Newsletter May 2021

Events

Future Founders in Life Science Presents Ambagon

Continuing our new lecture series in partnership with Y Combinator, we're excited to bring you Michelle Arkin, PhD and Nancy K. Pryer, PhD from Ambagon Theraputics

Curiox Webinar - Introduction to Laminar Wash Technology

Please join us for a 20 minute introduction to Laminar Wash technology, the next-generation approach to cell suspension sample preparation. Now available at the Brittan site core resource lab.

News

Alessa Therapeutics Announces First Australian Patient Enrolled in Biolen-PC Study for Localized Drug Delivery for Prostate Cancer

Alessa Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held drug development company developing an innovative and proprietary localized drug delivery technology for the treatment of prostate disease, announced the enrollment of the first patient in the company's Biolen-PC clinical study in Australia. Biolen-PC (NCT 04284761) is a first-in-man study evaluating the safety and patient tolerance of Biolen for the localized sustained delivery of bicalutamide into the prostate in patients scheduled for prostate surgery for treatment of non-metastatic prostate cancer. The Biolen-PC study will treat up to 20 patients in Australia and New Zealand.

Soteria Biotherapeutics Launches with $42 Million Series A Financing Led by Roche Venture Fund and 5AM Ventures

Soteria's T-LITETM T-cell engagers are selectively switched on through oral administration of a small-molecule activator to modulate potent T-cell activity by controlling the timing, duration, and level of bispecific complex formation. This switchable activity enables precise on/off control over the timing and magnitude of T-cell redirection and cytotoxic activity. Unlike conventional T-cell engagers which lack a control switch and therefore are associated with significant side effects, Soteria's T-LITE therapies are being designed to allow physicians to modulate T-cell activity to maximize efficacy while minimizing side effects.

Graduated Companies

Asher Bio

Asher Biotherapeutics is pioneering a new approach with their cis‑targeted immunotherapies. Asher's immunotherapies selectively activate only the immune cell types that drive the desired therapeutic response. With this innovation, they address an inherent shortcoming of conventional immunotherapies, which indiscriminately act on multiple cell types, resulting in suboptimal efficacy and side effects.

Dren Bio

Dren bio is a biotechnology company developing engineered protein and cellular therapies for depletion of pathological cells and other disease causing agents. Dren is developing products to treat certain leukemias, lymphomas and autoimmune disorders, with the potential to expand into other disease areas.

New Companies

Aptah Biosciences

Aptah is a biotech company that aims to support medical advancements by introducing innovative technologies into the drug discovery process. At Aptah's, they modulate the spliceosome machinery and thus, the pre-mRNA, which ensures the precise control of the transcription step and modulation of specific gene expression - not only silencing, but also editing the pre-mRNA by hacking the spliceosome machinery.

Trove

Few know our skin better than the bugs who feed on it. Some of these embed in our skin for extended periods and have evolved incredible molecular toolkits for managing our response to invasion. At Trove Biolabs, they are mining this diverse cache to develop modern therapies for common skin conditions and diseases.