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Collaboration Tackles Delivery Chalenge in Genetic Medicine
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By Brian Gormley, WSJ Pro
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Good day. Drugmaker Genentech and biotechnology startup GenEdit are working together on a problem that hampers the advancement of genetic medicines—getting these treatments to the right targets in the body.
New genetic treatments, such as gene therapy and mRNA, show potential to treat many disorders. But there is a hangup: delivering them to the intended cells and tissues.
Current delivery tools, such as lipid nanoparticles, have been used successfully in products including the Covid-19 vaccines developed by drugmakers Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech.
Yet lipid nanoparticles and other existing delivery tools, such as viruses, have limitations, said Kunwoo Lee, co-founder and chief executive of South San Francisco, Calif.-based GenEdit, whose technology for delivering genetic medicines doesn’t involve lipids or viruses.
Read the full story here.
And now on to the news...
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Careismatic becomes one of the latest companies to fall into bankruptcy as Covid-19 worries lessen. PHOTO: ANGEL GARCIA/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Bankruptcy. Medical scrubs designer and distributor Careismatic Brands filed for bankruptcy to eliminate $833 million in debt, a restructuring prompted by falling demand and higher interest rates, The Wall Street Journal reports.
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Two years after logging record revenue, the Santa Monica, Calif.-based company owned by private-equity firm Partners Group filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark, N.J., listing both assets and liabilities exceeding $1 billion.
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Careismatic becomes one of the latest companies to fall into bankruptcy as Covid-19 worries lessen, causing plummeting demand for some products or blindsiding some companies that ramped up production for demand that never materialized.
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Kent Percy, Careismatic chief restructuring officer, said the pandemic led to sharp increases in medical apparel demand, leading to a record $687 million in revenue in 2021. That was up from $635 million in 2020 and $498 million in 2019.
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$833 Million
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The amount of debt medical scrubs designer and distributor Careismatic Brands seeks to eliminate through a bankruptcy proceeding.
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Hospital Seeks Retraction of Six Papers by Top Researchers
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The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a Harvard Medical School affiliate, is seeking to retract six studies and correct 31 other papers as part of a probe involving four of its senior cancer researchers and administrators, WSJ reports. More than 50 papers, including four co-authored by Chief Executive and President Dr. Laurie Glimcher, are part of a continuing review, according to Dr. Barrett Rollins, the cancer institute’s research-integrity officer. Some requests for retractions and corrections have already been sent to journals, he said. Others are being prepared. The institute has yet to determine whether misconduct occurred.
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Defense Startups Risk Becoming ‘Failed Experiment’ Without More Pentagon Dollars
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Venture capitalists have poured more than $100 billion into U.S. defense-technology startups since 2021, banking on government interest in upgrading the military. Convincing the Pentagon to buy from Silicon Valley has proven difficult.
Washington and Silicon Valley have for years tried to forge a more lucrative partnership, and the rise of China and conflicts in Ukraine and Israel showcasing modern technology have made military leaders more anxious to modernize their arsenals. At the same time, many entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, who historically have shunned military work, are increasingly enthusiastic about becoming a part of the country’s war infrastructure.
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Funds
Cross-Border Impact Ventures raised more than $90 million for its first impact fund to invest in startups that address the health needs of women, children and adolescents. The Toronto-based firm has invested in five companies since it launched in late 2021.
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Synnovation Therapeutics, a Wilmington, Del.-based precision medicine startup developing small molecule therapies, launched with $102 million in Series A funding led by Third Rock Ventures.
Accent Therapeutics, a Lexington, Mass.-based startup developing small molecule precision cancer therapies, closed a $75 million Series C round. Mirae Asset Capital Life Science led the round, with Managing Director Naveen Krishnan joining the company’s board.
Icotec, a Switzerland-headquartered spinal tumor implant maker, picked up $30 million in growth financing from MVM Partners.
Motif Neurotech, a Houston-based developer of minimally invasive bioelectronics for mental health, secured nearly $18.8 million in Series A financing led by Arboretum Ventures.
Being Health, a mental health services startup, launched with $5.4 million in funding from investors including HDS Capital.
HEAL Security, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based cybersecurity intelligence platform for the healthcare sector, launched from stealth with $4.6 million raised to date from investors including Health2047.
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A woman walks past the logo of Sanofi at the company’s headquarters in Paris. PHOTO: VIOLETA SANTOS MOURA/REUTERS
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When it comes to policing pharma, the FTC says it’s on ‘an incredible winning streak’ (STAT)
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Accelerating clinical trials to improve biopharma R&D productivity (McKinsey)
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Sentiment and themes emerging from JPM 2024 (Life Sci VC)
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Karuna, Cerevel might be just the start of psychiatry drug M&A (Biopharma Dive)
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