Denise (DeeDee) DeMan

#NEWS: Arcus Biosciences reported positive phase 1 results for casdatifan (AB521), a HIF-2α inhibitor, in patients with advanced #ClearCellKidneyCancer (ccRCC). 🔬 At the 100 mg dose, casdatifan achieved a 35% confirmed response rate, 60% 12-month progression-free survival, and a manageable safety profile (mainly anaemia and hypoxia). Across all doses, median PFS was 12.2 months and ORR 31%. Casdatifan outperformed results seen with existing HIF-2α inhibitors and TKIs. Ongoing phase 3 trials (eVOLVE-RCC02 and PEAK-1) are evaluating its use in earlier treatment settings and in combination with other drugs. Read the full article from #UrologyTimes in the comments below 👇

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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝗱𝗴𝗲 🩺 𝟭𝟵 𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮6 Your bi-weekly snapshot of new technology, fresh funding, and the ones to watch! 𝗖𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗦 & 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗦 ⌚ Encora Therapeutics received FDA clearance for #EncoraXI #wearable for essential tremor ⚡️ Novocure received FDA approval for its #OptunePax electric field therapy for #pancreaticcancer (#TTFields) 👂🏼 Sonorous Neurovascular received FDA BDD for #BosSTENT cerebral venous stent for pulsatile #tinnitus 🩻 Medtronic received FDA clearance for #StealthAXiS #spinenavigation and robotics ♀️ Applied Medical Technology, Inc. (AMT) received #FDAclearance for #ExplantExpress breast implant suction retrieval 🫁 Median Technologies received FDA clearance for #EyonisLCS AI #lungcancer screening 🦠 UV Smart - North America received #FDA clearance for #d60TEE probe #disinfection 🩸 Portal Diabetes, Inc. received FDA BDD for #implantableCGM pump 🫀 Retia Medical received FDA clearance for #ArgosInfinity #cardiovascular intelligence software 🦴 Medtronic received FDA clearance for #Infuse #bonegraft in #TLIF procedures 🫀 ZOLL Medical Corporation received CE Mark for #Zenix cardiac monitor and #defibrillator 👁️ EYE PCR BV received CE Mark for #fixOflex #endocapsular device 🩸 InVera Medical received #CEMark approval for its #veininfusion device 🫀 P&F Products & Features GmbH received CE Mark for #TricValve #structuralheart system 𝗙𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 & 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗦 🤖 VB Spine agreed to acquire Augmedics’ #augmentedreality navigation technology 🖥️ Danaher Corporation agreed to buy Masimo for $10B strengthening #patientmonitoring 👃🏼 Neurent Medical raised $74M Series C for #Neuromark chronic #rhinitis system 🫀 Berlin Heals Holding AG raised $10M funding for #CMIC cardiac #microcurrent therapy for #heartfailure 💧 Exact Imaging raised $10M funding for #prostatecancer detection platform 🦴 Orthofuse raised £2.2M Seed funding for #3Dprinted #orthopedic tech 🖥️ Big Health raised $23.7M Series D for digital therapeutics (#SleepioRX, #DaylightRx) 🩻 OncoRes Medical raised A$27M funding for #EloraQME surgical oncology #imaging 🦷 DentalMonitoring raised $100M Series C for #AI remote #orthodontic monitoring 🤖 Articulus Surgical raised undisclosed Seed funding for interoperable soft-tissue #robotics 🧠 Neupulse raised £3M Seed+ funding for platform for #TouretteSyndrome 🩻 Wellumio raised $7.3M pre-Series A for #PulsedGradientFreeMapping for portable #stroke dx 💤 ProSomnus® Sleep Technologies raised $38M for #CPAP alternative for #sleepapnea 🫁 Synchrony Medical raised $5M for at-home #airway clearance for chronic #respiratorydisease 🫀 Elumn8 Medical (formerly Simpson Interventions) raised $5M Series C for #Acolyte for coronary #chronictotalocclusions 📡 Never miss a beat - follow along for your curated dose of all things #Medtech! #Medtech #ExecutiveSearch #ExecutiveRecruitment #Startups #Healthtech #MedicalDevice #BoardSearch #CEOSearch #TheCuttingEdge

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Founder and CEO of Rarity PBC, Paul Ayoub, PhD, MBA, highlighted the transformative power that #GeneTherapy has had for patients with #ADASCID, a type of severe combined #immunodeficiency. Outcomes like these are priceless, which makes conversations about "return on investment" in #RareDisease treatment development that much harder. If we learned anything today at the #NORDSymposium, it's that striving for innovation, even for ultra-rare conditions, is worth it — for all of us.

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Excited to see Myllia Biotechnology's experience with our multiomics Teton Assay run on Aviti 24. This is an early window into where drug discover is going.

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China-to-West licensing….are we seeing a true structural shift? The Expedition Therapeutics Inc. | Fosun Pharma $645M deal lands just days after Insmed Incorporated’s FDA approval for the first DPP-1 inhibitor, showing how US biotechs are tapping China’s maturing innovation engine for late-stage, de-risked assets in billion-dollar markets. With deal value from China-origin assets up 18× since 2015, the pipeline is scaling fast. ❓❓The real question in my mind is whether the US and EU players will integrate these assets into their core pipelines fast enough to stay competitive or will the innovation loop reverse, with China becoming the net importer? Also, how does the US stay innovative competitive (if that’s even a term!)? #Chinabiotech #Chinainnovation #biotech #biotechdeals

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👋 Come say hello at American Association for Cancer Research 2026 Annual meeting in San Diego. Whether its for basic #research, high-throughput #drugscreening, or clinical #predictions, we are here to help and provide non-destructive #organoid image analysis. Stop by our poster or reach out to us directly! Abraham Lin 📆 Date (time): April 21, 2026 (9a.m. - 12p.m. PT) 📍 Poster Title: Functional assessment of patient drug sensitivity using AI-powered image analysis on patient-derived organoids and MicoOrganoSpheres Session Title: In Vitro Models 2: 2D, 3D, Organoids, and Spheroids Section #28 , Poster Board #14 , Abstract #3220 , Presentation #4865 📆 Date (time): April 21, 2026 (2 - 5p.m. PT) 📍 Poster Title:  Enabling phenotypic high-throughput drug screening with patient-derived organoids Session Title:  Screening and Technology Advances for Probe and Drug Discovery Section #39 , Poster Board #21 , Abstract #2760 , Presentation #6421 #AACR2026 #cancer #AIforhealthcare #personalizedmedicine #oncology #drugdiscovery #precisionmedicine #oncology #NAMs

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Drugging the Undruggable — UNP Leads the Way We’re excited to share that The Venture Collective (TVC) portfolio company Unnatural Products Inc. (UNP) has entered into a research collaboration and licensing agreement with Novartis to develop macrocyclic peptide therapeutics, which includes: 💰 Up to $100M in upfront and pre-IND milestone payments 📈 Up to $1.7B in development, regulatory, and commercial milestones 💊 Tiered royalties on annual net sales up to low double digits The agreement marks the latest in a growing series of high-caliber partnerships for UNP, which now include Novartis, argenx, Merck, and BridgeBio. The aggregate public potential deal value totals $3.5 billion. That scale of repeat partnership activity makes it clear: after decades of slow, incremental progress in macrocyclic drug discovery, a new era is emerging and UNP’s differentiated, AI-enhanced macrocyclic chemistry platform is leading the way to systematically pursue historically “undruggable” targets. As Muneto Mogi of Novartis said, “advances in macrocyclic chemistry are opening entirely new avenues in drug discovery,” and the collaboration will help accelerate innovative therapies toward patients. Congratulations to co-founders Cameron Pye and Joshua Schwochert and the entire UNP team. From foundational research at University of California, Santa Cruz to multiple global pharma collaborations, this trajectory reflects the best of #platformbio #TechBio, matching first principled scientific ambition with disciplined execution. We also want to recognize the UNP Board - William Taranto, Stuart Peterson (ARTIS), Abbas Kazimi, Mert Aktar, Manish Kothari (First Spark Ventures), and TVC's own Nicholas Shekerdemian and Christopher Ghadban - for their leadership and long-term conviction. Read the full press release: https://lnkd.in/gA8Xk37C #TechBio #Macrocycles #AIxBio #BioInnovation #PharmaPartnerships

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🙌 A $7.4 million California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) grant awarded to SSCI expert Stephanie Cherqui, PhD, and team will ready a revolutionary new treatment — a stem cell-based gene therapy for Friedreich’s ataxia — for clinical trial. 🎉 Read more at https://bit.ly/4jw1qiY.

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California's life science corridor, the Seattle biotech cluster, and San Diego's research park ecosystem represent some of the country's most competitive talent markets. Element Staffing has been placing scientific professionals on the West Coast for years, partnering with biotech startups, contract research organizations, and large pharmaceutical manufacturers to deliver bench scientists, QA specialists, and process engineers. Here's how we approach hiring in these high-demand, high-competition markets. https://nsl.ink/gv4E #ParkEcosystemRepresent #CompetitiveTalentMarkets #SeattleBiotechCluster

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Great to see San Diego Business Journal's coverage by Eli Walsh on The Leadership Edge's acquisition of 2Connect Presentation & Communication Training featuring Gaylene Xanthopoulos who is bringing together leadership coaching and communications training to help life sciences executives grow beyond the science. https://bit.ly/4dDFh1i #Biotech #Leadership #LifeSciences #ExecutiveCoaching

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Big things are happening at Halia Therapeutics. We are excited to share that Halia will present final Phase 2 data for ofirnoflast, our first-in-class oral allosteric NEK7 inhibitor, in lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes at EHA2026. This program represents the heart of Halia’s mission: targeting the root inflammatory drivers of disease and translating that biology into meaningful therapies for patients with serious unmet needs. In lower-risk MDS, where many patients struggle with symptomatic anemia and limited options, we believe modulating the NEK7/NLRP3 inflammasome pathway has the potential to open a new therapeutic direction. We are also thrilled to welcome Han Myint, MD, FACP, as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Myint brings deep hematology, oncology, and clinical development expertise at a pivotal time for Halia as we advance ofirnoflast toward later-stage development and continue building a pipeline around inflammation, genetic resilience, and disease modification. These milestones reflect the extraordinary work of the Halia team, our clinical collaborators, and the patients who make this research possible. We are grateful for the opportunity to advance a new class of medicines designed not only to treat disease, but to address the underlying biology that drives it. https://lnkd.in/gBihAKYg #HaliaTherapeutics #Ofirnoflast #MDS #Inflammasome #NEK7 #NLRP3 #Hematology #Biotech #DrugDevelopment #GeneticResilience

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Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are reshaping oncology, but only about 24% of ADCs that reach Phase 3 ultimately succeed, underscoring how complex these therapies really are. As we move toward an integrated, data-driven approach that links real-world #multimodal data (clinical, genomic, transcriptomic, pathology), AI, and patient-derived organoids, the oncology drug development process will see improved target selection, optimized trial enrollment, and closed care gaps post-launch so the right patients actually receive these therapies. Here is a 3 minute read from Andy Moye, PhD @ Tempus AI (a leading AI and multimodal data company) that discusses the utility of a 30-gene RNA expression panel in the context of real world data to VIRTUALLY stratify responders and non-responders to an ADC. https://lnkd.in/gmPFeMzs

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Scientists are making waves against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Recent research from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the University of Washington has developed antibodies aimed at this virus affecting 95% of adults globally. 🌍 Highlights: - Targeting EBV Proteins: These antibodies focus on gp350 and gp42, proteins vital for EBV to invade B cells. - Success in Mice: One antibody notably protected mice from EBV infection. - Boost for Transplants: These antibodies could safeguard immunosuppressed transplant patients from EBV-related issues. This breakthrough not only combats a common virus but also sets the stage for future antibody research, possibly shielding us from other pathogens. #HealthcareInnovation #MedicalResearch #Virology

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Bioscience Wins: Clean Culture, Brain Health, Microbiome & tRNA Triumphs Here’s a sharp roundup of today’s top bioscience breakthroughs: 🔹Nu-Tek BioSciences is making waves with animal-free cell media at the BIO Convention. 🔹MBX Biosciences, Inc. brings precision peptide data to the ADA Scientific Sessions for post-bariatric hypoglycemia. 🔹Enveric Biosciences, Inc. new patent paves the way for non-hallucinogenic psychiatric drugs. 🔹32 Biosciences "Three Squared" secures $6M in funding to drive gut microbiome diagnostics and therapy forward. 🔹Tevard Biosciences appoints a powerhouse CSO to push tRNA-based therapies toward the clinic. Huge congrats to these teams fueling progress across cell therapy, metabolic disease, mental health, microbiome innovation, and genetic medicines. The future of bioscience is brighter because of your work! #Bioscience #Biotech #Innovation #CellCulture #Neuroscience #Microbiome #tRNA #DrugDevelopment #HealthTech

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Radiopharmaceuticals, the next blockbuster frontier in oncology Congratulations to #Atkis Oncology for their successful IPO raising over $300M at a $1B valuation. Lilly's $100M check confirms big pharma's vote of confidence following multiple M&A transactions in the sector by Novartis, BMS, and AstraZeneca. Commercial success is there with Novartis‘ Pluvicto sales already trending $2B. Early clinical success is there with convincing data from Orano Med & AdvanCell at ESMO 2025. New clean & outpatient-friendly alpha therapies with #Astatine211 now promise further adoption of radiopharmaceuticals. Yutian Feng Milton Lönnroth Jeffrey Humphrey, MD Avi Veidman Patricia Zerr, PhD MBA Jean-Marc MENAT 🚀 jean-francois GESTIN Allan Marchington Blaine Robinson C. Ola Landgren, M.D., Ph.D. Stephanie Oestreich, PhD, MPA Stephen Nimer Manmeet Ahluwalia, MD, MBA, FASCO Josh Sharan Romain AfflelouMarc de Garidel Claude Bertrand John F. Heerdink, Jr.

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