On January 4, 2023 Akari Therapeutics, Plc (Nasdaq: AKTX), a late-stage biotechnology company developing advanced therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, reported that Akari President and CEO Rachelle Jacques will present a company overview at Biotech Showcase 2023 on Monday, January 9, 2023 at 9 am ET (Press release, Akari Therapeutics, JAN 4, 2023, View Source [SID1234625781]). The presentation will include progress highlights from Akari’s two priority pipeline programs: a Phase 3 clinical trial of nomacopan, a novel bispecific inhibitor of complement C5 and leukotriene B4 (LTB4), for the treatment of severe pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant-related thrombotic microangiopathy, and a pre-clinical program investigating long-acting PAS-nomacopan as a potential treatment for geographic atrophy.

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On January 4, 2023 bioAffinity Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIAF; BIAFW) reported that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has provided a Notice of Allowance for a patent application titled "Porphyrin Compounds and Compositions Useful for Treating Cancer" for the targeted delivery of novel cancer treatments (Press release, BioAffinity Technologies, JAN 4, 2023, View Source [SID1234625789]). A Notice of Allowance is issued after the USPTO makes a determination that a patent should be granted for the claimed invention. The U.S. patent will issue to the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary OncoSelect and grant protection to 2037.

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"A little more than 1.9 million new cancer cases are expected to have been diagnosed in the United States in 2022," said Maria Zannes, President and Chief Executive Officer of bioAffinity Technologies. "Not surprisingly, the cost of cancer is staggering. National expenditures for cancer care in the United States in 2018 were $150.8 billion. The larger cost is borne by patients who undergo therapies that often lead to toxic treatment-associated side effects. New treatments delivered by more specific targeting agents like porphyrins are needed to improve survival and a survivor’s quality of life. bioAffinity Technologies is committed to bringing these treatments to market."

Research related to the Company’s non-invasive lung cancer diagnostic CyPath Lung led to the discoveries being developed to treat cancer including using porphyrins conjugated with oncological drugs for more targeted delivery with fewer unwanted treatment-associated side effects. Porphyrins, such as the synthetic molecule TCPP used in CyPath Lung, preferentially enter cancer cells and may lead to greater uptake of chemotherapeutics attached to the porphyrin with less impact on healthy cells.

"The selectivity of porphyrins that preferentially bind with cancer cells makes them excellent candidates for drug delivery and diagnostic products," said Dr. William Bauta, bioAffinity Technologies’ Senior Vice President of Therapeutics. "Selective delivery of drugs that kill cancer with little harm to healthy cells helps patients tolerate therapy, leading to more effective treatment that saves lives."

bioAffinity Technologies is advancing its therapeutic assets with the intent to license its products for clinical development. Its subsidiary OncoSelect holds patents to Porphyrin Compounds and Compositions Useful for Treating Cancer in Australia, China and Mexico and pending applications in Canada, the European Patent Office, Hong Kong, India and Japan.

On January 4, 2023 Abbott (NYSE: ABT) will reported its fourth-quarter 2022 financial results on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, before the market opens (Press release, Abbott, JAN 4, 2023, View Source [SID1234625780]).

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The announcement will be followed by a live webcast of the earnings conference call at 8 a.m. Central time (9 a.m. Eastern), and will be accessible through Abbott’s Investor Relations website at www.abbottinvestor.com. An archived edition of the call will be available later that day.

On January 3, 2024 Integrated BioTherapeutic Vaccines reported the company changes its name to AbVacc Inc. (Press release, Integrated Biotherapeutics Vaccines, JAN 3, 2023, View Source [SID1234644418]). The mission of AbVacc is to utilize structure-based design for development of next generation vaccines and immunotherapeutics for treatment of infectious and inflammatory diseases. Building upon 15 years of research under the parent company Integrated BioTherapeutics, AbVacc now has a vibrant pipeline of monoclonal antibodies and engineered vaccines in advanced preclinical with several candidate entering the clinical stage in the next few years. To accomplish its ambitious goals, AbVacc has focused on a public-private funding strategy and partnered with various Government funding agencies, primarily National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and CARB-X as well as private funding sources such as Novo Holdings Repair Impact Fund. Further strategic partnerships include EliteImmune Corp., Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, ViroVax, LLC, University of Texas Medical Branch, Johns Hopkins University, University of Rochester, University of Maryland, and Washington University.

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AbVacc operations will remain at 4 research Court, Suite 310, Rockville, MD.

On January 3, 2023 Blacksmith Medicines reported the company and Forge Therapeutics have signed a definitive merger agreement (Press release, Forge Therapeutics, JAN 3, 2023, View Source [SID1234643527]). This will create a biopharma company dedicated to discovering and developing medicines targeting a large class of proteins called metalloenzymes. The initial focus will be on oncology and infection.

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"We are excited to unveil the merger of Blacksmith and Forge, which we believe will be transformational for both companies. Prospects are very bright for the new Blacksmith, as we are now able to expand our metalloenzyme platform, advance our internal and partnered programs, and create increased value for our shareholders by discovering first-in-class and best-in-class medicines," said Zachary Zimmerman, CEO and co-founder of Blacksmith Medicines.

"Our target strategy is to focus on metalloenzymes of significant unmet need and high pharma interest, targets with validated biology that have been challenging to drug due to chemistry limitations that we can solve with our platform."

The Blacksmith platform has been validated through multiple pharmaceutical partnerships. These include deals with Roche, Eli Lilly, and Basilea, which have the potential to earn more than $800 million in milestone payments plus royalties.

Blacksmith Medicines currently has earned non-dilutive federal awards of up to $25.3 million. This will fully fund its infectious disease programs to the end of phase 1.

Blacksmith Medicines also has emerging precision oncology programs focused on novel synthetic lethality targets involved in the DNA damage response. Blacksmith investors include Evotec A.G., MagnaSci Ventures, MP Healthcare Partners, Alexandria Venture Investments, and Eli Lilly.

About metalloenzymes and the Blacksmith Therapeutics platform
Metalloenzymes utilize a metal ion cofactor in the enzyme active site to perform essential biological functions. This diverse class of targets has historically been difficult to drug due to small molecule chemistry limitations.

The Blacksmith metalloenzyme platform has solved this through a large proprietary fragment library of metal-binding pharmacophores (MBPs); a database containing a full characterization of the metalloenzyme genome including functions, metal cofactors, and associations to disease; and a first-of-its-kind metallo-CRISPR library of custom single guide RNAs.

Blacksmith Medicines also has a metalloenzyme computational toolkit for docking, modeling and structure-based drug design. It also has a blocking intellectual property estate covering bioinorganic, medicinal, and computational chemistry approaches for metalloenzyme-targeted medicines.