The Bio Report

Athersys Advances Off-the-Shelf Stem Cell Therapy for Stroke

Among the many challenges to developing stem cell therapies is the need to match donors to recipients and the risk of graft vs. host disease that requires the use of immunosuppressants. Athersys has developed a stem cell therapy platform known as MultiStem that makes use of a type of stem cell that doesn’t carry the risk of causing an immune response. What’s more, cells from a single donor can be expanded to provide potentially millions of doses to treat a wide range of conditions making it a scalable, off-the-shelf therapy. The company’s is in late-stage clinical testing of its cell therapy for the treatment of ischemic stroke, a leading cause of serious disability. We spoke to Gil Van Bokkelen, CEO of Athersys, about the company’s MultiStem platform, how it works, and the range of indications it is pursuing.

Enlisting the Innate Immune System to Fight Cancer and other Diseases

Immunotherapies have mostly sought to harness the adaptive immune system, but Silverback Therapeutics believes its technology platform will allow it to enlist the innate immune system in the fight against cancer, fibrosis, and infectious diseases. The company is developing antibody conjugates that activate myeloid cells to target tumors. It’s lead indication is in HER-2 positive tumors. We spoke to Peter Thompson, co-founder and CEO of Silverback, about the company’s platform technology, its potential applications, and the challenges of activating the innate immune system in a targeted fashion.

Using AI to Improve Clinical Development

Artificial intelligence is all the rage in drug discovery today, but there are efforts to apply to technology to other aspects of the drug development continuum to improve decision making and increase efficiency. One such example is Phesi, which has developed an artificial intelligence platform to improve clinical site selection, evaluate protocol designs and patient inclusion criteria, and manage the implementation of trials. We spoke to Gen Li, founder and president of Phesi, about his company’s AI platform, how it works, and the case for the use of artificial intelligence as a tool to improve drug development.

Addressing the Challenge of Making Antibody-Drug Conjugates

Antibody-drug conjugates marry the precise targeting of an antibody to a cytotoxic payload. That has the potential to provide a powerful treatment approach to a variety of cancers with less toxicity than systemically delivered chemotherapy. The problem has been producing large quantities of antibody-drug conjugates in a consistent manner where all the pieces are where they belong. Sutro Biopharma has developed a technology platform that allows it to precisely design and consistently manufacture these molecules. We spoke to Bill Newell, CEO of Sutro, about the promise of antibody-drug conjugates, the company’s platform technology, and its lead therapeutic candidates.

Targeting Regulators of Genes to Treat Cancer

While much of the focus of drug developers looking to act on the genetic mechanisms underlying diseases has focused on the genes that code for proteins, Syros Pharmaceuticals is looking to the regulatory regions of the genome. This is the noncoding part of the genome that controls the expression of genes, turning them on or off, or modulating their level of activity. We spoke to Eric Olson, chief scientific officer of Syros Pharmaceuticals, about the company’s discovery platform, its pursuit of cancer and monogenic diseases, and the lead programs in its pipeline.

Harnessing the Immune System to Diagnose and Treat Cancer

Anixa Biosciences is harnessing the immune system to both diagnose and treat cancer. It recently announced a licensing agreement with the Cleveland clinic for a novel breast cancer vaccine that is being developed for both therapeutic and prophylactic use. It’s lead candidate is a CAR-T cell therapy in development for ovarian and other solid tumors. We spoke to Amit Kumar, president and CEO of Anixa, about the company’s strategy to pursue both therapeutic and diagnostic products, its partnerships with leading research institutes, and its development strategy going forward.

Using Synthetic Biology to Produce Cannabinoids

There’s growing interest in cannabinoids for their therapeutic potential in a range of conditions, but one challenge therapeutic developers face is a reliable and consistent supply. Teewinot Life Sciences is using synthetic biology to produce a range of cannabinoids. We spoke to Michael Luther, president and CEO of Teewinot Life Sciences, about the companies process for producing cannabinoids, its business model, and the therapeutic and consumer areas it plans to pursue.

EpicentRx Hopes Rocket-Fuel-Derived Drug Will Propel It

Much has been made about a cancer moonshot, but in the world of oncology, rocket fuel is rarely a topic of conversation except maybe as a metaphor. EpicentRx, though, is looking to rocket fuel as a source for its lead experimental therapy RRx-001. It believes this high-energy molecule, derived from rocket fuel, has the potential to improve immunotherapies and radiotherapies, as well as having anticancer activity on its own. We spoke to Corey Carter, president and CEO of EpicentRx about how RRx-001 came about, how it works, and the company’s oncolytic viral pipeline also in development.