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Verve Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing therapies that safely edit the genomes of adults to confer lifelong protection against coronary artery disease, the most common type of heart disease and the leading cause of death worldwide. Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., with a research facility in Philadelphia.
EMD Biosciences, Inc. is a San Diego, CA-based company in the Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Biotech sector.
Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is a chronic, life-threatening disease that affects millions of people worldwide. In the United States, 30,000 new cases are estimated every year with half of those cases diagnosed in young children. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the patient`s immune system goes awry and attacks and destroys the pancreatic beta cells. Beta cells are responsible for regulating blood sugar (glucose) levels by producing precise amounts of the essential hormone insulin. The discovery of injectable insulin in the 1920s changed T1D from a uniformly fatal disease with a life expectancy of months to one that could be carefully managed for decades through multiple daily blood glucose measurements and insulin injections. However, insulin injections are not a cure and patients face a lifetime of difficult disease management and serious complications including kidney failure, blindness and nerve damage. Despite nearly a century passing since the discovery of insulin, insulin injection remains the only treatment available to patients. Semma Therapeutics was founded to develop transformative therapies for patients who currently depend on insulin injections. Recent work in the laboratory of Professor Douglas Melton led to the discovery of a method to generate billions of functional, insulin-producing beta cells in the laboratory. These cells develop in islet-like clusters grown from stem cells. Initial preclinical work in animal models of diabetes has shown that transplantation of these cells are sufficient to control blood glucose levels. This breakthrough technology has been exclusively licensed to Semma Therapeutics for the development of a cell-based therapy for diabetes. Ongoing research at Semma Therapeutics is focused on combining these proprietary cells with a state-of-the-art cell delivery and immune protection strategy that can protect these cells from the patient`s immune system and allow the beta cells to function as they do in non-diabetic individuals. Implantation of the beta cell-filled device has the potential to provide a true replacement for the missing beta cells in a diabetic patient and would not require patient immunosuppression. Semma Therapeutics is working to bring this new therapeutic option to the clinic and improve the lives of patients with diabetes.
Biota Pharmaceuticals is focused on the discovery and development of direct-acting antivirals to treat infections that affect a significant number of patients globally. The Company has four product candidates in development that address viral infections that have limited therapeutic options. We are currently enrolling patients for the Phase 2b SPIRITUS trial for vapendavir, a potent, broad spectrum capsid inhibitor of enteroviruses, for the treatment of human rhinovirus (HRV) infected patients with moderate-to-severe asthma. Our second Phase 2 clinical product candidate is BTA074 (AP611074), a novel topical treatment for genital warts caused by HPV types 6 and 11. We also are developing BTA-C585, an oral fusion inhibitor in development for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus infections. We anticipate beginning a Phase 1 clinical trial with BTA-C585 in Q3 2105. Laninamivir octanoate, a one-time, inhaled neuraminidase for the treatment of influenza A and B infections has completed a global Phase 2 trial.
Driven by world class scientists and an entrepreneurial culture focused on rigorous science, innovative treatments, and data-driven decision making, we discover and develop medicines that have the potential to alter the treatment landscape and contribute value to patients and society. The company has developed a unique drug discovery approach, ImmunoPhage™️, that generates powerful and specific immune responses. Its most advanced program, SNS-301, is currently enrolling patients in Phase 1/2 clinical trials.