Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. has announced its pandemic influenza vaccine is on track to enter a phase I clinical trial in Q4 of 2024. The vaccine, ARCT-2304, utilizes Arcturus’ STARR self-amplifying mRNA and LUNAR delivery platform technologies to deliver antigens designed to elicit a protective response against the H5N1 strain of avian influenza.
Armed with $55 million in series A funds and a U.S. government contract, Cambridge, Mass.-based Red Queen Therapeutics Inc. launched operations this week, with plans to advance its novel stapled lipopeptide platform, which creates new antiviral therapies that do not rely on the immune system to work.
Anivive Lifesciences Inc., a One Health technology company, reported the NIH’S National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded grant funding worth up to $33 million to the company to support the development of a vaccine against the fungus Coccidioides, which causes Valley Fever.
Investigators at Washington University in St. Louis and Umea University have reported that the small molecule PS-757 was effective in culture and animal models against Streptococcus pyogenes, a gram-positive pathogen responsible for more than 500,000 deaths per year globally.
Vir Biotechnology Inc.’s focus will look a little different for the latter half of 2024, as the San Francisco-based firm disclosed a restructuring that will cut about a fourth of its workforce and phase out programs targeting influenza and COVID-19 as well as vaccines developed using its T-cell-based viral vector platform.
Immunodesigners Co. Ltd. has discovered optical isomers of 2'-fluoro-6'-methylene carbocyclic adenosine monophosphate prodrug reported to be useful for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B.
Gigagen Inc., a subsidiary of Grifols SA, has received clearance from the FDA of its IND application to conduct a phase I trial of GIGA-2339 for the treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections.
Noze Inc. breathes a little easier with a new $5 million equity investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support the development of Diagnoze, a breath-based, hand-held diagnostic device. The foundation provided two earlier grants focused on diagnosing tuberculosis in low- and middle-income countries. “We're thrilled to see our partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation continue to grow,” Noze CEO Karim Aly told BioWorld.
Triastek Inc., of Nanjing, China, scored a potential $1.2 billion collaboration and platform technology license deal with Biontech SE to manufacture oral RNA therapeutics with 3D printing technology.
SK Bioscience Co. Ltd. signed a simple agreement for a future equity (SAFE) deal totaling $2 million with Hingham, Mass.-based Sunflower Therapeutics PBC on July 25 to secure both Sunflower’s equity and its yeast-based protein manufacturing technology. The conditional agreement will grant SK Bioscience future equity rights in Sunflower without the need for immediate valuation, allowing for minimal investment.
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