On January 10, 2023 AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV), and Anima Biotech (Anima), reported a collaboration to discover and develop mRNA biology modulators for three targets across Oncology and Immunology (Press release, AbbVie, JAN 10, 2023, View Source [SID1234626142]). Anima will use its mRNA Lightning platform to discover novel mRNA biology modulators against the collaboration targets providing AbbVie exclusive rights to license and further develop and commercialize the programs.

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"This collaboration will give AbbVie access to Anima’s leading technology platform and deep expertise in mRNA biology and will help further strengthen AbbVie’s world class capabilities in discovering and developing drugs to make a difference in patient’s lives," said Jonathon Sedgwick, Ph.D., vice president and global head of discovery research, AbbVie. "Modulating mRNA biology with small molecules is a new approach and has the potential to address ‘undruggable’ targets with implications across multiple therapy areas."

"Anima’s differentiated approach in the field of small molecule mRNA drugs combines phenotypic screening with AI-driven elucidation of the mechanisms of action. The power of our mRNA Lightning platform is validated by our multiple partnerships and a growing internal pipeline," said Yochi Slonim, co-founder and chief executive officer, Anima. "We are excited to partner with AbbVie, a recognized global leader in Oncology and Immunology, and are looking forward to start working with their excellent scientific team in a close collaboration."

Under the terms of the agreement, Anima will receive an upfront payment of $42 million and may be eligible to receive up to $540 million in option fees and research and development milestones in the aggregate across the three targets, with potential for further commercial milestones as well as tiered royalties on net sales. AbbVie has an option to expand the collaboration with up to three additional targets under the same terms as the initial collaboration, which may increase the potential value of the collaboration.

On January 9, 2023 LinKinVax, a clinical-stage biotechnology company reported capital funding for a total of €7,3 M from several individual tech executive investors including the co-founder André-Jacques Auberton-Hervé and its newest investor In-Q-Tel, Inc. (IQT), the non-profit strategic investor which delivers cutting-edge and critically needed technology capabilities that contribute to the national security of the United States and its allies (Press release, LinKinVax, JAN 9, 2023, https://ennodc.com/linkinvax-just-completed-a-new-round-of-financing-initiated-in-2022-for-a-total-of-e73-m-supporting-its-next-series-a-round-up-to-e-50-m/ [SID1234648590]).

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This investment contributes to a first capital funding supporting LinKinVax next series A round up to €50 M. It signals that LinKinVax has huge capabilities to accelerate the clinical development of its innovative protein-based vaccine platform, which can be tuned to address multiple pathogens with adaptability to mutations including viral or bacterial infectious diseases and cancer treatments – HIV, SarsCov2, HPV, papillomavirus-related cancers, chlamydia.
LinKinVax’s innovative technology directly targets dendritic cells ("DC"), which play a crucial role in the immune system, stimulating and regulating immune responses. It is predicated on work by the Vaccine Research Institute/Inserm (VRI) in which Inserm, University of Paris Est Créteil (UPEC), and the Mondor Institute of Biomedical Research (IMRB) participate. Thanks to the potential of its technology platform and the advances in its portfolio (Phase I/IIa on a first indication), LinKinVax aims to make a decisive contribution to the global public health challenges of infectious diseases and cancer.

J.D. Englehart, Director, IQT International Ltd UK:

"We are impressed by LinKinVax’s team and its vision for developing world-class vaccine technology. Their work demonstrates great potential for a robust vaccine portfolio to combat emerging and existing infectious diseases."

André-Jacques Auberton-Hervé, CEO and co-founder of LinKinVax commented:

"We are grateful that our breakthrough vaccine technology, designed to respond to high and growing global need, generated interest from In-Q-Tel. Based on the unprecedented potential of our protein-based vaccine platform, In-Q-Tel is supporting us in our next series A round up to €50 Million, allowing to push ahead the next stages of our ambitious clinical program. Our objective is to provide effective vaccines as rapidly as possible to help address the public health challenges linked to the various pathogens we are targeting."

LinKinVax has already risen to prominence in the French sector, with Bpifrance granting it €31 Million under a Covid-related PIA PSCP program and Government "Plan Relance". This new financing, completed in December 2022, includes a seed funding from private shareholders, beginning of 2022.

On January 9, 2023 Aptevo Therapeutics Inc. ("Aptevo" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:APVO), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing novel immuno-oncology therapeutics based on its proprietary ADAPTIR and ADAPTIR-FLEX platform technologies, reported that the Company has filed a provisional patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) pertaining to an anti-PD-L1 x anti-CD40 compound, APVO711, with the potential to fight a range of solid malignancies such as head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma, and carcinomas of the lung, gastrointestinal tract and colon (Press release, Aptevo Therapeutics, JAN 9, 2023, View Source [SID1234642041]). The Company plans to initiate pre-clinical studies this year.

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"Identifying new approaches to address the unmet needs of cancer patients is critical and APVO711 represents just such a new approach. This bispecific molecule targeting PD-L1 and CD40 is designed to function with new mechanisms of action and to synergistically induce a biological response. This is achieved by simultaneously engaging in two validated T cell activating mechanisms: 1) by blocking of PD-L1/PD-1 inhibitory pathway and 2) by enhancing T cell priming through activation of the stimulatory receptor CD40 on antigen presenting cells. APVO711 is designed to activate CD40 only in the presence of PD-L1 for an ideal safety profile." said Michelle Nelson, PhD, Director, Immunobiology at Aptevo. "Our goal in pre-clinical studies will be to continue to evaluate that APVO711 has the desired anti-tumor efficacy, mechanisms of action and safety profile we are looking for in our latest pipeline candidate."

"We are very pleased to announce that APVO711 is entering pre-clinical studies. This new compound expands our anti-cancer portfolio to five molecules and provides potential for another novel pathway to more effective cancer therapies in solid tumors," said Marvin L. White, President, and CEO of Aptevo Therapeutics. "As evidenced by clinical performance to date for APVO436, which has delivered compelling efficacy and safety data, we believe our additional ADAPTIR candidates, such as APVO711, have the potential to deliver similar outcomes."

On January 9, 2023 Kuano Ltd reported grant funding from Innovate UK for a £540,000 Project toward Streamlined and Targeted Design of NOTUM Inhibitors as Colorectal Cancer Drugs (Press release, Kuano, JAN 9, 2023, View Source [SID1234639049]).

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Bowel cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, with 17,000 deaths each year in the UK alone. Existing therapies suffer from the development of resistance. Kuano is looking to apply an innovative combination of quantum simulation and AI to produce a new generation of drugs targeting an enzyme (NOTUM) recently discovered to play a key role in cancer development. Like many diseases, a major cause of bowel cancer is malfunctioning or overactive enzymes – the chemical machines that accelerate chemistry within all living things.
Kuano demonstrated their platform can successfully reproduce existing drugs and have verified in the laboratory it can develop novel starting compounds for drug design. With this InnovateUK "Biomedical Catalyst 2022 Round 1: Industry-led R&D" grant Kuano will produce new cancer drug candidates that could represent a huge breakthrough in medical science and, ultimately, to society.

Kuano CEO, Vid Stojevic "The goal of Kuano is to develop a revolutionary quantum-led approach to drug discovery. I am very proud of the progress Kuano has made so far to validate our vision. It is exciting to have received InnovateUK support which will enable us to further develop our approach specifically for the colorectal cancer therapeutic area, paving the way to enable real world impact for colorectal cancer sufferers in the years to come."

Head of Health Technologies at Innovate UK, Samana Brannigan "Biomedical Catalyst funding will enable Kuano to implement an innovative combination of quantum simulation and AI to produce a new generation of drug with the potential to improve cancer treatment for colorectal cancer patients. The funding will deliver further growth for the UK Life Sciences Sector and lead to significant global opportunities for the company.

On January, 2023 GNS, the leader in the application of causal AI and "Digital Twins" to discover and develop new drugs, announced today its rebranding as Aitia (pronounced "ay-tee-ah") (Press release, GNS Healthcare, JAN 9, 2023, View Source [SID1234638790]). Aitia, derived from the Greek word for causality, will focus on further leveraging its Gemini Digital Twins to discover the next generation of breakthrough drugs to improve outcomes for patients. Gemini Digital Twins are being used today to discover novel therapies and accelerate R&D in multiple myeloma, prostate cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, and Huntington’s Disease, with several more in development across oncology, neurodegeneration, and immunology.

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Aitia will partner with biopharma companies from the earliest stages of the discovery process through pre-IND. Aitia will also continue partnering with leading biopharma companies to simulate their drug candidates in patient cohorts derived from the Gemini Digital Twins.

"We are taking this important step in our evolution to leverage the exciting discoveries that are emerging from our Digital Twins" said Colin Hill, CEO and co-founder of Aitia. "These discoveries are now coming at an accelerated rate because of the power of our causal AI technology used to create the Digital Twins and the availability of rich multi-omic patient data. We are excited to continue to work with our current partners and with new partners to advance our discoveries further along the drug discovery process and eventually see these discoveries move into the clinic and to patients."