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Antheia Grabs $56 Million to Make Drug Ingredients With Biotech
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By Brian Gormley, WSJ Pro
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Good day. The U.S. relies heavily on pharmaceutical ingredients from other countries. Antheia wants to help reduce that dependence.
Antheia has raised $56 million in new venture capital to make pharmaceutical ingredients using biotechnology instead of conventional sources such as plants or animals. These ingredients now often come from China and other nations, raising national-security concerns.
Extracting ingredients from natural sources can take two years or more. Christina Smolke, co-founder and chief executive of Menlo Park, Calif.-based Antheia, says her company can produce these goods in engineered yeast in less than two weeks.
Antheia engineers yeast cells to turn them into assembly lines for producing pharmaceutical ingredients. The company, which harnesses advances in areas such as sequencing and computational biology, says it can efficiently make complex molecules. As a result, it can lower costs despite producing them in the U.S., Smolke said.
Last year, Antheia launched its first product, thebaine, which is typically extracted from poppy plants to make overdose rescue medication and other drugs. With this Series C financing Antheia will expand its thebaine launch and introduce one to two new products annually for the next few years, Smolke said.
“The U.S. should be a leader in biotechnology and biomanufacturing,” she added.
And now on to the news...
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Nucleus Genomics founder Kian Sadeghi. PHOTO: RAMMOHAN MYAKALA/NUCLEUS
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Longevity planning. Prospective parents using IVF will soon be able to rank embryos using genetic and other information in the hopes of extending the longevity of their offspring, according to the 25-year-old entrepreneur behind Nucleus Genomics, a DNA testing and analysis company, The Wall Street Journal reports.
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“Lifespan has dramatically increased in the last 150 years,” said Kian Sadeghi, the company’s founder and chief executive. “DNA testing to predict and reduce chronic disease can make it happen again.”
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Nucleus plans to charge $5,999 for an analysis of up to 900 conditions, including diseases that occur later in life and are major causes of death in older people such as Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease and cancers. The company will analyze up to 20 embryos.
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The embryos are given probabilities for the likelihood they will get these chronic conditions. It is up to the parents to decide the qualities most important to them when choosing which embryos to use. They can book sessions with genetic counselors if they want to discuss the results.
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11 Million
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Roughly the number of people who would be pushed out of Medicaid or other forms of health coverage if the GOP tax-and-spending megabill passes in its current form, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
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How Moderna Went From Pandemic Hero to Vaccine Victim
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Moderna was once a darling of the first Trump administration, which went to great lengths to help the company develop its Covid-19 vaccine that protected millions of people from the virus. Now the biotech is caught in the crossfire of Trump 2.0 as vaccine-making comes under fire, WSJ reports. In the latest setback for Moderna, the Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved its next-generation Covid shot for a narrower population of patients than the company intended. The approval grants use of the vaccine only in older adults and people aged 12 to 64 with health risks. Moderna is in a precarious position. The company bet big on mRNA, the underlying
technology powering its vaccines, to develop shots that could treat or prevent different diseases. But after securing riches from its Covid shot, it failed to diversify its pipeline.
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Megabill Would Make 11 Million People Uninsured, Estimates Show
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Passing the GOP’s tax-and-spending megabill in its current form would push about 11 million people out of Medicaid or other forms of health coverage, leaving them uninsured by 2034, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday, WSJ reports.
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People
SetPoint Medical, a Valencia, Calif.-based medical-technology company, said it has named Tyler Binney to its board. Binney most recently was president and chief executive of medical-device company Relievant Medsystems, which was acquired by Boston Scientific. SetPoint is developing a platform designed to stimulate the vagus nerve to activate neuroimmune pathways to produce a systemic anti-inflammatory and immune-restorative effect.
Exits
Pyx Health, a Tucson, Ariz.-based healthcare-engagement company focused on vulnerable and hard-to-reach patient populations, said it has acquired healthcare-food company FarmboxRx and raised $47.5 million from S2G Investments. Boston-based FarmboxRx specializes in fresh food delivery as an intervention for Medicare, Medicaid and other health plan members. The acquisition combines the companies’ knowledge in healthcare and food systems and will lead to innovation at the intersection of two historically siloed sectors, Pyx said.
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ArcheHealth, a healthcare-artificial intelligence company, said it has raised $6.7 million in seed financing. LRVHealth, Martin Ventures and Texas Health Resources participated. Birmingham, Ala.-based ArcheHealth said it raised the financing to launch an AI-powered platform designed to reduce healthcare costs and improve operational performance improvement. The platform provides hospitals with insights into the costs of delivering patient care, ArcheHealth says.
Surgify Medical, a Finland-based startup focused on improving the safety and precision of bone surgery, raised €7 million in Series A funding led by Zeiss Ventures.
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Concern is rising about ultra-processed foods, which can include everything from sodas and candy to soups and breads. PHOTO: ASH PONDERS/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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