Weekly Quick Hits (Research Triangle Park) – Week of October 9, 2023

Several new services and products developed in the RTP area are hitting the market, including a diagnostic test for Alzheimer’s developed by LabCorp, as well as Metabalon’s Liver Fibrosis and Kidney Function Discovery Panels. Merakris Therapeutics also unveiled its new personalized autologous serum tears that can be delivered to a patient’s front door. Area scientists also advanced research into peanut allergies and triple-negative breast cancer.

By Alex Keown | October 13, 2023

Quick Hits is BioBuzz’s weekly round up of all the life science news you don’t want to miss, in your region of interest. Don’t miss a beat; SUBSCRIBE to our weekly Quick Hits newsletter via LinkedIn (BioHealth Capital Region, Greater Philadelphia, Research Triangle Park) or get it delivered to your inbox every week.

Funding, Awards and Collaborations 

QHP Capital Acquires Applied StemCell

QHP Capital, based in Raleigh, acquired cell and gene therapy CRO/CDMO Applied StemCell, Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. ASC’s unique platform of GMP-grade allogeneic induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and its proprietary TARGATT gene editing technology provides its clients with several advantages, including shorter manufacturing timelines, non-viral gene editing, and genomic stability and safety. The reprogramming of somatic cells into iPSCs offers tremendous potential for cell therapy, primary research, disease modeling, and drug development. 

IQVIA, CEPI Collaborate to Strengthen Global Research Preparedness 

IQVIA, a leading provider of advanced analytics, technology solutions, and clinical research services, and The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations forged a strategic collaboration to advance the 100 Days Mission. In conjunction with national and regional collaborators, CEPI and IQVIA will aim to enhance the world’s preparedness to rapidly conduct life-saving clinical research for vaccines and other biological countermeasures against emerging infectious diseases. CEPI will harness IQVIA’s extensive clinical research expertise and innovative solutions, as well as its global reach, to support its goal of strengthening pandemic preparedness clinical research capability in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) to accelerate vaccine development when faced with future viral threats.

Parexel Earns 2023 Society for Clinical Research Sites Eagle Award

CRO Parexel has been awarded the 2023 Society for Clinical Research Sites (SCRS) Eagle Award (CRO category). Parexel received the award at the annual Global Site Solutions Summit held Oct. 6-8 in Florida. The SCRS Eagle Award recognizes the sponsor and CRO committed to outstanding leadership, professionalism, integrity, passion and dedication to advancing the clinical research profession through strong site partnerships.

Eastern Region Pharma Center to hold PharmaFest

East Carolina University and the Eastern Region Pharma Center hosted PharmaFest, which educates students about pathways into the pharmaceutical industry on the ECU campus Oct. 11. The event highlighted several Eastern North Carolina companies, including Catalent and Thermo Fisher Scientific, and also featured several RTP-based companies, such as Fuji Film and Pharmaceutical Calibrations & Instrumentation, LLC.

New Products

Labcorp Launches New Test to Accelerate Path to Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease

LabCorp announced the launch and national availability of its ATN Profile, a blood-based test that combines three, well-researched blood biomarkers to identify and assess biological changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease – amyloid plaques, tau tangles and neurodegeneration (ATN) – which can help accelerate the path to diagnosis and intervention. The test is available through physicians for use with patients who are being evaluated for possible Alzheimer’s disease or other causes of cognitive impairment based on clinical observation and cognitive screenings. 

Merakris Announces Nationwide At-Your-Door Autologous Serum Tears Program

Merakris Therapeutics unveiled a unique program that delivers personalized autologous serum tears—in less than 2 hours—without patients ever having to leave home. The Research Triangle Park-headquartered company is leveraging a nationwide network of mobile phlebotomists with sterile processing technology to make the effective treatment of dry eye and other ocular surface diseases more convenient and accessible for millions of Americans. The Opticyte® Tears program uses patients’ own blood serum to create Opticyte Autologous Serum Tears from the convenience of their homes or an optical provider’s office. This point-of-care process improves the patient experience while harnessing the human body’s ability to heal.

Metabolon Launches New Liver Fibrosis and Kidney Function Discovery Panels

Metabolon, Inc. launched its new Liver Fibrosis and Kidney Function Discovery Panels. As part of the Metabolon Discover portfolio of metabolomics services, Metabolon’s new Liver Fibrosis and Kidney Function Discovery Panels assess multiple metabolites across diverse biological pathways associated with liver fibrosis and kidney disease, providing a greater understanding of these conditions. These new panels also leverage new visualization tools, allowing researchers to compare results across different data sets to identify and understand the impact of statistically significant changes in metabolite abundance.

Research Roundup

Duke: Supplements Could Protect Against Stomach Cancer

A study published in Cancer Causes and Control suggests that taking supplements regularly could offer protection against stomach cancer, particularly for Black adults. Researchers at Duke University School of Medicine examined health data from more than 80,000 adults living in the South and found that those who took a supplement had a 30% lower chance of developing stomach cancer than those who did not take supplements. The study’s findings are not definitive, and more research is needed to confirm the results, Duke noted. 

UNC Researchers Discover Details to Improve Mapping of Some Hearing Devices

Researchers in the UNC Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery found that about 60% of cochlear implant recipients with hearing preservation had one or more electrode contacts in the functional acoustic hearing region. The team found a significant association between speech understanding in noise and the proximity of the electrode array to the functional acoustic hearing region in either the basal or apical direction. These data have clinical implications for electrode array selection for cochlear implant candidates with functional acoustic hearing and for mapping of the EAS device, the researchers noted in an announcement. 

UNC: Protein Therapy Has Potential with Peanut Allergies

A three-year clinical trial conducted by UNC researchers and funded by the National Institutes of Health and Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) has shown that sublingual immunotherapy, or SLIT, is safe in peanut-allergic children ages 1 to 4, with a greater likelihood of desensitization and remission the earlier the treatment began. The study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. It included 50 peanut-allergic 1 to 4 year-old children randomized to receive 4 mg peanut SLIT versus placebo. The treatment is given to subjects as a small amount of liquid under the tongue, instead of peanut flour that is mixed with other food and then eaten like it is during oral immunotherapy, or OIT. Findings showed that peanut SLIT can be highly effective in treating peanut-allergic toddlers with almost 80% tolerating 15 peanuts without allergic symptoms after completing the treatment. 

Duke Study Identifies Molecularly Unique Form of Triple-negative Breast Cancer 

Triple-negative breast cancer disproportionately affects younger African American females, who show higher incidence and lower survival rates compared to other groups. A new study from Duke University School of Medicine researchers suggests a molecularly distinct subtype of cancer could be a reason why. In an exploratory study, investigators found that African American women under age 50 had a unique DNA methylation profile compared to older African American women and white women of all ages. The results were published in the journal JAMA Network Open. 

People on the Move

Fortrea’s Jim Cameli Named a Top 100 Global Chief Information Security Officer

Fortrea, a leading global contract research organization, announced that its Global Chief Information Security Officer, Jim Cameli, has been named to HotTopics’ Global CISO 100 2023. The Global CISO 100 award places Cameli alongside top executives in the cybersecurity space who have illustrated exceptional leadership and contributions to the field. 

Alcami Expands Executive Leadership Team, Appoints Chief Information Officer

CDMO Alcami Corporation appointed Tariq Jamal as Chief Information Officer. Jamal is a tenured business and technology leader with over three decades of industry experience and a proven track record of leading cross-functional IT teams. Prior to joining Alcami, he was the Regional Chief Information Officer at Lonza/Capsugel, Inc., where he was responsible for overseeing global IT operations and integration activities. Previous executive leadership experience includes roles at Novartis Consumer Health, Roche Pharmaceutical, and Genentech.

Codetta Bio Appoints Life Sciences Industry Leader Jacques Corriveau as CEO

Durham-based Codetta Bio, which is developing advanced multi-omic biomarker measurement tools, appointed Jacques Corriveau as Chief Executive Officer. In this role, Corriveau will lead Codetta’s next phase of commercial growth as the team advances the development of its disruptive multi-omic solution and brings its technology to market. Most recently, Corriveau served as President and CEO at Ultivue, Inc. for three years, where he led organizational growth in commercial operations and manufacturing capacity. Prior to that, he worked for AstraZeneca’s Definiens Inc. as Vice President and General Manager for North America. Corriveau also spent 10 years in various commercial roles at NanoString Technologies.

Fortrea Appoints Life Science Executive John Doyle to Lead Consulting Team

Fortrea appointed John Doyle as its new President of Consulting. Doyle will serve on Fortrea’s leadership team and lead a team of consultants and advisors with expertise that spans early development through lifecycle management. He joins Fortrea from Exponent, a scientific and engineering consulting firm based in Silicon Valley, where he led the company’s Health Sciences business. Previously, Doyle led the Global Healthcare Innovation Center at Pfizer, which focused on optimizing equitable and affordable access to Pfizer’s medicine and vaccines.