On February 22, 2022 AstraZeneca and Honeywell reported that it will partner to develop next-generation respiratory inhalers using the propellant HFO-1234ze, which has up to 99.9% less Global Warming Potential (GWP) than propellants currently used in respiratory medicines (Press release, AstraZeneca, FEB 22, 2022, View Source [SID1234608365]).1

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Today’s announcement coincides with the publication of the Company’s annual Sustainability Report and demonstrates progress on its flagship sustainability programme, Ambition Zero Carbon. The Report also shows that the entirety of AstraZeneca’s imported electricity now comes from renewable sources and that the Company has achieved a 59% reduction in its Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions since 2015, including the integration of Alexion’s GHG footprint.

Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca, said: "We are making great progress on our ambition to be zero carbon across our global operations by the end of 2025 and carbon negative across our entire value chain by 2030. Our collaboration with Honeywell demonstrates AstraZeneca’s commitment to advancing sustainable healthcare innovation, with the aim of improving outcomes for patients while reducing our environmental footprint."

Darius Adamczyk, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Honeywell, said: "The work we are doing with AstraZeneca developing a respiratory inhaler, with a new near-zero Global Warming Potential propellant, is tremendously important for both the environment and patients with respiratory issues. Our goal is to reduce respiratory healthcare carbon emissions without restricting patient choice or risking improvement in health outcomes."

Next-generation respiratory inhalers
Most patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) need inhaled medicines2 and many make use of pressurised metered dose inhalers (pMDIs)2 which contain small quantities of a type of GHG which acts as the propellant to deliver the medicine into the lungs.3

Recent results from the first in-human Phase I trial of the near-zero GWP propellant HFO-1234ze in a pMDI containing budesonide, glycopyrronium, formoterol fumarate in healthy adults were positive, demonstrating similar safety, tolerability and systemic exposure of the active ingredients when compared to Breztri Aerosphere (budesonide/glycopyrronium/ formoterol fumarate). AstraZeneca expects Breztri to be the first medicine to transition to this new pMDI platform, subject to regulatory approval. In addition to offering next-generation pMDIs, AstraZeneca will continue offering dry powder inhaled medicines.

Respiratory diseases affect hundreds of millions of people around the world and there is a significant clinical need for pMDIs which are important device options for patients.4-9 Familiarity with device, limited lung function, and young or advanced age are all important considerations when choosing the type of inhaler that best suits the patient.5-9

Supply chain science-based climate targets
AstraZeneca is one of the first seven companies globally to have its net zero targets verified by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in line with their Corporate Net Zero Standard. To support its decarbonisation goals, AstraZeneca aims for 95% of its key suppliers and partners to have science-based targets by the end of 2025.

The Company is committed to sharing lessons learned from its own decarbonisation pathway, and is a founding member of the Energize programme launched at COP26 which focuses on increasing access to renewable energy for pharmaceutical supply chains, as well as the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) Health Systems Taskforce which aims to accelerate the delivery of net zero healthcare.

Read more about the delivery of AstraZeneca’s sustainability commitments in the 2021 Sustainability Report and Sustainability Data Summary published today.

Energize
AstraZeneca is a founding partner of the ‘Energize’ programme to increase access to renewable electricity for pharmaceutical supply chains. The first-of-its-kind collaboration among ten of the largest pharmaceutical companies seeks to encourage and support suppliers to buy renewable electricity at scale. Energize will enable AstraZeneca’s suppliers to cut their Scope 2 emissions and in turn the Company’s Scope 3 emissions. The programme will reduce GHG emissions within the healthcare supply chain and contribute to reaching Ambition Zero Carbon goals.

Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) Health Systems Taskforce
AstraZeneca’s commitment to partnering with healthcare systems and partners on sustainable healthcare was evidenced at the launch of the SMI Health Systems Taskforce at COP26, in the presence of HRH The Prince of Wales. The Taskforce, led by Pascal Soriot, is comprised of global health leaders from the private and public sectors, and aims to accelerate the delivery of net zero, patient-centric healthcare with a focus on digital healthcare; supply chains and patient care pathways.

AstraZeneca in Respiratory & Immunology
Respiratory & Immunology, part of BioPharmaceuticals, is one of AstraZeneca’s main disease areas and is a key growth driver for the Company.

AstraZeneca is an established leader in respiratory care with a 50-year heritage. The Company aims to transform the treatment of asthma and COPD by focusing on earlier biology-led treatment, eliminating preventable asthma attacks, and removing COPD as a top-three leading cause of death. The Company’s early respiratory research is focused on emerging science involving immune mechanisms, lung damage and abnormal cell-repair processes in disease and neuronal dysfunction.

With common pathways and underlying disease drivers across respiratory and immunology, AstraZeneca is following the science from chronic lung diseases to immunology-driven disease areas. The Company’s growing presence in immunology is focused on five mid- to late-stage franchises with multi-disease potential, in areas including rheumatology (including systemic lupus erythematosus), dermatology, gastroenterology, and systemic eosinophilic-driven diseases. AstraZeneca’s ambition in Respiratory & Immunology is to achieve disease modification and durable remission for millions of patients worldwide.

On February 22, 2022 Apollo Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on translational biology and asset-centric drug development, and King’s College London, reported the formation of a new strategic collaboration (Press release, Apollo Therapeutics, FEB 22, 2022, View Source [SID1234608363]).

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The collaboration will leverage the distinct strengths of each organization with a focus on developing novel therapeutics for patients across multiple disease areas. King’s has one of the leading scientific discovery portfolios worldwide and will contribute biological research breakthroughs with the potential to create high-impact medicines. In addition, the university’s associated hospitals and clinician scientists are ideally positioned to provide support to programs during clinical development. Apollo’s translational scientists and drug development architects will progress these research programs under Apollo’s asset-centric portfolio model to rapidly and efficiently bring those with the greatest promise through clinical investigation and ultimately to patients.

"Translating our biomedical research into effective therapies that improve health is a key priority for King’s researchers. I am delighted that this new partnership with Apollo will provide new routes for us to achieve this goal," said Professor Reza Razavi, Vice President (Research) at King’s College London. "Apollo has an excellent track record in partnering with academics to progress their discoveries into therapies. King’s researchers are looking forward to working with Apollo to progress promising therapeutic programs into their drug discovery pipeline and on to clinical impact."

"When looking at research output, King’s College London is one of the largest and most successful centers for biomedical research and education in the UK and indeed globally. With its broad clinical presence, we have also found King’s has exceptional insight in selecting and advancing research that can translate effectively into therapeutic programs," said Dr. Richard Mason, chief executive officer of Apollo. "We are proud to initiate this partnership with our newest collaborator as we look to grow both our portfolio of programs and our relationships with the world’s leading scientists and biomedical institutions. This collaboration continues to build on recent the progress we have made in advancing our internal pipeline, building our team and establishing our US operations in Cambridge, Mass."

King’s College London joins Apollo alongside other top global research partners, Imperial College London, University College London, and the University of Cambridge.

On February 21, 2022 AIGEN Sciences, an artificial intelligence-based new drug development biotech, reported that it signed a joint research agreement with Incurix to develop new anticancer drugs based on artificial intelligence (AI) (Press release, AIGEN Sciences, FEB 21, 2022, View Source [SID1234643551]).

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This contract applies artificial intelligence technology based on transcriptome profiles based on Eisen Science’s protein structure to develop new anticancer drugs based on transcription factor inhibitors, which are attracting attention as major anticancer targets but are known to be difficult to develop. The goal is joint development.

Eisen Science plans to derive new substances that can regulate transcription factors based on its artificial intelligence platform. Afterwards, Incurix will be responsible for verification of effective substances and lead substances and follow-up development of final candidate substances by utilizing the new substances derived from Eisen Science using the transcription factor direct inhibitor new drug development technology platform. The terms of the contract will be kept confidential as agreed between the two companies, and the profits secured through commercialization, such as third-party technology transfer, will be shared in a certain ratio according to the stage of candidate material development at the time of profit generation.

Accordingly, AIGEN Science uses its platform ‘AIGEN Discovery’ to initially select about 10,000 ‘focused library’ compounds that show the effect of regulating transcription factors at the cellular level from a library of 3 billion compounds. Next, we plan to use the protein structure of the transcription factor to discover effective substances that bind with high affinity, and then proceed with optimization using ‘AIGEN Optimizer’ to discover leading substances.

Kang Jae-woo, CEO of Eisen Science, said, "Through joint development with Incurix, which specializes in developing anticancer drugs that directly inhibit transcription factors, we will successfully lead the development of new drugs for transcription factor targets (difficult-to-target) that were difficult to access through traditional methods. "As Eisen Science’s artificial intelligence platform is a model based on transcriptome data, synergy is expected with Incurix, which has expertise in developing transcription factor inhibitors, and we have high expectations for future joint development."

On February 21, 2022 Thyas Co. Ltd., a Kyoto-based biotechnology company developing induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived immune cell therapies for cancer and infectious diseases, reported the closing of JPY 2.1B Series B financing (Press release, Thyas , FEB 21, 2022, View Source [SID1234629215]). The financing was co-led by Eight Roads Ventures Japan and F-Prime Capital Partners, the world’s leading healthcare investor group, with follow-on participation by D3 LLC, a Japanese investor specialized in the bio-healthcare field.

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Thyas, a Kyoto University spin-off, is pioneering producing iPS cell-derived T cells for the treatment of cancers and infectious diseases. In recent years, autologous CAR-T therapies have demonstrated remarkable efficacy. However, many challenges still remain for the production of sufficient numbers for clinical and commercial operations since quantity and quality of patient-derived T cells vary. Thyas’ technology, originated by Dr. Shin Kaneko, a professor at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University, Japan, makes it possible to manufacture a large number of iPSC-derived immune cells with potent cytotoxicity and large proliferative capacity, which demonstrate significant efficacy and persistency in vivo. The therapeutic benefits are expected to be treating patients with no/few or exhausted immune cells, breaking through an immunosuppressive microenvironment with large numbers of immune cells, and completely removing cancer cells. Thyas is one of a few companies in the world that successfully established robust differentiation technologies to generate potent CD8ab expressing killer T cells, which have strong avidity to target tumor cells and enhanced migratory activities into tumor cites.

Proceeds from the financing will support the continuing development of iPSC-derived killer T cells, iPSCderived CAR-NK cells recently-added to its portfolio of product candidates, and other exploratory-stage iPSC-derived immune cells. Thyas also initiates development of the next generation products from hypoimmunogenic iPSC. The financing and other supports from F-Prime and Eight Roads will also enable Thyas to expand its team to support the company’s future growth, including establishment of operations in the U.S.A, where Thyas seeks candidates of executives, Sr./Jr. scientists, medical experts, and other experts in the field. Meanwhile, the Kyoto site continues to expand its R&D capacities. F-Prime and Eight Roads will give Thyas strategic advices for the company’s growth and proactive support for syndicating next financing rounds.

"We are gratified to share with this exceptional investor group our vision that we bring the novel cell therapies to patients to cure solid cancers," said Yasumichi Hitoshi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Thyas. "With help from F-Prime and Eight Roads, we can leverage the most advanced iPSC-to-immune cell differentiation technologies stemmed from our geographical advantages, i.e. Kyoto University, the Mecca of iPS Cell research, and combine them with the world’s topmost biotech infrastructure and a talent pool in the U.S.A. We are going to be a genuine international company."

On February 21, 2022 Oxilio Ltd is a privately held pharmaceutical development company reported that focused on repurposing known drugs for the treatment of cancer through a programme of corporate alliances coupled with rapid proof of concept clinical development (Press release, Quotient Sciences, FEB 21, 2022, View Source [SID1234621608]).

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Oxilio signed an exclusive global licensing agreement with TRx Biosciences on 20th October 2021 for the use of their platform technology to support the development of Oxilio’s formulation, OXL001. Oxilio has since progressed the product and now signed a significant service contract with Quotient Sciences, a drug development and manufacturing accelerator, to support the formulation development and preparation of clinical trials for OXL001.

Mark Egerton, CEO of Quotient Sciences said, "By leveraging our integrated development and clinical testing platform, Translational Pharmaceutics, Oxilio and TRx Biosciences will have the flexibility to adjust formulations based on emerging clinical data within their study, enabling us to improve their likelihood of success, reduce their development time and ultimately get new medicines to patients faster. We look forward to working with both companies as we prepare to take OXL001 into the clinic later this year."

Commenting, Oxilio Director Dr Simon Yaxley said: "Quotient has significant capabilities for scientific innovation and adaptation which will further complement Oxilio’s already substantial scientific capacity. We look forward to taking Oxilio’s highly promising formulation OXL001 into the clinic later this year which, if successful, offers tremendous near-term potential benefit for cancer patients."