New Biotech Aims to Pull Medical Secrets from Bats
Bats have gotten a bad rap since the COVID-19 pandemic, but newly launched biotech Paratus Sciences is out to change that. With $100 million in Series A fundraising, this biotech is hoping to study the unique characteristics that have evolved in the only flighted mammal over millions of years to solve afflictions such as inflammation, viral infection, and other disorders in humans.
Phil Ferro, President and Head of Global Operations at Paratus, served as the Director for Countering Biological Threats on the White House’s National Security Council staff from 2019 to 2020 and is excited by how bats have evolved to do things human therapeutics could learn from. Why bats? Bats are an easier and closer-to-humans model to study than many animals studied in labs today due to their long-life span and similar physiologies and habitats to humans. For instance, studying the metabolic feat that allows these mammals to fly could have implications for our own mammal metabolism and immunity. Paratus will be developing a drug discovery platform that is first focusing on inflammation, but can eventually expand to include oncology, metabolic disorders, and aging.
Concentric Health and Scout Join Forces
Concentric Health Experience and Scout have combined to form ConcentricLife, a new agency model built to help brands answer rising consumer demands in rare disease, health, and wellness. At the core of the company’s mission are deep insights from the Human Connection Score, a proprietary tool that helps marketers identify and target the underlying human behaviors that fuel the modern health experience.
“To create relevant brands, the modern marketer must be a customer experience expert, able to connect insight to real solutions that strengthen brand affinity,” Michael Sanzen, Founder, Creative of ConcentricLife, said in a statement. “ConcentricLife is a model uniquely designed to deliver that across the complete human health and wellness journey.”
Marketing Centers of Excellence will act as connective tissue across the organization and will include the central practice of Experience Design (composed of innovation, engagement, and ideation) along with specialized capabilities in social, medical communications, commercial strategy, and content production. ConcentricLife comprises over 270 employees across the globe, including New York, San Diego, Chicago, Atlanta, Ft. Lauderdale, London, and Copenhagen, and is part of the Stagwell network.
Calcium Launches Oncology Marketing Division
Calcium + Company, the diversified healthcare agency, has launched a marketing division solely focused on oncology called Amino. Amino Oncology offers current and future clients an integrated marketing and communications approach that draws on the extensive oncology experience of its leading talent across oncologic science, strategy, creative, and engagement. Josh Righter is returning to the company to lead Amino as Associate Managing Director, having previously helped to build the oncology presence at Calcium.
“Today, oncology brands and companies must rise above the noise with a fully integrated, bespoke approach—one that creates strong and durable bonds with HCPs, patients, care partners, and communities,” says Righter. “With Amino, I’m so excited to return to the Calcium family to be a part of this team of experienced storytellers—one that has honed a unique methodology by fusing scientific pedigree with unmatched oncology marketing expertise.”
Moderna and ElevateBio Collaborate
Moderna and ElevateBio’s Life Edit Therapeutics have decided to partner on developing in vivo mRNA gene editing therapies with the goal of creating curative therapies for rare genetic disease and other diseases. “Through our collaboration with Life Edit, we hope to harness the power of gene editing technologies as part of our broader R&D engine,” Eric Huang, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Moderna’s Genomics Unit, said in a statement.
The partnership will utilize ElevateBio’s library of base editors and RNA-guided nucleases (RGNs), along with its platform that enables ex vivo engineering for cell therapies and regenerative medicines and in vivo delivery of gene therapies. Moderna will fund this research and pre-clinical work, focusing on the idea that RGNs are smaller in size compared to other nucleases, which may offer greater versatility for therapeutic delivery.
“This collaboration between Life Edit and Moderna demonstrates the strength of our respective technologies to advance programmable medicines to more specifically target disease,” said Mitchell Finer, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Life Edit Therapeutics and President, R&D, ElevateBio. “Our novel editing systems have the potential to precisely modify gene targets for both in vivo and ex vivo therapeutic development. We are excited that partners, such as Moderna, are recognizing the potential of our technology.”
Klick Venture Studio Is Disrupting the Health Market
Klick Health launched btwelve as a venture studio that provides entrepreneurs with commercial expertise and investment to bring emerging concepts to the health market. The venture has already started work with companies such as microbial sciences company Seed Health and personalized healthcare information platform Ostro. btwelve is led by Dan Drexler, MD, and Destry Sulkes, MD who boast a combined 40 years of experience in entrepreneurship and commercialization. Understanding the challenges of bringing transformational health products to market, Dr. Drexler and Dr. Sulkes are focused on offering clients true partnership as well as end-to-end strategic, marketing advisory, and commercialization services coupled with flexible remuneration models.
“At btwelve, we know how to thread the needle,” said Dr. Drexler. “In today’s dynamic health space, companies need to navigate the increasingly ambiguous and converging state between consumer and clinical. We help design best-in-class consumer experiences for regulated products, and can create clinical credibility with top consumer products.”
According to Dr. Sulkes, btwelve’s goals are clear. “We are invested in transforming the state of health. Our team thrives on rolling up our sleeves to help health pioneers bring brilliant ideas to life to change the trajectory of people’s lives for the better. And, in the process, maybe, just maybe, help our clients win Nobel Prizes.”
Amgen Partners in African American Heart Study
Amgen is partnering with the Association of Black Cardiologists and Morehouse School of Medicine to study cardiovascular risk in African Americans, evaluating the linkage between lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) in 5,000 participants. ASCVD is a buildup of plaque in the arteries that leads to cardiovascular disease.
While cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in all Americans, African Americans are 30% more likely to die from heart disease than white counterparts. In order to pinpoint the reasons for the heightened risk, Amgen and its partners will be focusing on Lp(a), a major risk factor for heart disease that can differ in levels between different races and ethnicities.
Principal investigator Elizabeth Ofili, MD, MPH, FACC, Professor of Medicine at Morehouse, states that the results of what is being called the African American Heart Study could indicate which therapies would work best for different populations of patients. Morehouse and the Association of Black Cardiologists will conduct outreach and find potential trial sites through the Health 360x Clinical Trial Network and Registry, while Amgen’s deCODE genetics unit will analyze and sequence the DNA, RNA, and protein markers from blood samples taken from each patient, including 2,500 with ASCVD and 2,500 without. The company plans to follow participants for three years and integrate trial data into future clinical research.
