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Highlander health
Two former Verily executives, Amy Abernathy And Brad Hirschannounced this week that they have done so launched a new business, Highlander Health. The organization will have two separate branches: Highlander Health Partnerswhat will invest in mid-stage healthcare startups, and the Highlander Health Institutethat will provide grants and mobilize partnerships with a goal of both accelerating clinical trials And using real-world data for more information about the effectiveness of different types of treatments.
“Our overarching vision truly paves the way to personalized healthcare for all,” Abernathy said Forbes. “And we see that one of the critical gates on that path is generating clinical evidence.”
The way Highlander will do that, Hirsch explained, is to build “learning labs” that aim to develop better ways to “bring together different data assets and real-world data.” An important aspect of this, the pair emphasized, is better understanding the quality of different types of data and ways it can be collected and used to solve various healthcare problems. “Many companies have innovated in this area over the past decade,” says Hirsch. That’s part of why they thought now was the time to further accelerate these data approaches.
On the investment sideHighlander Health Partners will focus on “writing big checks,” Hirsch said. “We are looking for companies that are in the growth or mid-market stages, where they have a core team and a core product that has been accepted and adopted.” The investments will not focus on life sciences companies or providers, but rather on the companies that do so “bridging the two” Hirsch said.
Highlander already has projects in the works, the pair said, with more announcements to come October.
This startup aims to regenerate damaged tissues using AI and lasers
Cellino
Researchers are exploring the possibility of treating degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s with induced pluripotent stem cells (or iPSCs). These cells are made by reprogramming blood or skin cells until they behave like stem cells in embryos. This means they can then be programmed to turn into virtually any type of cell and used as a treatment to replace damaged tissue.
But there’s one catch: Currently, turning these cells into usable tissues is a laborious process that can cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars per patient. This makes both research and the development of potential drugs an expensive prospect.
Cellino, a biotech startup founded in 2017, is developing self-contained units called cassettes that can grow personalized cell treatments for patients on-site in their hospital. The potential for the technology, called Nebula, is enormous: Co-founder and CEO Nabiha Saklayen told Forbes it could reduce production costs for iPSCs at least tenfold. Now the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) has given Cellino a $25 million grant to accelerate Nebula’s development.
Read more here.
Pipeline and deal updates
Medical imaging: SpectraWAVE, which develops imaging systems for the treatment of coronary artery disease, raised a $50 million Series B funding.
Antibodies: Radiant Biotherapeutics, which is developing an antibody platform for novel disease treatments, announced a $35 million Series A round.
Autoimmune diseases: Candid Therapeutics, which focuses on treating autoimmune diseases, has announced its launch with a capital increase of $370.
Kidney disease: The FDA did that full approval granted to sparsentan, marketed by Travere Therapeutics as Filspari, for the treatment of adults with the kidney disease IgA nephropathy. The agency had previously granted the drug accelerated approval in February 2023.
Obesity: OrsoBio, which is developing a class of mitochondrial drugs for weight loss and other indications, has increased a $67 million Series B.
CEO of Recursion talks about trial results of AI-designed medicine
Recursion
Last week, Utah-based Recursion Pharmaceuticals announced results from the phase 2 trials of the experimental drug REC-994. Designed in part using the company’s AI models, the drug is intended to treat a disease called cerebral cavernous malformation, for which there are currently no treatments. The company reported that the main purpose of the study, which was to test safety, had been achieved.
“We expect patients to be able to use this medicine for the rest of their lives,” CEO Chris Gibson said Forbes. “So we really wanted to be very solid on safety.”
In the clinical trial, the drug was tested in 62 patients, a third of whom received the drug at a dose of 200 mg, a third at a dose of 400 mg and the rest received a placebo. The drug was safe at both doses. MRI testing of patients given the 400 mg showed a significant reduction in brain lesions caused by the disease, although there was no statistically significant reduction in patient-reported symptoms.
For next steps, Recursion plans to work with the FDA on another study with more patients, and “explore additional doses, perhaps higher doses” along with other signs of improvement in patients. The data from this study, he said, will be invaluable in larger studies. “We learned a lot in this first study,” he added.
Other healthcare news
Novo Nordisk’s new obesity pill beats Wegovy in early trial
Whooping cough cases are rising in the US following a global pattern
CDC reports first case of bird flu with no known exposure to animals
Salmonella outbreak in eggs: Dozens sick in these 9 states from Midwest Farm
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What else we read
With victory over lung cancer, biotech’s richest outsider surfs to new heights (Stat)
It Matters If It’s COVID (The Atlantic)
Human embryo models become more realistic and raise ethical questions (Nature)