Digest 8/21/23
Surveying great inventors and businesses
Axial: https://linktr.ee/axialxyz
Axial partners with great founders and inventors. We invest in early-stage life sciences companies such as Appia Bio, Seranova Bio, Delix Therapeutics, Simcha Therapeutics, among others often when they are no more than an idea. We are fanatical about helping the rare inventor who is compelled to build their own enduring business. If you or someone you know has a great idea or company in life sciences, Axial would be excited to get to know you and possibly invest in your vision and company . We are excited to be in business with you - email us at info@axialvc.com
Engineering ligand stabilized aquaporin reporters for magnetic resonance imaging led by Jason Yun from the Arnab Mukherjee lab https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.02.543364v1
The authors engineered a new type of gene reporter based on the human water channel aquaporin-1 (Aqp1). This reporter, called LSAqp1, is a fusion protein of Aqp1 and a ligand-dependent degron. The degron is a protein motif that recruits ubiquitin ligase, which leads to the degradation of the tagged protein. In the case of LSAqp1, the degron is stabilized by a small molecule called shield-1.
Then they showed that LSAqp1 can be used to image gene expression in living cells and tissues using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). When cells expressing LSAqp1 are treated with shield-1, the degron is stabilized and the Aqp1 protein is retained in the cell membrane. This results in an increase in the rate of water diffusion through the cell membrane, which can be detected by MRI.
They also show that LSAqp1 can be used to image gene expression in multiple cell types and in vivo. Imaging tumor gene expression in a mouse model. LSAqp1 also has the potential to be used for other applications, such as drug-gated monitoring of transcriptional activity and imaging distinct cell types in multiplex.
Vault: In vivo cell therapies
Genesis Therapeutics raised $200M co-led by a16z Bio and a currently anonymous US-based life sciences investor.
- To advance its wholly-owned pipeline into clinical development
- As well as further develop its AI drug discovery platform: Exploration of Molecular Space (GEMS) to to accelerate and optimize small molecule drug discovery
- The GEMS platform integrates deep learning-based predictive models, molecular simulations, and chemically aware language models. Generating promising molecules for synthesis and experimental testing, and iterating this process through multiple cycles of AI-enabled discovery and optimization.
- Producing novel molecules and making rapid predictions of properties such as potency, selectivity, and ADMET
- Founded in 2019. Also, partnering with Genentech & Eli Lilly
Rezo Therapeutics is mapping disease networks for precision therapeutics. Integrating data from proteomics, genetics, structural biology, and chemical biology approaches using computational methods to create maps of molecular disease networks.
Founded in 2021 based on IP from UCSF. Developed by Nevan Krogan. Along with Kevan Shokat, George Scangos (former Biogen CEO), Sourav Bandyopadhyay, Natalia Jura.
Rezo's Sequence to Systems to Drugs (SSD) enables the rapid identification and study of disease-causing protein and genetic interactions, which would be difficult to discover using traditional, often siloed, scientific methods. To pinpoint druggable targets.
Building a pipeline of therapies, initially focused in solid tumor oncology guided by mutation and allele-specific biomarkers. The company is identifying how mutations rewire cancer-driving networks to uncover tumor-specific therapeutic targets, which can potentially guide both the discovery of biomarkers for patient stratification and the development of precision medicines.
MK-0616
An oral, macrocyclic peptide inhibitor of PCSK9
Entering phase III trials for hypercholesterolemia developed by Merck
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0735109723004126?via%3Dihub
Modulation of Engineered Immune Cell Receptor Translation Using Noncoding Sequence Elements
Inventors: James Cate, Dasmanthie De Silva
Current Assignee: University of California
Claims: Providing an immune cell comprising an engineered cell surface receptor gene encoding a heterologous untranslated region (UTR) comprising one or more eukaryotic initiation factor 3 (eIF3) responsive sites sufficient to modulate translation of the cell surface receptor
https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/a1/3d/9f/bd1244fddbc94d/US20220251575A1.pdf
Hybrid Materials with Living Cells and Tough Hydrogels invented by Tim Lu, Xinyue Liu, Tzu-Chieh Tang, Eléonore Claire Tham & Xuanhe Zhao https://tlo.mit.edu/technologies/hybrid-materials-living-cells-and-tough-hydrogels
Applications: wearable, implantable, or ingestible health biosensors to detect inflammation, bleeding, or disease biomarkers, environmental detection of toxins, and controlled distribution of environmentally functional cells, for example, nitrogen fixing bacteria
ElevateBio is hiring a Director for Analytical Development https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/3696964174
ElevateBio is a technology-driven cell and gene therapy company, accelerating access to the cutting-edge technologies and expertise to change the future of medicine. With an integrated technologies model that offers turnkey scale and biotechnological capabilities to power cell and gene therapy processes, programs, and companies to their full potential.
Scientist Stories: Emmanuel Levy, Self-Organization in the Proteome
"The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win. Everyone wants to win but not everyone wants to prepare to win."
– Bobby Knight
