The research that laid the foundation for HIV prevention

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Last week the 2024 Lasker-Bloomberg Public Service Award was granted to married duo Quarraisha Abdool Karim And Salim S. Abdool KarimThe South African-born researchers began their work while both working at Columbia University in New York during the early 1990s HIV/AIDS epidemic. That disease was not the focus of their research at the time, but that quickly changed. “HIV absolutely dominated New York in 1988,” Salim said Forbes. And the two realized that the disease wouldn’t stop there. “When we returned to South Africa, we committed to working on HIV,” he continued.

At home, their research led them to realize that preventing the spread of HIV empower women to protect themselves. So they began their research on a wide variety of different species prophylactic treatments that might help. Over the next 18 years, they “failed repeatedly,” Salim said, even as they continued to work through the years advocacy and education on HIV/AIDS to provide help to those who need it and to find other ways to prevent its spread.

In the early 2000s, the couple turned their attention tenofovira drug originally targeted against herpes that was approved by the FDA in 2001 for the treatment of HIV. The couple primarily wanted to see if it could also be used to help prevent infections. After years of research, the couple presented the results that the medicine could produce reduce the risk of infection for women at an AIDS research conference in 2010. They received a standing ovation when presenting their results, and this work became the basis for current HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (also known as PREPARATION), which has helped slow the spread of HIV/AIDS around the world.

The Lasker Awards are sometimes referred to as “America’s Nobel Prize” – recognizing some of the most important developments in medical science. That makes its reception “humbling on one level, but also inspiring,” Quaraissha said. “Because what we are recognized for is a combination of science, contribution to policy and service to humanity at different levels. I think it has really given more meaning to what we have contributed so far.”

Also a quick note that InnovationRx co-author Alex Knapp has a new newsletter, The prototypedelivering the latest science and emerging technologies to your inbox every Friday morning. Register now!

Iranian immigrant becomes billionaire as shares of her biotech company soar

In the ultra-competitive world of cancer drugs, Summit Therapeutics is a relative minnow. The 21-year-old biotech company has just 130 employees, no revenue and no approved drugs. But over the past two weeks, its market capitalization has exploded on positive news about its most promising drug candidate.

Shares of Nasdaq-listed Summit Therapeutics have nearly doubled since September 6, bringing the company’s market capitalization to nearly $17 billion. That in turn has made his co-CEO, Maky Zanganeh, a new billionaire with a stake of just under 5% plus a slew of options – worth an estimated $1.1 billion. She is one of only 34 self-made American female billionaires, and one of three American women to have made a billion-dollar fortune in healthcare. The other two: Bio-Rad Laboratories co-founder Alice Schwartz and United Therapeutics founder Martine Rothblatt.

Read more here.

Pipeline and deal updates

Neuroscience: The FDA did that approved arimoclomolmarketed by Zevra Therapeutics as Miplyffa, for the treatment of Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC) in combination with miglustat. NPC is a neurodegenerative disease and arimoclomol is the first approved treatment for it.

Genomics: Synthetic genomics company Constructive Bio announced it has increased its capital a $58 million Series A round.

Generative AI: Novartis announced a research collaboration with Generate:Biomedicines to leverage its generative AI for drug discovery platform to discover new treatments for multiple diseases. Generate:Biomedicines will receive $65 million upfront for the deal, representing up to $1 billion in milestone payments plus royalties for approved drugs.

Radiopharma: Radiopharmaceutical company Telix announced that it will acquire US-based RLS in a deal worth up to $250 million, pending regulatory and shareholder approval, giving it access to the latter’s network of 31 radio pharmacies in 18 states. This will be Telix’s third acquisition in 2024.

Medical technology: MedTech startup Route 92 Medical has announced this $50 million raised in a series F extension.

Cell therapy: GC Therapeutics, founded by a group of researchers in George Church’s laboratory at Harvard, announced its launch along with a $65 million Series A that brings the total capital raised to $75 million. The startup will focus on the development of a new generation of cell therapies.

Within Facebook’s Scammy Abortion Access Network

A Forbes A Facebook investigation found nearly 800 groups and pages in 76 countries that connect women to abortion drugs — at least 300 of which operate in countries where abortion is at least sometimes illegal, if not a criminal offense. All together, the groups have almost 1.8 million members. Forbes found that Facebook groups and pages selling abortion drugs were present in nearly every major region in the world, including abortion-restrictive population centers.

Seventeen groups and pages claimed to provide abortion pills to women in the United States, although it is unclear how many of them actually make the pills available. The largest, which has more than 117,000 members, directed users to an abortion-related URL that then redirected to an adult website. The Facebook groups are something of a double-edged sword: while they may get help from some women, they can be a gateway to scams and fraudsters in the picture, and pose health and privacy risks for people in restrictive countries.

Read more here

Other healthcare news

The first human case of mosquito-borne EEE in New York this year ends in patient deaths – what you need to know

FTC sues pharmacy middlemen for allegedly jacking up insulin prices

Ozempic may reduce risk of opioid overdose, study suggests: What you need to know

Insurers are expanding coverage of prescriptions written by pharmacists

About Forbes

ForbesThe former billionaire CEO of Plaid has a bold plan to revive growthBy means of Jeff KauflinForbesThe home builders are getting rich because of the American housing shortageBy means of Richard J ChangForbesThe billionaire founder of Duolingo is all about AIBy means of Richard Nieva

What else we read

Masimo has a new boss (Bloomberg)

Why do anti-obesity drugs seem to treat so many other ailments? (Nature)

Can Anne Wojcicki save 23andMe? (Statistics)