome editing."

New Study Illuminates Strategies for Bioluminescence Imaging of the Brain

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Health, Neurology, Health Technology, Other Health, Radiology, Research, Science, Brain, Life, Animal, Traffic barrier, Nature Chemical Biology, Skull, DSM-IV codes, Stanford University School of Medicine, Spectrum, Physiology, Multimedia, Gene expression, Vaccine, Promega

Promega R&D scientists, alongside co-authors from Stanford Medicine, have published a paper describing the development of cephalofurimazine, a novel substrate for NanoLuc® Luciferase that enables researchers to study the brain using bioluminescence imaging.

Key Points: 
  • Promega R&D scientists, alongside co-authors from Stanford Medicine, have published a paper describing the development of cephalofurimazine, a novel substrate for NanoLuc® Luciferase that enables researchers to study the brain using bioluminescence imaging.
  • The study marks a major technological advance for research on complex neurological diseases and potential treatments.
  • The brain, however, presents unique challenges due to the physical and physiological barriers formed by the skull and the blood-brain barrier.
  • Learn more about NanoLuc technologies for bioluminescence imaging at www.promega.com/NanoLucImaging .

Biohaven Advances Development of the MoDE Platform Technology Licensed From Yale University

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Tuesday, October 25, 2022
Method, News, Asialoglycoprotein receptor, Mode, Spinocerebellar ataxia, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Therapy, Nature Chemical Biology, ATACS, Multiple myeloma, Degenerative disease, Myostatin, NYSE, Neuroscience, Drug development, Hepatocyte, Immunology, Professor, Financial condition report, Result, Security (finance), Lists of diseases, PROTAC, Technology, Cancer, Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, NEW, Conversation, Marketing, Epilepsy, Analysis, Neuropathic pain, Patent, Safety, Tic disorder, Protein, TRPM3, TPD, Proteolysis, FDA, WO, Degradation, Risk, Fine chemical, Pharmaceutical industry, Yale University

Biohaven advances development of its extracellular target degrader platform technology (MoDEs) for therapies across a variety of diseases including neuroscience, immunology and oncology

Key Points: 
  • Biohaven advances development of its extracellular target degrader platform technology (MoDEs) for therapies across a variety of diseases including neuroscience, immunology and oncology
    Through its continued collaboration with Yale University in the laboratory of Professor David Spiegel and Biohaven Labs, Biohaven has made further innovations in this ground-breaking technology with new patent applications covering additional targets and functionality
    In-licensed from Yale University in 2021, the MoDE platform is based on patent applications filed by Yale in 2018 and 2019
    NEW HAVEN, Conn., Oct. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Biohaven Ltd. (NYSE: BHVN; "Biohaven") today announced advancements in the development of its MoDE extracellular target degrader platform technology licensed from Yale University for various disease indications, including, but not limited to, neurological disorders, cancer, infectious and autoimmune diseases.
  • In 2021, Biohaven entered into a worldwide, exclusive license agreement to develop and commercialize the MoDE platform based on ground-breaking research conducted in the laboratory of Professor David Spiegel at Yale University.
  • Through the novel approach, Professor Spiegel demonstrated the modularity of the MoDE technology by synthesizing bifunctional molecules that induce the degradation of both antibody and pro-inflammatory cytokine proteins.
  • Since entering into the license agreement with Yale in 2021, Yale has filed more than eight additional patent applications covering this technology.

YDS Pharmatech helps uncover a novel viral recognition pathway: published in Nature Chemical Biology

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, August 18, 2022
YDS, Drug discovery, CEO, Molecule, AI, Nature Chemical Biology, Research, Membrane protein, Degenerative disease, Therapy, PROTAC, COVID-19, Tianjin Medical University, Norovirus, Plasma protein binding, Drug design, Ubiquitin, Virus, Enterovirus, Biology, MBA, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, MD, LinkedIn, Vaccine

ALBANY, N.Y., Aug. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- YDS Pharmatech announced the publication of a paper revealing a novel human viral recognition mechanism in Nature Chemical Biology today.

Key Points: 
  • ALBANY, N.Y., Aug. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- YDS Pharmatech announced the publication of a paper revealing a novel human viral recognition mechanism in Nature Chemical Biology today.
  • The company helped reveal a new viral protein recognition mechanism, highlighting a promising new target for antiviral drugs.
  • Recently, TRIM7 was also shown to have activity against human enterovirus, but the mechanism by which TRIM7 recognizes viral proteins remained unknown.
  • In this study, YDS Pharmatech helped identify the specific molecular mechanism by which TRIM7 recognizes viral infection.

GenKOre develops hypercompact base editing system

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 2, 2022
KRIBB, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Target, Research, Nature Biotechnology, Abes, CRISPR, Technology, Nature Chemical Biology, Tiny, Efficiency, AAV, RNA, Vaccine, Biotechnology

The hypercompact ABEs newly developed by GenKOre feature a hypercompact size that can be delivered using a single AAV vector and boast of high base editing efficiency and specificity.

Key Points: 
  • The hypercompact ABEs newly developed by GenKOre feature a hypercompact size that can be delivered using a single AAV vector and boast of high base editing efficiency and specificity.
  • Previously, GenKOre developed a hypercompact CRISPR system with AAV delivery compatibility, coined TaRGET (Tiny nuclease/augment RNA-based Genome Editing Technology), which was published in Nature Biotechnology in 2021.
  • The hypercompact base editing system developed by GenKOre was developed based on TaRGET system and is amenable to AAV delivery.
  • GenKOre develops AAV/ non-AAV-based gene therapy and animals/plants using its own genome editing system.

AAV-loadable hypercompact ABEs developed by GenKOre

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 2, 2022
KRIBB, Home, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Target, Stem cell, Nature Biotechnology, Abes, ABE, CRISPR, Technology, Nature Chemical Biology, Tiny, Efficiency, AAV, RNA, Vaccine, Biotechnology

DAEJEON, South Korea, Aug. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- GenKOre, a biotech start-up in Korea is a game changer in gene-editing therapy area with its own hypercompact gene-editing technology.

Key Points: 
  • DAEJEON, South Korea, Aug. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- GenKOre, a biotech start-up in Korea is a game changer in gene-editing therapy area with its own hypercompact gene-editing technology.
  • The company also successfully developed hypercompact adenine base editors (ABEs), which were introduced in Nature Chemical Biology on August 2, 2022.
  • But these new hypercompact ABEs can be loaded into a single AAV vector and boast of high base editing efficiency and specificity.
  • Previously, GenKOre developed a hypercompact CRISPR system with AAV delivery compatibility, coined TaRGET (Tiny nuclease/augment RNA-based Genome Editing Technology), which was published in Nature Biotechnology in 2021.

Vicinitas Therapeutics Launches With $65 Million in Series A Financing to Advance Precision Medicines to Stabilize Key Proteins to Treat Disease

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, July 28, 2022
Oncology, Health, Genetics, Research, Science, Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, Novartis, Lists of diseases, DUB, Gene, Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases, Doctor of Philosophy, Nutritional science, CFTR, Protein, Cell death, Research, General partnership, Chimera, Cancer, Technology, Deubiquitinating enzyme, Proximity, Berkeley, Associate professor, Industry, Biomedical Research, Health, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Princeton University Department of Chemistry, UC, Nature Chemical Biology, Science, Therapy, OTUB1, Chemical biology, University, GV, University of California, Berkeley, Cell biology, Drug discovery, Associate, UCSF, WEE1, Patient, Department, Cystic fibrosis, Toxicology, Pharmaceutical industry, Vaccine, Fine chemical, Management, Microscope, Chemistry, Series

Vicinitas Therapeutics, a biotechnology company advancing a proprietary targeted protein stabilization platform to develop novel therapeutics in cancer and genetic disorders, today launched with $65 million in Series A financing.

Key Points: 
  • Vicinitas Therapeutics, a biotechnology company advancing a proprietary targeted protein stabilization platform to develop novel therapeutics in cancer and genetic disorders, today launched with $65 million in Series A financing.
  • Many diseases, including cancer and monogenic diseases, are often caused by specific proteins that are abnormally degraded and lost from the cell.
  • In cancer, protective tumor suppressors are aberrantly destroyed, allowing cancer cells to circumvent cell death, thus promoting unobstructed cell proliferation.
  • Vicinitas Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on targeted protein stabilizers known as Deubiquituinase Targeting Chimeras (DUBTACs).

New Study Reveals Strategies for Targeting “Undruggable” KRAS Mutants

Retrieved on: 
Monday, March 21, 2022
Science, Biotechnology, Research, Pharmaceutical, Oncology, Health, Genetics, Clinical Trials, Transfer, NMR, Cell, Method, Drug development, Resonance, San Francisco, DNA, Nature Chemical Biology, Multimedia, KRAS, Research, Observation, Promega, Cancer, Allele, RNA, Government, Cysteine, Industry, Biology, RAS, BRET, Cell biology, Drug discovery, Cell proliferation, Pancreatic cancer, University, Fine chemical, Pharmaceutical industry

Promega research scientists collaborated with the University of California San Francisco research group led by Dr. Kevan M. Shokat, a global leader in KRAS biology, to study the binding of potentially therapeutic molecules to common mutants of the KRAS protein.

Key Points: 
  • Promega research scientists collaborated with the University of California San Francisco research group led by Dr. Kevan M. Shokat, a global leader in KRAS biology, to study the binding of potentially therapeutic molecules to common mutants of the KRAS protein.
  • This study represents the first observation and quantification of direct target engagement of KRAS(G12D) and other hotspot oncogenic mutants of KRAS in cells using reversible binders.
  • KRAS was long considered to be undruggable until 2013 when the Shokat lab identified covalent drugs targeting KRAS(G12C), a common mutant in which a glycine amino acid is changed to a cysteine.
  • These results open new opportunities for targeting non-G12C mutants of KRAS in drug discovery.

LISCure Biosciences Announces Research Collaboration with The Scripps Research Institute for Immuno-Oncology

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 3, 2022
Microbiota, Scripps Research, Immunotherapy, Research, Collection, Immunity, ELife, Hang, Multimedia, Nature Chemical Biology, Pharmaceutical industry, Vaccine, Science

SEOUL, South Korea, Feb. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --LISCure Biosciences ("LISCure") announced that it had reached an agreement with The Scripps Research Institute ("Scripps Research") to collaboratively research on bacteria-mediated immuno-oncology candidates against multiple cancer types.

Key Points: 
  • SEOUL, South Korea, Feb. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --LISCure Biosciences ("LISCure") announced that it had reached an agreement with The Scripps Research Institute ("Scripps Research") to collaboratively research on bacteria-mediated immuno-oncology candidates against multiple cancer types.
  • Howard C. Hang, Ph.D., a world-renowned scientist in the area of microbial immunotherapy, will lead a joint research collaboration.
  • With this collaboration, LISCure and Scripps Research scientists will jointly discover novel mechanisms of LB-P2D involved in its multifaceted antitumor immune signals and research on the combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors.
  • We are excited to collaborate with Scripps Research to find the unique characteristics of LB-P2D by discovering differentiated mechanisms of LB-P2D," said LISCure immuno-oncology research team.