Weekly Quick Hits (Greater Philly) – Week of May 15, 2023

By Mark Terry
May 19, 2023

Funding, Awards and Collaborations

Soligenix Q1: Recent IPO Raised $8.5 Million Plus Positive HyBryte Results

Princeton, NJ-headquartered Soligenix reported its first-quarter 2023 financials. As part of its update, it noted the recent public offering that raised about $8.5 million. It also announced positive clinical trial results from a compatibility study evaluating HyBryte (synthetic hypericin sodium) in the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

BriaCell, Prevail Partners and Prevail InfoWorks Ink $4 Million Investment

BriaCell, with offices in Philadelphia and Vancouver, BC, inked a Master Service and Technology Agreement with Prevail InfoWorks, a Philly-based CRO, to provide clinical services and technologies for BriaCell’s upcoming pivotal trial in advanced metastatic breast cancer. Prevail Partners, an investment fund and affiliate of InfoWorks, has agreed to buy 436,408 BriaCell common shares at a price of $8.63 for gross proceeds of $4 million.

NRx Pharma Q1: Bipolar Depression Trial Continues

Radnor, Pa.-based NRx Pharmaceuticals reported its first-quarter 2023 financial results and provided a business update. The company’s Phase IIb/III trial of NRX-101 in Suicidal Treatment-Resistant Bipolar Depression data is expected in the first quarter and enrollment is continuing. The company also has a meeting with the FDA planned for the second quarter to discuss Breakthrough Therapy Designation for the drug.

Alliance Pharma and Drug Development Solutions Change Name to Resolian

Malvern, Pa.-based Alliance Pharma, which acquired Drug Development Solutions in 2022, announced they will be operating under the new name Resolian. Alliance provides bioanalytical, DMPK, and CMC testing services.

Prelude Therapeutics Announces Pricing of Public Offering

Wilmington, Del.-based Prelude Therapeutics announced the pricing of its underwritten public offering of 3,048,522 shares of its voting common stock and 1,448,222 shares of its non-voting common stock. Both are to be offered at a price of $5.75 per share. They expect to bring in about $100 million. Prelude is a clinical-stage precision oncology company.

Cabaletta Bio Announces Pricing of Public Offering

Philadelphia-based Cabaletta Bio announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 7,250,000 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $12 per share. It expects to bring in $87 million. Cabaletta is a clinical-stage biotech company focused on engineered T-cell therapies for autoimmune diseases.

Real Estate

NexPoint Acquires 2 Philadelphia Life Sciences Properties

NexPoint acquired two life sciences industrial properties in Philadelphia from Frontida Biopharma, a company in the Adare Pharma Solutions group. The acquisition includes almost 18 acres of land across the two properties and more than 250,000 square feet of interior space where Frontida Biopharm will stay as a tenant. 

Breakthrough Properties Receives $130 Million Financing for Life Science Project in Philly

Breakthrough Properties, a life sciences real estate developer, arranged $130 million in construction financing from D2 Capital Advisors. The funds will finance the development of 2300 Market Street, a 223,000-square-foot project in Philadelphia’s Center City West submarket.

In the Clinic

AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso Provides Benefit in EGFR-Mutated Advanced Lung Cancer

AstraZeneca, with offices in Wilmington, Del., reported positive high-level data from the FLAURA2 Phase III trial of Tagrisso (osimertinib) in combination with chemotherapy. In patients with locally advanced (Stage IIIB-IIIC) or metastatic (Stage IV) EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the drug demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival compared to Tragrisso alone.

PTC Therapeutics’ APHENITY Trial Hits Primary Endpoint in PKU

PTC Therapeutics, based in South Plainfield, NJ, announced that its Phase III APHENITY trial of sepiapterin in adults and pediatric patients with phenylketonuria (PKU) hit the primary endpoint. The study included 98 patients with a mean Phe reduction in patients receiving sepiapterin of 63%.

New Products

Experic Adds Spray Drying Capabilities to its Pharma Line of Products

Experic, a CDMO based in Cranbury, NJ, added spray drying capabilities to support the formulation and development of biopharmaceuticals from its Cranbury-based facility. This technique is used to control powder particle size and morphology, enhance aqueous solubility of amorphous formulation to improve drug bioavailability, and engineer particles for delivery to the lungs.

GenScript Biotech Expands Peptide and Oligonucleotide Facility in China

GenScript Biotech, located in Piscataway, NJ, expanded its primary manufacturing facility for oligonucleotide and peptide production at Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China. The expanded oligonucleotide synthesis capability offers qPCR oligos, NGS oligos, RNA oligos, DNA oligos and more.

TELA Bio Announces Upcoming Cadaver Lab

Malvern, Pa.-based TELA Bio announced it will be hosting the next cadaver lab on May 19 in Tampa, Florida. The program, “Advanced Hernia Repair with OviTex Reinforced Tissue Matrix” will offer surgeons educational opportunities to learn open and robotic-assisted hernia repair techniques.

Research Roundup

University of Delaware and Biospection Create Novel Rapid Detection of Foodborne Pathogens

Researchers with the University of Delaware partnered with Delaware-based startup Biospection to develop a rapid system for detecting foodborne pathogens. The research was published in the Journal of Food Safety. The system can detect foodborne pathogens in three to six hours.

SwanBio Presents Preliminary Primate Studies Data on AAV Capsids

SwanBio Therapeutics, headquartered in Philadelphia, presented preliminary data from primate studies of AAV capsids that outperform the commonly used AAV9 capsid. The data was presented at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Annual Meeting.

CHOP and UCLA Development Tool to ID Novel Targets for Cancer Immunotherapy

Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and UCLA developed a computational method to discover tumor antigens derived from alternative RNA splicing. This platform, called “Isoform peptides from RNA splicing for Immunotherapy target screening” (IRIS), was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Rocket Pharma Presents Positive Data from Preclinical and Clinical Programs

Rocket Pharma, based in Cranbury, NJ, announced positive data from the Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency (PKD), Fanconi Anemia, Severe Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I) and Danon Disease clinical programs and PKP2-arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (PKP2-ACM) preclinical program. The data were presented at the 26^th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) in Los Angeles, Calif.

People on the Move

Avantor’s CFO Steps Down, Company Initiates Search

Radnor, Pa.-based Avantor announced that Executive VP and CFO Thomas A. Szlosek will leave the company effective August 2, 2023. The company has initiated a search for his successor.