| | | |   | Good morning, everyone. Damian here with a look at the spoils of biotech venture capital, the future of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, and some early-career scientists poised to shake up medicine. | | | The haves and have-nots of biotech VC A rush of interest in finding the next big biotech startup has lined the pockets of venture capital firms in the sector. But the proceeds haven’t been evenly apportioned, leaving some funds with overflowing balance sheets and others facing steady declines.
STAT’s Allison DeAngelis and Kate Sheridan analyzed yearly financial records from more than four dozen biotech investment firms that laid out their assets, both in liquid cash and stock in biotech companies, to determine which have seen the most growth over time.
Among the winners is Section 32, founded by former Google Ventures CEO Bill Marris in 2016, whose assets have grown by more than 1,000% in the ensuing years. On the other end, four firms saw their assets shrink over the last seven years, with some winding down and others still actively investing and raising funds — just nowhere near as aggressively as before.
Read more. | Meet the 2022 STAT Wunderkinds The next generation of pathbreaking scientists is at work on novel treatments for childhood cancer, demystifying the microbiome, and a push-button technology for making new drugs.
Today we’re proud to unveil the 2022 STAT Wunderkinds, a group of 28 early-career researchers, doctors, and entrepreneurs applying cutting-edge ideas to solve vexing problems in science, medicine, and health care.
Read more. | A drug development engine housed within an academic cancer center MD Anderson researchers are committed to answering the most pressing unmet needs in oncology and delivering the next wave of cancer breakthroughs. With industry expertise and seamless collaboration across the institution, MD Anderson’s Therapeutics Discovery division is building upon these discoveries to advance innovative therapies to patients quickly, safely and effectively. This unique drug development engine is seeking exceptional scientists for a variety of positions. Learn more about their work and available opportunities here. | Is Amylyx a good business? With the year-long debate over whether Amylyx Pharmaceuticals could win FDA approval for a novel ALS treatment now settled, the young company faces an arguably more daunting task: turning that medicine into a sustainable business.
During its quarterly earnings presentation on Friday, Amylyx declined to make any sales predictions but said its early interactions with payers and physicians have been positive. The company’s drug, Relyvrio, started shipping in the U.S. about three weeks ago, and while pent-up demand is expected to lead to a bolus of prescriptions in the early months, the company is still figuring out what the long-term market might look like.
Despite Relyvrio’s $158,000-per-year list price, the drug's commercial success is far from guaranteed. About 30,000 people in the U.S. have ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, with 5,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Only a fraction of those patients are taking other approved ALS drugs at a given time, and most only stay on therapy for about a year. If Relyvrio is going to be successful, it will need to reach far more patients and provide tangible benefits that convince them to keep taking it. | Ionis dives into genome editing Ionis Pharmaceuticals, a biotech stalwart that spent decades taking RNA-targeting medicines from an unproven idea into a blockbuster category, is betting on the future of genome editing.
As STAT’s Jonathan Wosen reports, Ionis has partnered with the private firm Metagenomi, paying $80 million up front to collaborate on up to four genome-eding therapies, with the option to add four more. Neither company disclosed which diseases they’ll target, but the initial plan is to focus on the liver.
“This is a new dimension for Ionis,” CEO Brett Monia said. “But this is a big step forward to further outreach and delivering genetic medicines to patients in need.”
Read more. | More reads - Google travels far from Silicon Valley to test the power of search tools in health care, STAT
- FDA approves AstraZeneca's lung cancer drugs, Reuters
- Roivant cuts 12% of staff in cost-saving move, Endpoints
- Head of MassBio trade group is out after serving just over a year, Boston Globe
| Thanks for reading! Until tomorrow,  | | | |
No comments