A startup spinout machine; Amazon teams with Fred Hutch; and more life sciences news – GeekWire

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Jake Kraft (left) and Anindya Roy, co-founders of an emerging startup at the Institute for Protein Design, Lila Biologics. (IPD Photo)

This week GeekWire highlighted entrepreneurship at the University of Washington’s Institute for Protein Design. The institute’s eight spinouts have collectively raised more than $1 billion and helped fuel a biotech boom in Seattle. We also covered a new clinical trial at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center that leverages a collaboration with Amazon.

Read on for more life sciences news this week.

Funding

  • The UW awarded $100,000 pilot grants to two research groups through a partnership with Novo Nordisk. One group is developing a wearable sweat sensor to monitor diabetes via a smartphone, and another a portable device to measure neurocognitive impairments in people with cirrhosis.  
  • Business Oregon, the state’s economic development agency, provided matching grants to 12 startups that were awarded federal small business grants.   

Clinical trials

  • Seagen released full results of a phase II study treating HER2-positive metastatic colorectal cancer with its HER2-targeting drug Tukysa combined with Herceptin. The data suggest the combo outperforms another one now in common use, according to an analyst.
  • The New England Journal of Medicine showed data from a five-year follow-up trial of Seagen’s Adcetris combined with other drugs for stage III and IV Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The treatment showed a survival benefit over a combination that did not include the drug.  
  • Findings from an early-stage clinical trial of Cocrystal Pharma’s oral anti-flu candidate supported the potential for once-a-day dosing, less frequently than Tamiflu.

Other studies

  • A single genomics test of whole blood could diagnose sepsis and predict 30-day mortality as well or better than current methods. UW surgeon Scott Brakenridge helped lead the study, which assessed RNA expression.
  • Researchers at Seattle Children’s evaluated the neural pathways that coordinate swallowing and breathing, which may go awry in sleep apnea.
  • Asymptomatic carriers of genital herpes can transmit the herpes simplex virus type 2 virus to partners, reported UW and Fred Hutch researchers.
  • Air pollution exposure in utero and in early life can influence child behavioral problems and IQ, even in cities with overall low levels of pollution like Seattle, according to a UW study.
  • A woman’s chronic stress late in pregnancy can affect the ability of a fetus to absorb iron, a study led by UW Medicine researchers found.
  • Taxes on sweetened beverages benefit people with lower incomes, with tax income flowing to programs in lower-income areas, according to a UW study.

Public health

  • Seattle-area scientists weighed in on the current BA.5 wave of COVID-19 in two recent stories in The Atlantic.
  • UW Medicine’s virology lab, a national leader during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, is one of a handful of labs around the country to begin testing for monkeypox.
  • Medical supply and distribution startup Bttn, which just raised $20 million, won a contract to supply personal protective equipment to 300 school districts across Washington state.

Product launch

Deals

  • Atossa Therapeutics agreed to pay $3 million for the exclusive right to negotiate for acquisition of an unnamed CAR T cell therapy company, according to a regulatory filing.  

Data breach

  • Seattle-based medical data company MCG Health may have exposed the personal information of more than 1.1 million people to cybercriminals and is facing multiple lawsuits, the Seattle Times reported.

Tech Moves

  • Vancouver, Wash.-based Absci hired Denise Dettore as chief people officer and Jack Gold as chief marketing officer.
  • Herbert “Skip” Virgin will move from Vir Biotechnology, where he is chief scientific officer, to serve as chief medical officer of Altos Labs, the California-based anti-aging biotech whose co-founders include Hans Bishop and Rick Klausner, alums of Seattle’s Juno Therapeutics.  





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