Author Archives: admin


Latest HIV Cure Case Is the Most Encouraging One Yet – Gizmodo

Doctors have apparently cured another person of HIV using a bone marrow transplant. Unlike previous cases, however, the patient was cured without needing donated stem cells from someone genetically immune to HIV. This development could change our understanding of how best to treat similar patients in the future, though these transplants still arent a practical solution for most people living with the virus.

The success story is a 60-year-old man from Germany who was diagnosed with HIV in 2009. In 2015, he also became diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a form of blood cancer. Doctors eventually advised that he undergo a bone marrow transplant for his AML, a radical treatment that functionally tries to replace a persons immune system with one belonging to a healthy donor.

Doctors at Charit Universitatsmedizin Berlin performed the mans transplant. Years earlier, in 2007, a team there performed the first bone marrow transplant for cancer that resulted in an HIV cure. At the time, the patient decided to stay anonymous and was nicknamed the Berlin Patient. He later revealed himself as Timothy Ray Brown and remained an HIV/AIDS advocate until his death in 2020 from a recurrence of his leukemia. This latest case has also chosen to go anonymous and has been dubbed the next Berlin Patient.

Brown and most others like him in the years since have received bone marrow from donors with two copies of a particular mutation in their CCR5 gene, which regulates the CCR5 receptor found on white blood cells. The mutation, called CCR5-delta 32, makes immune cells naturally resistant to infection from strains of HIV-1 (the more common type of HIV). By transplanting stem cells containing the mutation to HIV patients, the hope is that you can transfer over that resistance as well, allowing their bodies to permanently eliminate the virus.

Just a small percentage of people carry two copies of the CCR5-delta 32 mutation, however, and Charit doctors were only able to find a compatible donor for their patient who carried one copy. But to everyones surprise, the switch still worked. The patient chose to stop taking his HIV medication in 2018 and tests have continued to show no traces of the virus in his system (he also remains cancer-free). The man is now believed to be the seventh person cured of HIV using stem cells, but the first without needing both copies of the CCR5-delta 32 mutation.

The mans case was presented this week at AIDS 2024, the 25th International AIDS Conference.

A healthy person has many wishes, a sick person only one, said the next Berlin Patient in astatement released by the International AIDS Society, which hosts the conference.

At this point, its not clear exactly how the next Berlin Patient was able to clear his HIV completely. People with only one copy of the CCR5-delta 32 mutation can still get infected by HIV, though it does seem to reduce the odds of catching it. So its possible that even one copy is enough to help eliminate its presence in someone already infected. But its also possible that simply flushing away an HIV-infected persons immune system and replacing it with a new one, regardless of whether the CCR5-delta 32 mutation is around, can do the same. That said, other HIV patients who have received stem cell transplants from non-CCR5-delta 32 donors have seen their infections rebound within months, so other factors might be important to a cure, such as how quickly the donated immune system takes over.

Stem cell transplants are a last resort treatment for conditions like leukemia, due to their risky, even potentially life-threatening side effects. And these days most people with HIV can keep the virus in check with antiretrovirals, to the point of no longer being contagious to others. So these transplants will never become a widely used cure for HIV. But the lessons learned from these patients could help scientists develop more practical cures for HIV or help patients who need stem cell transplants for other reasons.

The next Berlin Patients experience suggests that we can broaden the donor pool for these kinds of cases, although stem cell transplantation is only used in people who have another illness, such as leukemia, said Sharon Lewin, president of the International AIDS Society, in a statement. This is also promising for future HIV cure strategies based on gene therapy because it suggests that we dont have to eliminate every single piece of CCR5 to achieve remission.

Visit link:
Latest HIV Cure Case Is the Most Encouraging One Yet - Gizmodo

Abeona Therapeutics and Beacon Therapeutics Announce Non-Exclusive Agreement for Beacon to Evaluate Therapeutic Potential of Abeona’s Patented AAV204…

CLEVELAND and LONDON, July 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Abeona Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: ABEO), a cell and gene therapy company with proprietary adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based capsids, and Beacon Therapeutics, an ophthalmic gene therapy company and Syncona portfolio company, today announced an agreement by which Beacon will evaluate Abeona's patented AAV204 capsid for the development and commercialization of potential gene therapies for select ophthalmology indications.

Follow this link:
Abeona Therapeutics and Beacon Therapeutics Announce Non-Exclusive Agreement for Beacon to Evaluate Therapeutic Potential of Abeona's Patented AAV204...

Rentschler Biopharma Announces New State-of-the-Art Production Line in Massachusetts is Fully Operational

LAUPHEIM, Germany and MILFORD, Mass., July 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rentschler Biopharma SE, a leading global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for biopharmaceuticals, including advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), today announced that the company’s new state-of-the-art production line, formerly known as the Rentschler Biopharma Manufacturing Center (RBMC), in Milford, MA in the U.S. is now fully operational. The company has a major project underway at the new line, with several additional projects in the pipeline, and continues to welcome new projects and clients.

See more here:
Rentschler Biopharma Announces New State-of-the-Art Production Line in Massachusetts is Fully Operational

Entero Therapeutics Announces Exercise of Warrants and Issuance of New Warrants in a Private Placement for $1.9 Million Gross Proceeds

BOCA RATON, Fla., July 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Entero Therapeutics, Inc. (“Entero” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: ENTO), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of targeted, non-systemic therapies for gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, today announced it has entered into agreements with certain holders of its existing warrants exercisable for 1,762,674 shares of its common stock, in the aggregate, to exercise their warrants at a reduced exercise price of $1.09 per share, in exchange for new warrants as described below. The aggregate gross proceeds from the exercise of the existing warrants is expected to total approximately $1,921,315, before deducting financial advisory fees. The reduction in the exercise price of the existing warrants and the issuance of the new warrants was structured as an at-market transaction under Nasdaq rules.

Read more:
Entero Therapeutics Announces Exercise of Warrants and Issuance of New Warrants in a Private Placement for $1.9 Million Gross Proceeds

Acumen Pharmaceuticals to Present Patient Experience and Biomarker Insights from Phase 1 INTERCEPT-AD Study at the Alzheimer’s Association…

NEWTON, Mass., July 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Acumen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ABOS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a novel therapeutic that targets toxic soluble amyloid beta oligomers (A?Os) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), today announced that the Company will present patient experience and biomarker data from its Phase 1 INTERCEPT-AD study of sabirnetug (ACU193) at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC®) 2024 taking place in Philadelphia and online from July 28 – Aug. 1, 2024. The posters expand upon biomarker data associated with sabirnetug, methods for detecting levels of sabirnetug in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and provide insights on patients’ experiences in the INTERCEPT-AD study to inform future clinical trial considerations for sabirnetug.

Read more here:
Acumen Pharmaceuticals to Present Patient Experience and Biomarker Insights from Phase 1 INTERCEPT-AD Study at the Alzheimer’s Association...

Lexeo Therapeutics Announces Investor Webcast to Report Interim Phase 1/2 Clinical Data of LX2006 for the Treatment of Friedreich Ataxia…

NEW YORK, July 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lexeo Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: LXEO), a clinical stage genetic medicine company dedicated to pioneering treatments for genetically defined cardiovascular diseases and APOE4-associated Alzheimer’s disease, today announced that the company will conduct an investor webcast on Monday, July 15, 2024, at 8:00 AM ET to provide an interim clinical data update on LX2006, an AAVrh10.hFXN gene therapy for the treatment of Friedreich ataxia (FA) cardiomyopathy. The presentation will include an overview of the natural history of FA cardiomyopathy and summary of clinically meaningful endpoints, interim data from Lexeo’s ongoing SUNRISE-FA Phase 1/2 clinical trial (NCT05445323) and the ongoing Weill Cornell Medicine investigator-initiated trial (NCT05302271), as well as an overview of program next steps.

Here is the original post:
Lexeo Therapeutics Announces Investor Webcast to Report Interim Phase 1/2 Clinical Data of LX2006 for the Treatment of Friedreich Ataxia...

Fortrea Appoints Robert Parks as Chief Accounting Officer

DURHAM, N.C., July 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fortrea (Nasdaq: FTRE), a leading global contract research organization (CRO), today announced that Robert “Bobby” Parks has been appointed as chief accounting officer (CAO), responsible for Fortrea’s accounting function, including financial reporting, risk, controls and compliance in accordance with applicable standards, laws and regulations.

More here:
Fortrea Appoints Robert Parks as Chief Accounting Officer