Weekly Quick Hits (BioHealth Capital Region)
– Week of February 27, 2023

By Sarah Ellinwood, Alex Keown, and Mark Terry
March 3rd, 2023

Funding and Collaborations

Eyedea Medical Awarded $1,000,000 NSF Phase II SBIR Grant 

Eyedea Medical, a Baltimore-based medtech startup, has been awarded a $1,000,000 Phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant will provide support for the development and commercialization of its proprietary corneal tissue preparation devices, DescePrep and DesceCleave. These devices allow for simple, efficient, and standardized separation of layers of the cornea in order to increase access to and adoption of vision-restoring corneal transplant techniques, including Descemet’s Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty and Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty.

TEDCO Invests in NasaClip

TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, awarded NasaClip, a woman- and minority-led startup, a $250,000 investment. NasaClip, based in Baltimore, is focused on providing patients with painless, hands-free treatment for nosebleeds. The NasaClip device provides constant uninterrupted external nasal pressure combined with intranasal sponges that can be medicated to stop bleeding fast.

OpGen Subsidiary Ares Genetics Moves to Vienna

Ares Genetics, a subsidiary of Rockville-based OpGen, Inc., is moving to incubator space in Vienna. The company, focused on bacterial genomics and AI-powered prediction of antimicrobial resistance, will take space in the Vienna Bio Center. Ares Genetics will useapproximately 5,000 square feet of dedicated laboratory and bioinformatics office space that has been built out to its specifications.

Adial Pharmaceuticals Secures $750,000 Direct Offering

Adial Pharmaceuticals, based in Charlottesville, closed An at-the-market registered direct offering of 1,829,269 shares of common stock. The company raised $750,000 through the purchase.

Surgo Health Debuts with a Mission to Revolutionize Personalized Care

Surgo Health, a Washington, D.C.-based public benefits company, launched with a mission to develop a socio-behavioral analytics platform to generate real-world data designed to improve health equity and outcomes through a greater understanding of complex factors that influence how individuals engage in their healthcare. Using proprietary data and algorithms, Surgo Health will capture, compile, and leverage the company’s original research to help healthcare companies develop interventions and strategies that improve engagement in care, especially for underserved populations.

Indivior Completes Acquisition of Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Virginia-based Indivior PLC completed the acquisition of Opiant Pharmaceuticals. The deal strengthens Indivior’s addiction treatment portfolio by adding Opiant’s late-stage assets, notably OPNT003, an investigational opioid overdose treatment designed to offer an important treatment option to address the current wave of U.S. opioid overdoses from powerful synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl. OPNT003 is a patented intranasal nalmefene formulation. Prior to the acquisition, Opian announced the completion of its rolling New Drug Application for OPNT003 on Dec. 22, 2022. The FDA set a PDUFA date for May 22, 2023. 

Shuttle Pharmaceuticals Expands Laboratory Space

Shuttle Pharmaceuticals Holdings entered an agreement to lease new laboratory and office space to complement the development of the company’s lead drug candidates and accelerate broader diagnostic capabilities on predictive biomarkers. The new laboratory space, located in Gaithersburg, Maryland, is located within the Maryland Biotech Corridor.

In the Clinic

Elpiscience Doses First Patient In Phase I Bispecific Antibody Trial

Elpiscience Biopharma, Inc., based in Germantown, announced the first patient has been dosed in a Phase I clinical trial of ES014, a first-in-class anti-CD39xTGF-β bispecific antibody (bsAb). ES014 simultaneously targets the CD39-adenosine and TGF-β pathways, aiming to convert the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment  into an immune-friendly one. Adenosine and TGF-β are two key immunosuppressive pathways within the TME.

Gain Therapeutics Presents Preclinical Data from Gaucher Disease Program 

Gain Therapeutics, Inc. presented new pre-clinical data from its Gaucher disease program at the Annual WORLDSymposium. The data generated in an animal model of neuronopathic Gaucher disease (nGD) show that GT-02329 restores β-glucocerebrosidase (GCase) activity, depletes accumulation of toxic lipid substrates, reduces neuroinflammation and improves neuromuscular function.

Innovent Doses First Patient in Phase I Study of IBI333 

Rockville-based Innovent Biologics, Inc. dosed the first patient in a Phase I trial evaluating  IBI333, a recombinant anti-VEGF–A and anti-VEGF-C bispecific fusion protei as a potential treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration. IBI333 can simultaneously bind and neutralize the activities of VEGF-A and VEGF-C. Compared with anti-VEGF-A agents, IBI333 can inhibit the compensatory increased activity of VEGF-C, thus achieve a more sufficient blockage of the VEGF/VEGFR signaling, implying the potential to obtain a more desirable outcome of angiogenesis inhibition and vascular leakage reduction.

Research Roundup

AMPEL BioSolutions Predicts Drug Options to Slow End Stage Renal Disease

Charlottesville-based AMPEL BioSolutions announced a genomic precision medicine test for chronic kidney diseases can potentially predict kidney damage before it is irreversible and providing decision support for prophylactic therapies. AMPEL’s approach identified markers in kidney biopsy samples that drive pathways that can be targeted by drugs. The NephroGENE lab test is ready for development for practical use as a decision support biomarker test to manage kidney disease, the company said. 

Regulatory and Advocacy

DEA Says MyMD’s Supera-CBD is not a Controlled Substance 

Baltimore-based MyMD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. received welcome news from the Drug Enforcement Agency. The DEA determined the company’s  investigational cannabinoid Supera-CBD is not currently considered a controlled substance or listed chemical. Supera-CBD is a synthetic, non-toxic cannabidiol analog that is a significantly more potent CB2 agonist than plant-based CBD. In addition to its potential role in managing addiction, anxiety, chronic pain and seizures, Supera-CBD has also been shown in preclinical studies to have anti-inflammatory effects. 

MyMD Pharmaceuticals To Present  Preclinical RA Data for Oral TNF-α Inhibitor MYMD-1

MyMD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will present preclinical data from a study, conducted in partnership with Charles River Laboratories International at the upcoming Society of Toxicology 2023 Annual Meeting. The company will present the poster presentation, “A Naturally Occurring Novel Therapeutic and Oral Selective Inhibitor of TNF-α, MYMD-1 (Isomyosamine) Significantly Reduced the Inflammation and Disease Severity in Murine Model of Collagen Antibody-Induced Arthritis,” during the conference.

People on the Move

Novavax Names New CSO

Novavax’s new Chief Executive Officer John C. Jacobs tapped Elaine O’Hara as chief strategy officer. O’Hara joins the organization to focus on business and corporate development, portfolio strategy and alliance management. The appointment was announced during the company’s year-end financial report. 

Claire Fraser Steps Down from Director Role at the Institute for Genome Sciences Claire Fraser will step down from her position as Director of the Institute for Genome Sciences in the University of Maryland School of Medicine effective immediately. She will continue as the Dean E. Albert Reece Endowed Professor and Professor of Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology at UMSOM and scientist at IGS through the end of 2024, at which time she will retire. Fraser founded IGS in 2007. Jacques Ravel, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at UMSOM will continue in his Interim role as Acting Director of IGS.

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