Base to Base biotech podcast 61: Making tumours visible, and taking on tough challenges

Base to Base biotech podcast 62: A new approach to strokes

This week, we have a conversation with Revalesio president Greg Archambeau about tackling strokes, and other conditions, with a novel method. Revalesio While the pharmaceutical industry often focuses on complex chemical compounds, Revalesio [https://revalesio.com/] is pioneering a novel drug class rooted in a surprising field: fluid physics. Revalesio is also focusing on stroke, a condition in need of new therapies. Revalesio’s breakthrough therapy, RNS60, is unlike traditional treatments. It uses a proprietary process to create an oxygen-supersaturated saline that harnesses physical forces to fundamentally improve cellular health. By boosting mitochondrial biogenesis and ATP production, the therapy addresses the core of cellular decline. Revalesio is currently at the frontier of human health with a primary focus on ischemic stroke, where they have already demonstrated game-changing results, with their phase 2 clinical trials showing a 50% reduction in brain loss and a significant reduction in disability for stroke patients. With a yearly global economic burden of stroke estimated at $890bn, RNS60 has the potential to unlock a new standard of care and drastically reduce hospital stays (from 10.8 days to 6.0 days in high-dose groups). The platform technology is also being explored for traumatic brain injury (TBI), Alzheimer’s disease, and broader healthy aging and health-span applications. Led by an executive team with deep roots at Eli Lilly, AbbVie, and Amgen, Revalesio is now moving toward phase 3 trials. To get in touch with guest suggestions, or to sponsor or advertise on the podcast, please email jim@deeptechdigest.com [jim@deeptechdigest.com]

Base to Base biotech podcast 61: Making tumours visible, and taking on tough challenges

This week, we speak with John Friend, CEO of Kazia Therapeutics; and have a conversation with PureTech Health CEO Robert Lyne and Eric Elenko, president and co-founder of PureTech and acting CEO of Gallop Oncology. Times: 03:23 Kazia Therapeutics 31:56 PureTech Health PureTech Health PureTech Health plc [https://www.puretechhealth.com/] is a hub-and-spoke biotherapeutics company dedicated to giving life to science and transforming innovation into value. The company recently announced positive topline data from its phase 1b clinical trial of LYT-200, a first-in-class, fully human anti-galectin-9 monoclonal antibody, in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) high-risk (HR) myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and R/R acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Based on the results, PureTech's founded entity, Gallop Oncology, has selected a recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D) and intends to engage with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to discuss the design of a subsequent trial that could potentially support registration of LYT-200 in R/R HR-MDS. PureTech’s strategy has produced dozens of therapeutic candidates, including three that have received U.S. FDA approval. Kazia Therapeutics About 1 in 8 women in the U.S. will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. While many patients benefit from advances in treatment, some of the most aggressive forms are still very difficult to treat and often stop responding to therapy. A growing focus in oncology is how to overcome that resistance by changing how tumours behave. Kazia Therapeutics [https://www.kaziatherapeutics.com/site/content/] is advancing a strategy centred on reprogramming cancer cells. Instead of just blocking growth, the goal is to make tumours less aggressive and more visible to the immune system. Their lead candidate, paxalisib, is an oral therapy currently being studied in advanced breast cancer. In metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most treatment-resistant tumour types, early data suggests that combining paxalisib with standard therapies may begin to address both immune resistance and metastatic drivers simultaneously. To get in touch with guest suggestions, or to sponsor or advertise on the podcast, please email jim@deeptechdigest.com [jim@deeptechdigest.com]

Base to Base biotech podcast 60: Delivery method reduces prostate cancer tumour size

This week, we have a conversation with the founder, director and chief scientific advisor of Alessa Therapeutics, Pamela Munster. Alessa Therapeutics Alessa Therapeutics [https://alessatherapeutics.com/] recently announced positive preliminary phase 1 safety and efficacy data for its prostate cancer treatment Enolen. This was the first study to demonstrate that the FDA-approved prostate cancer compound enzalutamide can be safely and locally administered to the prostate via sustained drug eluting implants. Recent key data presented by researchers at the NCI at the European Association of Urology Congress in London included: All 20 patients enrolled in the initial cohort were successfully implanted. These implantations achieved very high intraprostatic enzalutamide levels with minimal systemic drug exposure and resulted in no delay to surgery. Pre-radical prostatectomy MRI’s conducted for 18/20 patients (2 pending) showed a reduction in tumour volume in 84% of the lesions over an average duration of 35 days. There were no reported effects on testosterone levels or negative effects on sexual function. To get in touch with guest suggestions, or to sponsor or advertise on the podcast, please email jim@deeptechdigest.com [jim@deeptechdigest.com]

Base to Base biotech podcast 59: DIA helping biotech thrive, and Gorlin syndrome

This week, we have a conversation with DIA chief science and regulatory officer, Maria Vassileva, and Medicus Pharma CEO, Raza Bokhari. Times: 02:53 Medicus Pharma 29:13 DIA DIA DIA [https://www.diaglobal.org/] (Drug Information Association) is a global organisation that assists life science professionals from across all areas of expertise to engage with patients, peers and thought leaders in a neutral environment on the issues of today and the possibilities for tomorrow. Starting with the controversy over the drug Thalidomide, DIA’s founders - a group of 30 pharmaceutical professionals, medical writers, and academics - came together to create a platform for necessary global communication and collaboration to solve a healthcare threat to unborn children worldwide. Today, professionals from 80 countries engage with DIA through its membership network, educational offerings, and professional development opportunities. Medicus Pharma Medicus Pharma Ltd. [https://medicuspharma.com/] has submitted an Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for SkinJect (D-MNA) for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) in patients with Gorlin syndrome, a rare genetic disorder characterised by the development of multiple, recurrent skin cancers. There are no FDA-approved therapies specifically for BCC in Gorlin Syndrome. The submission represents a strategic expansion of the SkinJect programme into a high unmet need orphan indication, where current treatment options are limited and often involve repeated surgical procedures associated with cumulative morbidity and disfigurement. Medicus believes SkinJect can address this through a localised, repeatable, non-surgical treatment approach. It is a doxorubicin-containing dissolvable microneedle array designed for direct intradermal delivery into BCC lesions. SkinJect has been evaluated in phase 1 and 2 clinical studies in patients with basal cell carcinoma. To get in touch with guest suggestions, or to sponsor or advertise on the podcast, please email jim@deeptechdigest.com [jim@deeptechdigest.com]

Base to Base biotech podcast 58: Congenital myotonic dystrophy

This week, we have a conversation with congenital myotonic dystrophy patient advocacy consultant Lisa Harvey-Duren, who was the founding Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation executive director in 2008, and Michael Snape, CEO and CSO of AMO Pharma, which is developing a treatment for the disease. AMO Pharma AMO Pharma [https://www.amo-pharma.com/] is a clinical-stage specialty biopharmaceutical company working to identify and advance promising therapies for the treatment of serious and debilitating diseases in patient populations with significant areas of unmet need, including rare and severe childhood onset neurogenetic disorders with limited or no treatment options. In addition to developing AMO-02 for congenital myotonic dystrophy, the company is also progressing AMO-02 as a clinical stage treatment for arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. AMO-01 is being investigated for treatment of Phelan-McDermid syndrome and AMO-04 as a clinic-ready potential medicine for Rett syndrome and related disorders. To get in touch with guest suggestions, or to sponsor or advertise on the podcast, please email jim@deeptechdigest.com [jim@deeptechdigest.com]