With scientists yet to discover the specific antigen that confers protection from Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), there are currently no prophylactic vaccines available for the diseases it causes, the most well-known of which is infectious mononucleosis but which evidence suggests might also extend to immune disorders, multiple sclerosis and various cancers. This hasn’t stopped companies from trying, and one such player, EBViously Inc., is hedging its bets with a wider net, using as many proteins as possible to mimic the original viral pathogen and its complexity in a vaccine composed of non-infectious virus-like particles.

The artificial intelligence-first approach to drug discovery may be boosting productivity but has also exposed the fact that in silico design can only go so far. At some point it will be necessary to revert to the conventional method and synthesize a protein and do an experiment. Now newco Adaptyv Bio aims to smooth this transition by applying cell-free systems and micro fluidics to enable proteins to be synthesized and validated at nano scale.

With the backing of €2 million (US$2.17 million) in seed funding from venture capital company Adbio partners, French biotech Calida Therapeutics hopes that drawing on some U.S. academic research into thrombo-inflammatory disorders will enable it to develop a series of monoclonal antibodies.

A $10 million pot of seed money has catapulted Ctrl Therapeutics Inc. into existence, enabling it to advance an immunotherapy approach in which tumor cells are extracted from the bloodstream rather than the tumor itself. By targeting circulating tumor-reactive lymphocytes (cTRLs) in the blood, the company’s cell therapy platform – which originated at the University of Toronto – is designed to address the challenges of existing cell therapy technologies.

Acute thrombosis, including heart attack and stroke, is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. Yet only a small fraction of patients can be treated with current therapeutic or surgical interventions. Enter Basking Biosciences Inc., a 2019 startup aimed at developing a short-acting, fast-onset thrombolytic drug alongside a reversal agent for treating acute ischemic stroke.

Two years after its formation, Mosaic Therapeutics Ltd. has raised $28 million in a series A to begin commercialization of research carried out by the Translational Cancer Genomics Lab at the Sanger Institute in Cambridge, U.K., into the genetic vulnerabilities of multiple tumor types and how that impacts response to therapy.

Smart Immune SAS has received €17.5 million (US$19 million) in grant and equity funding from an EU innovation program to advance development of its “thymus in a dish” T-cell therapy.

The role of G protein-coupled receptor 35 (GPR35) in gastrointestinal (GI) diseases has been genetically validated for some time, with several pharmaceutical companies advancing programs designed to tackle the target; however, most of these efforts to date have focused on increasing GPR35 activity. ThirtyFiveBio’s approach is different: The newly founded virtual biotech company believes that antagonizing the target and thereby blocking unwanted GPR35 signaling may be a more appropriate way to address GI conditions, including digestive tract cancers.

More than a decade ago, three scientists were part of a team at G1 Therapeutics Inc. that led to the now-approved CDK4/6 inhibitor Cosela (trilaciclib). The same work also led to findings showing CDK2 as a promising target for cancers that developed resistance to CDK4/6 inhibition.

The Gustave Roussy cancer center, specializing in cancer treatment, and its technology transfer subsidiary Gustave Roussy Transfert, reported the creation of startup Orakl SA, which develops a technology for modeling cancer tumors called the patient tumor avatar. Orakl leverages a unique collection of patient tumor avatars, combining biological and clinical data to fuel the therapeutic arsenal to fight cancer.