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Biotech Abiologics Gets $50 Million for AI-Designed Biological Drugs
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By Brian Gormley, WSJ Pro
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Good day. Flagship Pioneering has launched and committed $50 million to Abiologics, a biotech startup that aims to use artificial intelligence to create biological drugs without the shortcomings of those now available.
Biological medicines–antibodies and proteins, for instance–can be vital in treating cancer, immunological diseases and other conditions. But they have limitations. They can, for example, be susceptible to protease enzymes in the body that cut them up and inactivate them, said Avak Kahvejian, a general partner with Flagship and co-founder and chief executive of Abiologics.
The company’s solution is to make biological drugs from amino acids not found in proteins in the body. Because proteases don’t recognize these “non-canonical” building blocks, Abiologics' medications won't be cut up by them, he said. This could lead to highly stable medicines with new capabilities, such as the ability to penetrate more deeply into tumors, Kahvejian said.
Biotechs are already trying to enhance biological drugs by replacing certain native amino acids with non-canonical ones, Kahvejian said. By contrast, Abiologics creates medicines entirely from non-canonical amino acids. These amino acids aren’t in proteins in the body, though they might exist in nature or be man-made, he said.
This could give it the flexibility to create a variety of new therapies, including drugs aimed at molecules or other targets in the body that have been difficult to attack before, Kahvejian said.
Abiologics designs drugs computationally using AI, and then chemically synthesizes them. The company is first focusing on cancer and immunological diseases as it advances its initial early-stage drug programs as well, Kahvejian said.
And now on to the news...
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A graphic representation of the Magenta Medical heart pump system. PHOTO: MAGENTA MEDICAL
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Heart pumps. Medtech company Magenta Medical has raised $105 million in new venture capital to compete with Johnson & Johnson, in what analysts expect will be a sizable market for heart pumps used in certain cardiac procedures.
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Heart pumps, pioneered in the U.S. by Abiomed, temporarily help the heart pump blood in some patients undergoing procedures such as catheterizations to open blocked coronary arteries. In 2022, J&J paid $16.6 billion to acquire Abiomed, which began selling its Impella pumps in the U.S. in 2008.
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Raymond James analyst Jayson Bedford projects J&J’s Abiomed revenue will rise to $1.5 billion this year from $1.3 billion in 2023. He estimates Impella pumps have penetrated less than 20% of the potential U.S. market. But more physicians will use heart pumps on their patients as companies generate additional clinical data and introduce new technologies, he said.
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As the population ages, and heart conditions become even more pervasive, opportunity will emerge for new heart-pump companies to compete, analysts said. “There is room for multiple players,” said Shagun Singh Chadha, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets.
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40%+
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The increase in drugmaker Amgen’s stock price over the past 12 months, largely due to its obesity program.
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Rivals Emerge to Ozempic and Zepbound—but With a Lag
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The two dominant players in the obesity market will eventually make way for a few more competitors, The Wall Street Journal reports. Just don’t expect the latecomers to be equals to Eli Lilly. There are dozens of promising biotech companies developing weight-loss drugs. Among the larger drug companies, Amgen and Roche stand out at the moment, and Wall Street is giving them some credit for it. Amgen’s stock is up over 40% in the past 12 months largely thanks to its obesity program.
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Funds
H/L Ventures closed its CityRock Venture Partners Fund II with $24 million in commitments to invest in early-stage startups focusing on sectors including climate and energy, healthcare, fintech, protective industries and the future of work.
People
Latigo Biotherapeutics, a developer of non-opioid pain medicines, appointed Nima Farzan as chief executive officer. He was previously CEO of Kinnate Biopharma.
Precision Neuroscience, a brain-computer interface startup, added Jayme Strauss as chief clinical and commercial officer, and Mike Kaswan as chief financial officer. Strauss was previously chief clinical officer at Viz.ai. Kaswan was most recently CFO at Orchestra BioMed Holdings.
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Headway, a New York-based mental health provider network, scored $100 million in Series D funding led by Spark Capital.
Pearl, a West Hollywood, Calif.-based dental AI startup, raised $58 million in Series B funding led by Left Lane Capital.
Clarapath, a Hawthorne, N.Y.-based provider of automation technology to pathology laboratories, secured $36 million in Series B1 financing led by Northwell Ventures.
SoundHealth, a San Francisco-based maker of a wearable device for the treatment of nasal congestion due to rhinitis, picked up a $7 million seed investment led by Moai Capital and J4 Ventures.
OurRitual, a Tel Aviv-based couples therapy startup, landed a $5.2 million seed investment led by Venrex.
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The three largest pharmacy-benefit managers handle roughly 80% of U.S. prescriptions. PHOTO: JULIO CORTEZ/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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