BUSINESS INSIGHTS, VIEWS AND ANALYSIS
Rancho BioSciences | February 02, 2023
On February 1, 2023, Rancho Biosciences, a leading provider of data sciences services, announced that BenevolentAI has joined the SCDS consortium as its fifth member. Rancho Biosciences launched its Single Cell Data Science (SCDS) pre-competitive consortium on February 26, 2022, with four Charter Members: Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen Research & Development LLC, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, Novartis, and Vesalius Therapeutics.
The consortium's mission is to establish a uniform industry standard for creating and formatting single-cell datasets through a systematic effort to build data models and ensure that public data are curated consistently. Due to the evident impact of single-cell transcriptomics technology on drug discovery, pharmaceutical firms continue to adopt single-cell sequencing techniques at an exponential rate.
The availability of ever-increasing volumes of single-cell datasets in the public domain enables pharmaceutical companies to vastly increase their universe of single-cell experiments over those generated internally. However, harnessing this enormous public data lake by locating, downloading, and curating single-cell data is difficult and time-consuming compared to the resources required for scientists to analyze data to derive value for biomedical research collectively.
To date, Rancho has provided 83 analysis-ready datasets by using its extensive curation knowledge and expertise. Each dataset contains 79 columns of curated metadata that have been verified against a 4-entity data model developed by Rancho for SCDS. Based on member priorities, Rancho will continue to contribute a steady stream of harmonized single-cell datasets to the consortium. With this shared cost model, these may be supplied at a far higher throughput and much more cost-effectively than a single company could do.
About Rancho BioSciences
Founded in 2012, Rancho BioSciences is a global fee-for-service data curation firm that provides analysis and development services to clients, including pharma, foundations, government, and biotech. With a global team of qualified Ph.D. and Ph.D./MD scientists that provide high-quality work based on their expertise and domain knowledge in biology, diseases, and clinical data, it strives to find cures for diseases by serving its clients and saving lives through Data. It aims to be the world's leading provider of data services and harness domain skills and expertise to address complex problems.
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS, PHARMA TECH
ClinChoice | March 03, 2023
ClinChoice, a leading global clinical CRO, recently announced that it has acquired CROMSOURCE S.r.l., an ISO-certified full-service contract research organization. CROMSOURCE has its corporate headquarters in Verona, Italy, its US headquarters in Cary, NC, and subsidiaries in the US and seven countries throughout eastern and western Europe.
With a proven track record of providing excellent clinical research and staffing services to multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device clients, CROMSOURCE's acquisition will strengthen ClinChoice's global network and further enhance its full-service capabilities.
ClinChoice is known for its commitment to providing high-quality services and timely delivery, resulting in the successful completion of clinical trials and functions, including regulatory, biometrics, safety, medical, and clinical operations across various sectors such as drug, medical devices, vaccines, cosmetics, and consumer health using both project-based and FSP models.
The company offers services covering the development lifecycle for biotechnology, pharmaceutical, consumer products and medical device companies worldwide. With a broad clientele ranging from the largest multinationals to startup and emerging companies, ClinChoice has completed over 1,500 clinical studies in various therapeutic areas such as CNS, oncology, ophthalmology, rare disease, respiratory and metabolic.
CROMSOURCE's acquisition was advised by Fairmount Partners, while Crosstree Capital represented ClinChoice.
About ClinChoice
ClinChoice is a leading global clinical CRO that provides comprehensive services to biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, and consumer products clients worldwide. With a successful 25-year track record, it is considered the standard for excellence in clinical operations, biostatistics, data management, CDISC, statistical programming, regulatory affairs, medical affairs, and pharmacovigilance. The company has established major delivery centers in Europe, the US, Canada, China, India, Japan, and the Philippines, employing over 3,000 people worldwide. ClinChoice has a strong and talented team and is expanding its clinical operations in seven countries across North America, Asia, and Europe.
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS, PHARMA TECH
Innate Pharma | January 17, 2023
On January 16, 2023, Innate Pharma SA announced the publication of preclinical findings demonstrating the control of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells by a trifunctional NKp46-CD16a-NK cell engager (NKCE) targeting CD123 in the scientific journal Nature Biotechnology. Innate and Sanofi conducted the experiments, which were published in Nature Biotechnology on January 12, 2023.
This study demonstrates that CD64 expression on AML blasts imparts resistance to anti-CD123 antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity (ADCC) and that redirecting NK cells against cancer targets by binding to CD16a and NKp46 circumvents this resistance. Moreover, through their binding to NKp46, CD123-NKCE primarily target NK cells and have substantial antitumor activity against primary AML blasts; they stimulate NK cell activation and cytokine secretion exclusively in AML cells' presence.
In vivo, its antitumor activity observed in a mouse tumor model surpasses that of the anti-CD123 antibody used as the comparator. Furthermore, in vitro in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and in vivo in nonhuman primates, the efficacy of CD123-NKCE was associated with the induction of low pro-inflammatory cytokine release and the absence of toxicity.
These results support CD123-NKCE clinical development. IPH6101/SAR'579 (SAR443579), the first NKp46/CD16-based CD123-targeted ANKETTM NK cell engager, is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial by Sanofi in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (R/R AML), B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (HR-MDS).
About Innate Pharma
Headquartered in Marseille (France), Innate Pharma SA is a global, clinical-stage oncology-focused biotech firm dedicated to enhancing patient treatment and clinical outcomes using therapeutic antibodies that employ the immune system to combat cancer. Its extensive antibody pipeline has numerous potentially first-in-class clinical and preclinical candidates for cancers with a high unmet medical need. In addition, Innate has been a pioneer in the study of natural killer cell (NK cell) biology and developed its expertise in tumor antigens, tumor microenvironment, and antibody engineering. This innovative strategy has resulted in a varied proprietary portfolio and substantial alliances with biopharmaceutical industry leaders, including Sanofi, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novo Nordisk A/S, and a multi-product collaboration with AstraZeneca.
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