Neil McDonnell

https://lnkd.in/gFBWA4bC Great news for AmideBio - NIDDK SIBR grant for the development of novel dual agonists for the treatment of impaired awareness of hypoglycemia (IAH). We are excited about the potential for people with diabetes that are suffering from IAH. #IAH, #diabetes, #NIDDK, #NIH, #AmideBio, #SIBR

45

28 Comments

It’s exciting to see Oregon policy makers eager to learn how the state can work to build and strengthen every level of the state’s biotech ecosystem. Our three big takeaways today were… 1) Venture creation often starts in academic labs after new intellectual property is filed. If the state worked to increase research funding to flagship institutions like Oregon State University, the University of Oregon, Portland State, and OHSU, we would likely see an increase in the number of patents filed in Oregon. Additionally, any funding used to reduce tuition costs or prevent further increasess would limit the burden of student-debt on Oregonians, making entrepreneurship less risky for young people who would otherwise be forced into a traditional career path. Either policy could increase the number of biotech (and general deeptech)companies in Oregon. 2) The Oregon Bioscience Incubator and OTRADI is a wonderful organization that provides an essential early-stage landing pad for startups in the form of low-cost laboratory space. However, there’s a lot of room for impactful growth for OBI as the steward of biotech in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. We identified a list of aspirational peers for OBI like MassBio, The Engine, and other government and non-government organizations around the globe. These organizations provide a template for success and roadmap for growing the biotech industry in Oregon. In my opinion, the legislature should adopt policies to increase OBI funding for improved facilities, increased SBIR/STTR-matching, and enhanced programming for entrepreneurial education and investor relations. Implementing these changes will increase the chance of success for Oregon-grown startups. Moreover, when coupled with Portland’s low cost-of-living compared to hubs like SF & Boston, these changes could attract other startups to the region. 3) Finally, we discussed what incentives there are for successful companies grown in Oregon to stay in Oregon. We discussed the recent example of AbSci, a 100+ employee biotech company, which started in Portland but later moved to Vancouver, Washington for rational financial decisions — due in-part to Washington-state incentives. In my opinion, the state should work to assess and understand disparities between Oregon and other states’ (especially WA & CA) policies that incentivize companies to leave. Matching those incentives so Oregon companies stay in Oregon would be a great first step. More optimistically, the growth of biotech could be used to increase the number of companies in Portland’s urban core. Biotech companies, even those that leverage the latest laboratory automation tools, generally require their scientists be in-office 5 days/week to work in the lab. Policies from the state, or even the City of Portland, that support office-to-lab conversions would certainly be a boon for the industry and the City of Portland. Note, I’m biased here as someone working to grow an R&D team in Portland.

20

Everyone knows how insightful Jack Scannell is, and this unusually thoughtful podcast explores nuanced foundational challenges in R&D productivity. Great interview!

8

The TCR Repertoire Dream: : decoding immune status by sequencing TCRs. Problems: 1) Need paired TCRab chains 2) Interesting T cell clones are often VERY small. Our solution: TIRTL-seq Deep, quantitative, & affordable paired TCR repertoire sequencing. The current TCR repertoire toolbox includes scTCR-seq: paired chains, expensive, and ~20K cells; Bulk TCR-seq: holds few mln T cells, but no a/b pairs. We developed technology to generate hundreds of TCRa and TCRb libraries directly from cells in a 384-well plate (ranging from one cell per well to 25K cells and <50 cents per well!) Inspired by the tiny volumes of SS3xpress from the Sandberg lab, combinatorial TCR pairing suggested by Bryan Howie, & Michael Birnbaum’s Bayesian inference method MAD-HYPE reimplemented for GPU, TIRTL-Seq processes 10 mln cells in 384 wells for <$200 & scales to 30 mln cells & 1 mln TCRa/bs in 2300 wells. The next issue was computational–combinatorial TCR pairing matches TCRa & TCRb by well occurrence patterns. Problem: expanded clones are found in all wells and cannot be paired. We invented a new algorithm (T-SHELL) using a/b read count correlation across wells instead of presence/absence patterns. Combining these approaches, we compare abTCR pairs to 10x single cell TCRseq: big clones are correctly paired by T-SHELL, smaller by MADHYPE or both. >90% of TCRbetas overlapping with 10x scTCR-seq have the same TCRalpha pair (~98% correct pairs if we exclude TCRs with 1 cell in 10x). Having abTCR pairs is nice, but we also want to track clonal expansions/contractions in time. We did bulk 5’RACE TCRb seq with UMIs, 10x Genomics scTCR-seq, and TIRTL-seq on a COVID-19 patient sampled pre-infection, & at acute & convalescent timepoints to compare methods.TIRTL-seq generates 100s of biological replicates, measures noise & finds growing clones. But matching receptors to VDJdb surprised us: the largest expansions were for EBV, not COVID! COVID clones went down, but EBV remained stable. Is this how large stable clones form? TIRTL-seq is (almost) our dream TCR repertoire tech: paired TCRs for clones with >=3 cells/sample, and unpaired alpha/beta for all small clones. Millions of T cells for <$200/sample, & works on longitudinal samples. Protocol/primers available now, code & data released soon. For miniaturization, TIRTL-Seq requires a non-contact dispenser and a robot for 384->384 plate copy, but many platforms are suitable. Don’t trust robots? A 96-well-based fully manual (regular pipette) version of the protocol is in development. This work was done by the SJ TIRTL group led by Mikhail Pogorelyy: Allison Kirk, Samir Adhikari, and Balaji Sundararaman. With a lot of help from @Anastasia Minervina, the Thomas Lab & SJTRC team. TIRTL is a SJ Bluesky initiative started last year. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital https://lnkd.in/eTSZEr_Q

97

3 Comments

We are pleased to share our novel IO mechanism inducing innate immunity by targeting the METTL3 RNA methyltransferase which is completing a Phase 1 clinical study to treat solid tumors

30

The AACR’s 2024 Cancer Progress Report highlights the incredible strides in cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment. Since 1991, the cancer death rate has dropped by 33%, resulting in over 4.1 million lives saved. Recent approvals of new cancer therapies and diagnostics are transforming care, giving patients more options and better outcomes. Yet, despite this progress, it is estimated that over 2 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year. It’s clear we’ve come a long way—but the journey continues. Building on these advancements, we can move closer to the day when all cancers are preventable and curable. #AACR2024 #Curadev https://lnkd.in/eKxj4zwk

19

Coming out of the Biocom California CEO Summit, I share biotech investor predictions and CEO insights in the latest edition of Vital Signs: https://lnkd.in/ghXYRsaq

21

I am excited to announce that one of Access Discovery Bio’s first clients is Cache DNA based out of San Carlos, CA. Cache has an exciting new technology that allows for the “Caching” of DNA and RNA, allowing them to be stored at ambient room temperature. Caching can be done on a small scale with various tubes or can be completely integrated into existing automated technologies that handle plates for working at scale. This is a profound development in my eyes after decades of both working in biorepositories and shipping frozen samples all over the world. I have personally witnessed sample evaporation and loss despite long term cold storage. I’ve seen the dramatic rise in costs not only to create and maintain freezer farms but also to safely ship frozen samples which can often dip into the thousands for a single shipment. I have personally been on call and had to travel into a lab at 2am to recover samples in a failed freezer or during a power outage. I have also worked in the lab having to use various techniques to properly freeze or thaw samples to work with them. For many reasons, I see this as a transformational technology. Who doesn’t like to save massive amounts of money? Everyone does of course and this comes with the added benefits of reducing carbon footprints and helping the environment. Michael Becich and his team at Cache are a great group of scientists who have created something truly beneficial to basic science. Cache is presently offering free demo kits to select customers while supplies last. Given my network is made up almost entirely of people using or storing samples for research, please help me in giving this great start up a signal boost and please reach out directly to me with interest in either demo kits or more information. #biobanking #DNA #RNA #technology #biospecimens https://lnkd.in/eK9q9JQk

28

Back in San Diego in a couple of days for the “Precision in Drug Discovery & Preclinical Summit San Diego” 2024. Looking forward to presenting our talk on “Discovery and development of novel DNA repair inhibitors as precision oncology therapeutics” (on behalf of XPose Therapeutics) and being a panelist on “Balancing The Human Expertise and Artificial Intelligence in Drug Development”. #drugdiscovery #therapeutics #oncology #PDDPSUMMIT Precision Evolution Global

16

Strategic collaborations - cell and gene therapy takes the lead. Considering the complexity of these modalities, that is perhaps not surprising. We recognize this at Trailhead Biosystems. We make second generation protocols for iPSC derived specialized cells. The best cell is needed to get the best clinical outcome. Treatment protocols are difficult regardless of cell type so the compounding challenges call for teaming. We therefore seek therapeutic partners as this is the only realistic way forward as the alternative is that we would only chose one, or two, of our cell programs to move forward clinically. There are many patients, many different diseases and many clinical trials waiting. So it is a natural choice for us to partner. That allows us to do what we do best - focus on building the best cells.

31

The industry keeps progressing...from single gene testing to multi-gene panels to whole exome to whole genome sequencing. Our team at GeneDx is committed to diagnosing disease as early as possible for as many babies and children as possible. Access to rapid whole genome sequencing (rWGS) leads to improved patient outcomes by accelerating the timeline between diagnosis and treatment. As GeneDx continues to drive utilization of its whole exome sequencing in the outpatient setting, today’s announcement affirms our commitment to opening up access to our rWGS services for health system partners, providers, and families who are in need of diagnosing a baby in the NICU. Leveraging the world’s largest genomic data base in rare diseases, orders of magnitude larger than any other peer, we believe it’s the right time to lean in and improve solutions for our providers to deliver the best patient care. https://lnkd.in/egEeWc7G

188

3 Comments

Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) are transforming healthcare by making prescribing safer and more effective. Here are some key benefits: 📉 Reduced Errors: CDSS reduces medication errors by 55% and improves prescription appropriateness by 60% . 🔬 Pharmacogenomics Integration: By incorporating pharmacogenomics, CDSS can consider genetic factors alongside clinical data, ensuring personalized and effective treatment plans. This integration promotes adoption across healthcare providers, highlighting the importance of tailored therapy. 🤝 Interdisciplinary Support: They provide evidence-based recommendations and patient-specific information, benefiting interdisciplinary healthcare teams and improving patient outcomes. 📋 Optimizing Prior Authorization: CDSS plays a crucial role in streamlining the prior authorization process for specialty medications. By automating and optimizing approval workflows, CDSS reduces delays and administrative burdens, ensuring timely access to essential therapies for patients . 🤖 Advanced Analytics: With the integration of machine learning, CDSS promises even more accurate and personalized decision-making, though it requires transparency and rigorous evaluation . #HealthcareInnovation #ClinicalDecisionSupport #PatientSafety #MachineLearning #HealthTech #PrescribingExcellence #priorauthorization #precisionmedicine STRIPE GenXys

46

Thanks PharmaVoice for the chance to share more about the next chapter of Nimbus Therapeutics!

26

Interested in the latest developments at the FDA's Office of Therapeutic Products (#OTP)? Join a free, public webinar on June 14th featuring Dr. Nicole Verdun, OTP's Super Office Director, and Rachael Anatol, Ph.D., Deputy Super Office Director. What you'll learn: The new "Super Office" structure of the OTP Progress on hiring new staff An overview of the OTP's organization Brought to you by Alliance for Regenerative Medicine. Please use the link in the post below. #celltherapy #genetherapy #cellandgenetherapy #advancedtherapies #lifescience #lifesciences #regulatory #structure #biotech #biotechnology #webinar #productupdate #regulatorystructure

12

Fantastic Webinar with Dr. Farooqi. Anyone interested in tumor driving gene fusions and gene rearrangements should not miss.

16

🔬 Dive into cutting-edge biotech advancements for autoimmune diseases with this detailed mind map. 🌟 Stay on top of the latest developments and lead the way in the field! Check it out nowo

18

The first Teneobio TCE (BCMAxCD3) is advancing to phase 3 in multiple myeloma! TNB-383b, now ABBV-383, with its low affinity CD3 and extended PK, lowers the risk of cytokine release syndrome in patients and is being investigated with a *monthly* dose regime. https://lnkd.in/gMjZvWTa

295