With its acquisition of Subintro Ltd., Rigimmune Inc. put a building block in place to further its development of stem-loop RNA therapeutics that selectively activate the innate immune sensor RIG-I. Subintro specializes in development and delivery of antiviral therapeutics for respiratory diseases caused by RNA viruses, including influenza, rhinovirus and SARS-CoV-2. Subintro’s technology allows the company to consider topical, nasal delivery. The combined company will be able to further advance compounds designed to activate the natural immune activation and demonstrate antiviral activity. Rigimmune was formed in 2020 and is the creation of two Yale University professors whose work led to the creation of stem-loop therapeutics.

Talaris hitch puts focus on kidney donation as Medeor advances

Word from Talaris Therapeutics Inc. of a patient death in its phase III study called Freedom-1 with allogeneic cell therapy FCR-001 renewed speculation about the company’s odds in living donor kidney transplant patients. The trial’s data monitoring committee determined that trial enrollment and dosing could continue. Another player, Medeor Therapeutics Inc., is developing a late-stage candidate in the same space.

Cresilon snaps up $25M to bring hemostatic gel to human market

Cresilon Inc. raised $25 million in a series A-4 financing round to commercialize its plant-based hemostatic gel for human applications and bring it to global veterinary markets, where it is used to instantly stop bleeding in dental and surgical procedures and emergency situations. The gel is made from algae or kelp salvaged from shorelines. Paulson Investment Company led the round.

Newco news: Startup Vacv emerges with $3M and new oncolytic virus strategy

Newco Vacv Biotherapeutics Ltd. has raised $3 million in a seed round to complete preclinical development of next-generation oncolytic viruses that are engineered to overcome previous shortcomings of this modality. Engineering of the viral backbone is based on 20 years of research by the scientific founders at Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary University London, to enable systemic delivery of oncolytic viruses, whilst optimizing their therapeutic index.

FDA advisory panel says no to test for opioid use disorder 

A U.S. FDA advisory panel saw a number of problems in the clinical trial for the Avertd test for opioid use disorder (OUD) by Solvd Health of Carlsbad, Calif., including the fact that the study failed to enroll a sufficiently ethnically diverse body of subjects. Perhaps more damning was that the advisory panel was uncertain as to whether the 15 single nucleotide polymorphisms evaluated in the test were helpful in sorting out which patients were truly at high risk of OUD, leading to an 11-2 vote that the probable benefits of the test do not outweigh the risks. 

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