The company behind Moderna has a new RNA startup looking to disrupt drugmaking. The goal? 100 new drugs in 10 years

Avak Kahvejian (Flagship Pioneering)

May 10, 2021 06:30 AM EDTUpdated 07:22 AM

The company behind Moderna has a new RNA startup looking to disrupt drugmaking. The goal? 100 new drugs in 10 years

Kyle Blankenship

When Flagship Pioneering propped up a small research team back in 2017 to study a little-known circular form of RNA, it wasn’t exactly a high-profile project. But with mRNA providing the blueprint, that nascent biotech thinks it may have found the goldmine of all goldmines — and it’s all founded on a quixotic little molecule dubbed “eRNA.”

Laronde, founded on science from Flagship general partner Avak Kahvejian and led by CEO-partner and former Vividion chief Diego Miralles, thinks eRNA could be the future of drugmaking, augmenting or replacing altogether standard drugs. On Monday, the biotech formally launched with a $50 million check from Flagship and some huge ambitions despite its relatively meager pocketbook.

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IDC: Life Sciences Firms Must Embrace Digital Transformation Now

James Allgood

Sr Product Marketing Manager, Life Sciences, Egnyte

Pre-pandemic, the life sciences industry had settled into a pattern. The average drug took 12 years and $2.9 billion to bring to market, and it was an acceptable mode of operations, according to Nimita Limaye, Research Vice President for Life Sciences R&D Strategy and Technology at IDC.

COVID-19 changed that, and served as a proof-of-concept for how technology can truly help life sciences companies succeed and grow, Limaye said. She recently spoke about industry trends at Egnyte’s Life Sciences Summit 2022. You should watch the entire session, free and on-demand, but here’s a brief recap of why she’s urging life sciences companies to embrace digital transformation.

August 17, 2022 01:45 PM EDTUpdated 2 hours ago

Cell/Gene Tx

FDA approves one of the priciest new treatments of all time — bluebird's gene therapy for beta thalassemia

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

The FDA on Wednesday approved the first gene therapy for a chronic condition — bluebird bio’s new Zynteglo (beti-cel) as a potentially curative treatment for those with transfusion-dependent thalassemia.

The thumbs-up from the FDA follows a unanimous adcomm vote in June, with outside experts pointing to extraordinary efficacy, with 89% of subjects with TDT who received beti-cel having achieved transfusion independence.

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Joel Dudley, new partner at Innovation Endeavors (Bosch Health Campus)

August 17, 2022 11:19 AM EDTUpdated 04:21 PM

People

Financing

Former Google CEO’s VC is making a bigger push into the biotech world, hiring prominent Theranos skeptic

Tyler Patchen

News Reporter

Venture capital firm Innovation Endeavors has mainly had its focus on investments across the tech space, but it has been slowly turning its attention to the biotech world. Now, a new partner is coming into the fold showing that its interest in biotech is likely to grow further.

The Silicon Valley-based company, which is headed up by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, has brought on Joel Dudley as a partner. According to Dudley’s LinkedIn page, he is joining Innovation Endeavors after serving as the chief science officer of biotech startup Tempus Labs since 2020.

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ENDPOINTS CAREERS

Head of Site Finance mRNA - Cell & Gene

Lonza

Geleen, Netherland

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James Sabry, Roche global head of pharma partnering

August 18, 2022 07:23 AM EDT

Deals

China

Roche, Genentech plunk down $60M upfront to partner with Chinese pharma on PROTAC-based prostate cancer drug

Max Gelman

Senior Editor

Roche and Genentech are always on the hunt for deals, and on Thursday they found their newest partner.

The pair will team up with the Chinese pharma company Jemincare to push forward a new program for prostate cancer, the companies announced. Roche is ponying up $60 million upfront to get its hands on the candidate and promising up to $590 million in biobucks, plus royalties, down the line.

In return, Genentech will get a worldwide license to develop the program, known as JMKX002992, and bring it to market.

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Andrew Hopkins, Exscientia CEO

August 18, 2022 07:22 AM EDT

Deals

Exscientia terminates Bayer pact half a year early, collecting small portion of €240M promised

Amber Tong

Senior Editor

Bayer and Exscientia are winding down their three-year collaboration, leaving the big German pharma to take the AI-designed compounds born out of the pact further.

London-based Exscientia revealed in its Q2 update that the partners have “mutually agreed to end” their collaboration, which kicked off in early 2020, after recently achieving a drug discovery milestone. In an SEC filing, Exscientia said it terminated the pact on May 30, about six months early.

Bayer's first DTC ad campaign for chronic kidney disease drug Kerendia spells out its benefits

August 17, 2022 02:17 PM EDT

Pharma

Marketing

Bayer aims to simplify the complexities of CKD with an ABC-themed ad campaign

Beth Snyder Bulik

Senior Editor

Do you know the ABCs of CKD in T2D? Bayer’s first ad campaign for Kerendia tackles the complexity of chronic kidney disease with a play on the acronym (CKD) and its connection to type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Kerendia was approved last year as the first and only non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist to treat CKD in people with type 2 diabetes.

In the TV commercial launched this week, A is for awareness, B is for belief and C is for cardiovascular, explained in the ad as awareness of the connection between type 2 and kidney disease, belief that something can be done about it, and cardiovascular events that may be reduced with treatment.

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James Mock, incoming CFO at Moderna

August 17, 2022 02:15 PM EDTUpdated 02:59 PM

People

Pharma

Moderna taps new CFO from PerkinElmer after former one-day CFO ousted

Paul Schloesser

Associate Editor

When Moderna hired a new CFO last year, it didn’t expect to see him gone after only one day. Today the biotech named his — likely much more vetted — replacement.

The mRNA company put out word early Wednesday that after the untimely departure of then brand-new CFO Jorge Gomez, it has now found a replacement in James Mock, the soon-to-be former CFO at diagnostics and analytics company PerkinElmer.

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ENDPOINTS CAREERS

Head of Quality Systems

Lonza

Lexington, MA, USA

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Etleva Kadilli, director of UNICEF’s supply division

August 17, 2022 01:47 PM EDT

Deals

GSK lands first-ever UNICEF contract for malaria vaccine worth $170M

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

GSK has landed a new first from UNICEF — the first-ever contract for malaria vaccines, worth up to $170 million for 18 million vaccine doses distributed over the next three years.

The vaccine, known as Mosquirix or RTS,S, won WHO’s backing last October after a controversial start, but UNICEF said these doses will potentially save thousands of lives every year.

“We hope this is just the beginning,” Etleva Kadilli, director of UNICEF’s supply division, said. “Continued innovation is needed to develop new and next-generation vaccines to increase available supply, and enable a healthier vaccine market. This is a giant step forward in our collective efforts to save children’s lives and reduce the burden of malaria as part of wider malaria prevention and control programmes.”

Joe Jonas (Photo by Anthony Behar/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

August 17, 2022 01:14 PM EDTUpdated 02:43 PM

Pharma

Solo Jonas brother carries Merz's new tune in Botox rival campaign

Nicole DeFeudis

Editor

As the lyrics of his band’s 2019 pop-rock single suggest, Joe Jonas is only human — and that means even he gets frown lines. The 33-year-old singer-songwriter is Merz’s newest celebrity brand partner for its Botox rival Xeomin, as medical aesthetics brands target a younger audience.

Merz kicked off its “Beauty on Your Terms” campaign on Tuesday, featuring the Jonas brother in a video ad for its double-filtered anti-wrinkle injection Xeomin.

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