Weekly Quick Hits (Research Triangle Park) – Week of May 22, 2023

By Alex Keown
May 26, 2023

Funding, Awards and Collaborations

Bioventus Completes Divestiture of its Wound Business

Bioventus completed the divestiture of its Wound business, including the skin substitutes TheraSkin and TheraGenesis, to LifeNet Health. The transaction, announced earlier this month, enables Bioventus’ improved focus on execution and delivers approximately $30 million of net closing proceeds, which will be used for debt repayment. In connection with the closing of the sale, Bioventus and LifeNet Health have also entered into a Sales Agent Agreement under which LifeNet Health will have exclusive rights to sell SonicOne ultrasonic wound debridement products in the U.S. and Canada.

IQVIA & (RED) Announce Partnership to Support Strengthening of Laboratory System 

IQVIA announced a groundbreaking partnership today with (RED), the organization co-founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver to fight AIDS and the injustices that enable pandemics to thrive, to support laboratory system strengthening and save lives. The $5 million impact partnership will channel life-saving money to the Global Fund’s Laboratory Systems Integration Fund. Doubling the impact, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will match every dollar from the partnership to the Global Fund. The Global Fund’s Laboratory Systems Integration Fund aims to advance laboratory systems readiness and capability ratings in over a dozen low- and middle-income countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. 

Real Estate

EmVenio Research Opens Community Reseach Site in Chicago

Durham-based EmVenio Research opened a mobile community research site in Chicago on the Illinois Medical District campus as part of a concerted effort to maximize diversity, equity and inclusion in research studies and deliver clinical trial access to diverse and underserved communities. The Chicago site is one of 10 locations in the U.S. where EmVenio operates community research sites. The sites are expected challenge the traditional model of clinical research studies that result in findings that do not often reflect the demographic makeup of the whole population.

PM Group Announces New Office in RTP

Ireland-based PM Group, life sciences project delivery specialists, announced the location of its new office in Research Triangle Park. The office will meet rapid growth in life sciences providing design, engineering, architecture, and commissioning/qualification services. Within the next year, the office will expand to include more than 30 life science engineers and architects. The office is expected to open in July 2023 and will be the fifth PM Group office in the U.S.

In the Clinic

Milestone Pharmaceuticals Shares New Etripamil Nasal Spray Analysis

Milestone Pharmaceuticals shared promising data from an ad hoc analysis of a subset of patients experiencing atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular rate (AFib-RVR) in the NODE-303 study. That study evaluated etripamil, the company’s investigational calcium channel blocker, in patients with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT). The data were featured during an oral session at the Heart Rhythm 2023 Annual Meeting.Data from this unplanned analysis represent the first direct clinical evidence of the impact of etripamil on heart rate in patients experiencing an event of AFib-RVR, Joseph Oliveto, President and Chief Executive Officer of Milestone Pharmaceuticals said in the comapny’s announcment. Topline results from the ongoing Phase II study are expected in the second half of 2023. 

RedHill Terminates Phase III Study

RedHill Biopharma terminated a Phase III study of RHB-204 for Non-tuberculosis Mycobacteria (NTM) disease due to a very low accrual rat. Additionally, RedHill announced a shifting of resources to advance once-daily, oral RHB-107’s late-stage development for outpatient treatment of COVID-19. This decision is intended to enable the company to better focus its resources on key pipeline catalysts and revenue-generating product acquisition, while searching for out-licensing partners for RHB-204, a combination of clarithromycin, rifabutin and clofazimine, developed for the treatment of pulmonary NTM disease caused by MAC. RHB-204 was granted FDA Fast Track and Orphan Drug Designation.

Aerami Therapeutics Shares AER-901 Pharmacokinetic Data 

Aerami Therapeutics announced results from studies of AER-901 (inhaled imatinib) that support progression into a Phase II clinical trial in both pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Findings from the data presented at the 2023 American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference include a nearly 10-fold higher lung exposure to the inhaled AER-901 than equivalent doses of oral imatinib. AER-901 was generally well-tolerated. 

New Patents

vTv Therapeutics Receives Patent for Azeliragon as a Treatment of Glioblastoma

vTv Therapeutics announced the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent to its licensee Cantex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. that covers claims related to the use of azeliragon as a potential treatment of glioblastoma multiforme. Azeliragon is a small molecule inhibitor of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) discovered by vTv and licensed to Cantex Pharmaceuticals. 

Research Roundup

Tune Therapeutics Shows Stable, Durable Epigenetic Regulation in Non-Human Primates

At the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy meeting, Durham-based Tune Therapeutics demonstrated the potential of its TEMPO genetic tuning platform with data that showed the stable repression of the PCSK9 gene and the effective reduction of LDL-cholesterol levels in non-human primates (NHPs). This data marks a significant waypoint on the path to epigenetic medicine, in that it represents the first demonstration of durable epigenetic gene regulation, in a large animal model, following transient delivery of an epi-editor, the company said. The non-human primate data presented at the ASGCT conference showed that epigenome editing (or genetic tuning) can drive the stable repression of PCSK9 following a single treatment, and without cutting or nicking the DNA, or altering its coding sequence in any way. Tune’s TEMPO platform incorporates a DNA-binding Domain that binds to DNA without cutting it, tethered to one or more effector proteins, which produce the required epigenetic effect. 

Breaking through bacterial barriers in chronic treatment-resistant wounds

Researchers in the UNC School of Medicine’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the UNC-NC State Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering developed a new strategy to improve drug-delivery into chronic wounds infections. The team developed a new method that combines palmitoleic acid, gentamicin, and non-invasive ultrasound to help improve drug delivery in chronic wounds that have been infected with S. aureus. Using their new strategy, researchers were able to reduce the challenging MRSA infection in the wounds of diabetic mice by 94%. They were able to completely sterilize the wounds in several of the mice, and the rest had significantly reduced bacterial burden. Their results were published in Cell Chemical Biology.

Duke: Biologic Used by Athletes Could Also Ease Nerve Pain from Chemo, Diabetes

Autologous conditioned serum (ACS), a biologic therapy used by athletes to treat arthritis and sports injuries, shows benefit for the kind of neurological pain caused by chemotherapy or diabetes. In a study using rodents, Duke Health researchers found that a spinal injection of the conditioned serum eased limb pain longer than typical analgesics. The researchers also showed that this long-lasting pain relief results from a process outside the anti-inflammatory effects previously ascribed to ACS, which could enhance and expand the therapy’s use. The findings are published online in the journal Brain Behavior and Immunity.

UNC Research Group Releases New White Paper On Molecular HIV Epidemiology

The Dennis Research Group in the UNC School of Medicine released a new white paper titled, “Revitalizing Community Engagement in the Public Health Use of Molecular HIV Epidemiology.” The paper informed the development of four key guidance points to revitalize community engagement around molecular HIV epidemiology (MHE) in NC, with potential broader applicability to other states. The paper is a product of the UNC Ethics of HIV Molecular Surveillance Project, funded through an administrative supplement to the NIAID-funded R01 Phylodynamics Response, Monitoring, & Prevention of Transmission.

Breaking Through Bacterial Barriers in Chronic Treatment-Resistant Wounds

Researchers in the UNC School of Medicine’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the UNC-NC State Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering developed a new strategy to improve drug-delivery into chronic wounds infections. The method combines palmitoleic acid, gentamicin, and non-invasive ultrasound to help improve drug delivery in chronic wounds that have been infected with S. aureus. Researchers were able to reduce the challenging MRSA infection in the wounds of diabetic mice by 94%. They were able to completely sterilize the wounds in several of the mice, and the rest had significantly reduced bacterial burden. Their results were published in Cell Chemical Biology.

Regulatory and Advocacy

Public Health Institute of Chile Approves BioCryst’s Orladeyo

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals announced that the Public Health Institute of Chile granted marketing authorization for oral, once-daily Orladeyo (berotralstat) for the prophylaxis of hereditary angioedema (HAE) attacks in patients 12 years of age or older. BioCryst has an exclusive collaboration with Pint Pharma GmbH to register and promote Orladeyo in the pan-Latin America region. Under the terms of the agreement, Pint is responsible for obtaining and maintaining all marketing authorizations and for commercializing the drug in the region.

People on the Move

Jose Luis Palacios Appointed CEO of Virtue Labs, a Biotech Haircare Company

Virtue Labs, the fast-growing biotech haircare company, announced that Jose Luis Palacios has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. Virtue’s Founder, Melisse Shaban, will continue to serve as an advisor to the CEO and the board of directors. Palacios joins Virtue after a long career in the consumer brands industry, including global leadership positions at Procter and Gamble, Coty, and most recently, Google.

G1 Therapeutics Announces Appointment of Monica Thomas as General Counsel

G1 Therapeutics appointed Monica Thomas as its General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer. Thomas replaces Stillman Hanson who departed the company earlier this month. Thomas joined G1 after serving as Head of Corporate Legal and Assistant Corporate Secretary at Radius Health where she advised senior executives and the Board of Directors. Previously, she was Associate General Counsel for UCB, Inc. Prior to that, she held numerous leadership roles over 12 years with GlaxoSmithKline.

Syneos Health Names Batisha Anson to Global Head, Patient Diversity and Health Equity

Syneos Health announced the appointment of Batisha Anson to the newly created role of Global Head of Patient Diversity and Health Equity. In this role, Anson will advance Syneos Health’s goal to improve diverse representation of patient populations to provide more equitable access to therapies and innovative science. She will help inform diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) strategies for investigator sites, patient experience, access, launch and more, accelerating efforts to advance patient diversity in clinical trials and commercial programs. Anson was most recently Executive Vice President at Biosector 2 leading multiple DE&I initiatives. Anson started her professional career at MSL and has been with Syneos Health for more than two decades, having initially joined Chandler Chicco Agency.