Ligandal isn’t the only company developing peptide-based vaccines for COVID-19, but it is the only one developing a prospective “antidote” and vaccine in a single platform. The company suggests its approach can actually help eliminate the virus from an already-infected host, while also bolstering the immune response. READ MORE ON BIOSPACE.COM
Data accepted for presentation at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) Annual Meeting 2020
ZUG, Switzerland I April 9, 2020 IPharvaris GmbH, a clinical-stage company focused on the discovery and development of novel oral B2-receptor antagonists for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE) and other B2-receptor-mediated indications, announced data from a late-breaking poster planned for presentation at the recently canceled annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI). READ MORE
MIRAMAR, Fla. , March 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Generex Biotechnology Corporation (www.generex.com) (OTCQB:GNBT) (http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/GNBT/quote) today provided guidance on their work to develop a peptide vaccine against the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 using the company’s proprietary and patented Ii-Key immune system activation technology. This guidance is designed to assist third party groups and government agencies in their evaluation of potential vaccines against this pandemic SARS-CoV-2 virus.
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Financing will support i20 Therapeutics’ growth and R&D of platform for oral delivery of injectable biologic drugs
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- i2O Therapeutics, an innovative biotech company developing a platform for oral delivery of traditionally injectable biological drugs, announced today it has raised a $4 million seed funding round led by Sanofi Ventures and JDRF T1D Fund. READ MORE
CAMBRIDGE, MA, USA I April 9, 2020 IVigeo Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics to reprogram the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME), today announced it has dosed the first patients in its Phase 1b/2 clinical trial evaluating its first in class lead candidate, VT1021, a small peptide with dual targeting activities of CD36 and CD47. The Phase 1b/2 study will enroll approximately 75 patients with 15 patients in each of five groups: ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, triple negative breast cancer, glioblastoma, and a tissue agnostic group of patients with high CD36 expressing tumors. READ MORE
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia I April 9, 2020 I AXON Neuroscience ("Axon"), a clinical-stage biotech company and an industry leader in treating and preventing neurodegenerative diseases, is developing a promising vaccine candidate against COVID-19.
Axon has over 20 years' experience in development of safe and immunogenic peptide vaccines. Its well-established scalable technology allowed the company to move quickly in recent weeks to create a novel peptide vaccine in support of the global fight against COVID-19.
Norbert Žilka, Chief Scientific Officer of Axon, said: "We have over sixty scientists with expertise in key disciplines – immunology, pharmacology, structural biology, proteomics, genomics – making Axon ideally placed to deliver a rapid solution for combatting the new coronavirus."
Axon's peptide vaccine candidate against COVID-19
Axon used its established peptide-based vaccine platform to produce a novel prophylactic COVID-19 vaccine, intended to treat infected patients and protect healthy individuals from infection. Axon's vaccine contains only selected epitopes capable of inducing desirable T cell and B cell mediated immune responses to prevent interaction of the virus Spike (S) glycoprotein with its target human cells, thus preventing the virus from entering the cells and spreading. This approach is designed to prevent the unwanted serious side effects observed in previous studies of conventional vaccines against SARS-CoV.
The elderly patients most at risk for COVID-19 are prone to develop serious respiratory complications and pneumonia, which might result in permanent lung damage or even death. In general, elderly individuals typically do not respond as well to vaccination, resulting in ordinary vaccinations having a limited effect. Axon has developed innovative proprietary technologies to stimulate the immune systems of elderly people and people with immunodeficiencies in order to produce a high antibody response in these vulnerable populations.
"The human immune system slowly deteriorates with age. This immunosenescence, combined with other comorbidities, makes elderly people highly sensitive to SARS-CoV-2 infections and prone to severe respiratory complications. We believe we have a safe and effective vaccine concept to prevent future outbreaks of COVID-19 and at the same time protect the most vulnerable groups," said Professor Eva Kontsekova, Immunologist and the Head of Immunotherapy at Axon.
The recent workshop co-chaired by both the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed that an expedited regulatory pathway could be available for well-tested vaccine platforms, such as Axon's. Data from Axon's previous Alzheimer's Disease clinical trials could facilitate a quick move to first-in-human clinical trials with the new COVID-19 vaccine.
Peptide vaccines represent a promising alternative to conventional vaccine approaches, particularly given their speed of development and ease of production. Axon's longstanding strategic collaboration with the European-based global leader in peptide vaccine manufacturing means that the transfer to GMP production is quick, inexpensive and highly scalable due to the established analytical and manufacturing methods used in Axon's other development programmes.
"The emerging global health threat of COVID-19 requires a rapid response. More potent and versatile vaccine platforms are urgently needed. Given the expedited regulatory procedures for COVID-19, the first-in-human administration with our vaccine could take place as early as September 2020, much quicker than standard vaccine timelines," said Michal Fresser, Chief Executive Officer of Axon Neuroscience.
About Coronavirus COVID-19
Coronaviruses, which are large, enveloped RNA viruses, can cause potentially fatal disease in humans such as MERS-Cov, SARS-Cov and newly discovered SARS-Cov2. As the new coronavirus outbreak has spread with thousands of infected cases globally, WHO declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a pandemic. As of 9 April 2020 COVID-19 is responsible for more than 88,000 deaths. Further, more than 1,500,000 patients have been positively diagnosed with the disease and the estimates of actual cases are several times higher. A vast majority of the fatalities are elderly people above 65 years of age.
About Axon's Peptide Vaccine Platform
Axon has developed its lead vaccine AADvac1, which is the most clinically-advanced tau therapy in development for treating and preventing Alzheimer's Disease. At the end of 2019 Axon has successfully completed a phase 2 clinical trial in almost 200 Alzheimer's patients, which revealed excellent safety, immunogenicity and efficacy. The evidence from its clinical trials on Alzheimer's disease proved its peptide-based vaccine platform very safe and well-tolerated. Over 80% of the treated Alzheimer's patients demonstrated an exceptional immune response and generated a robust quantity of antibodies.
COVID-19 belongs to a family of coronaviruses that can cause respiratory disease and pneumonia, which is particularly dangerous and lethal for elderly patients. The knowledge and experience acquired in treating elderly population such as Alzheimer's Disease patients, is highly relevant with respect to COVID-19.
About Axon Neuroscience
Axon Neuroscience is an industry leading, clinical stage biotech company at the forefront of the peptide-based vaccines against fatal human diseases. The company was founded in 1999 and now has the single biggest team in the world dedicated exclusively to peptide vaccine development in relation to treating Alzheimer's Disease. The extensive knowledge in producing safe and immunogenic vaccine and well-established scalable technology allowed the company to move very quickly to creation of novel peptide vaccine against the COVID-19.
SOURCE: Axon Neuroscience
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SAN MATEO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 8, 2020 / Allysta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Allysta) today announced dosing of the first patient in its Phase 1/2a trial (ALY688-201) of ALY688 Ophthalmic Solution for the treatment of dry eye disease. Dry eye is a very common condition affecting millions of people in the US and causes eye symptoms (e.g., burning, foreign body sensation, pain) which can limit daily activities such as computer use, reading and driving. In advanced cases, significant inflammation and even scarring of the eye surface can occur.
ALY688 is a novel peptide agonist that binds to and activates adiponectin receptors which are widely distributed on the ocular surface. Following receptor binding, it acts to reduce inflammation and promote healing of injured cells lining the ocular surface. In animal models of dry eye disease, this resulted in significant improvement in corneal damage, tear integrity, and tear volume associated with reductions in inflammatory cells and cytokines in the eye.
“This marks a significant milestone for Allysta, as we now progress from a preclinical into a clinical stage company. We look forward to completing this trial by mid-year and reporting data in the second half of 2020,” said Henry Hsu, M.D., Chief Executive Officer and President of Allysta.
About ALY688
ALY688 acts as a potent targeted agonist of the adiponectin receptor to induce adiponectin-like responses. Since its discovery more than 20 years ago as a major hormone produced by adipocytes and other cell types, many studies have shown that adiponectin has beneficial actions on multiple organs and cell types because of its anti-inflammatory, wound healing, and anti-fibrotic properties. This broad range of activity provides an opportunity to evaluate ALY688 in multiple disease indications.
Data from disease models of dry eye disease have demonstrated multiple beneficial biological actions. For example, in ocular models of dry eye and corneal injury, ALY688 decreased inflammation on the ocular surface (both T cell and pro-inflammatory cytokines) and promoted rapid healing (re-epithelization) following corneal injury, resulting in reduction in corneal damage, and improvement in both tear volume and tear integrity. Additionally, in models of liver fibrosis, ALY688 reduced inflammation, liver cell injury, and fibrosis.
About Allysta
Allysta is a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class peptide therapeutics with a current focus in dry eye and liver diseases. Allysta’s lead candidates are in clinical and late preclinical stages, supported by compelling science and pharmacology. Allysta is advancing next-generation treatments for dry eye disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Visit www.allysta.com.
Trulicity FDA approval : Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) has secured approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Trulicity (dulaglutide) to reduce major cardiovascular events (MACE) in type 2 diabetes patients having established cardiovascular (CV) disease or multiple cardiovascular risk factors.
The latest FDA approval Trulicity means that the drug the first and only type 2 diabetes medicine indicated for reducing the risk of MACE for primary as well as secondary prevention populations. The Lilly diabetes drug is a weekly injectable glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA). Read more
March 17, 2020
South San Francisco, CA, March 17, 2020, — Circle Pharma, Inc., a macrocycle drug discovery and development company focused on intractable cancer targets, today announced that it has raised $45 million in a Series B financing.
The financing was led by The Column Group, with participation by Nextech Invest. All investors from the prior round – ShangPharma, LifeForce Capital, and the Berkeley Catalyst Fund – joined the financing. Read more
NESS-ZIONA, Israel I February 13, 2020 I VAXIL BIO LTD. (“Vaxil” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE: VXL), an innovative immunotherapy biotech company specializing in cancer and infectious diseases, is pleased to announce that it has completed in silico analyses and believes that it has successfully identified a corona virus (COVID-19) vaccine candidate (“Vaccine Candidate”). Read more