RNA has “huge potential” as a therapeutic modality and is beginning to deliver on that potential. But “manufacturing RNA has issues in production, delivery and performance,” Thomas Barnes told BioWorld. Barnes is the CEO of startup Orna Therapeutics LLC, which has the goal of addressing those issues with oRNA, an engineered form of circular RNA.

Asalyxa Bio Inc. has closed on an oversubscribed seed financing of more than $2 million designed to advance its lead candidate, ASX-100, into the clinic in acute respiratory distress syndrome.

PERTH, Australia – About seven years ago, Australia’s George Institute for Global Health conducted a study to find out how many people require dialysis for end-stage kidney failure compared to how many people receive treatment.

CAJICA, Colombia – China’s Anticancer Bioscience, a company focused on developing precision oncology medicines, has raised ¥66 million (US$10.2 million) to expand its small-molecule and natural product screening libraries and move two programs into IND-enabling studies.

CAJICA, Colombia – China’s Anticancer Bioscience, a company focused on developing precision oncology medicines, has raised ¥66 million (US$10.2 million) to expand its small-molecule and natural product screening libraries and move two programs into IND-enabling studies.

Covicept Therapeutics Inc., a young San Diego-based company focused on developing a small molecule to inhibit the replication and spread of SARS-CoV-2 and other RNA viruses, has launched with $2.3 million in seed funding from European VC firm Forbion. The company, spun out of research at the University of California, San Diego, aims to initiate its first clinical study in the middle of 2021.

Boston-based Nirogy Therapeutics Inc.’s $16.5 million series A round is meant to enable a pipeline of small-molecule drugs targeting the solute carrier family of transporter proteins (SLCTs) embedded in the cell membrane, and let the firm bring its front oncology runner to the clinic in 2022.

Opticyte Inc., a medical device startup, is planning the first clinical trial of its cellular oxygen monitor, a new device that could help emergency physicians diagnose sepsis faster and prevent organ failure. The prospective, observational trial is set to launch in mid-2021.

Newly launched Inzen Therapeutics Inc. is wrestling with cell loss and what information those cells impart as they die. The premise, that cells leave a legacy to living cells, is at the heart of the company as it works to find and develop therapies based on its Thanokine Biology, which the company said could be used for preventing and treating cancer, fibrotic disorders, immune-inflammatory disorders, metabolic disorders and degenerative diseases.

San Diego area startup Endeavor Biomedicines Inc. launched in January 2021, with a $62 million series A financing from Omega Funds, Longitude Capital and its own management team. The company is working on one asset, ENV-101 or taladegib, a small-molecule inhibitor targeting the Hedgehog pathway, which it plans to develop for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).