Immune Disease Institute, Inc.

Researchers have discovered 18 new species of Enterococcus type bacteria from soil samples collected from all corners of the globe, which may offer new clues to the origins of antibiotic-resistant infections in hospitals. Antibiotic-resistant infection is projected to catch up to cancer as the leading cause of death by 2050, making understanding and limiting the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria a priority worldwide. In a paper published February 28 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a research team co-led by Michael S. Gilmore, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at Mass Eye and Ear, describe the discovery of 18 never-before seen species of bacteria of the Enterococcus type that contain hundreds of new genes -- findings that may offer new clues into antibiotic resistance as scientists hunt for ways to curb these infections. Enterococci are leading causes of multidrug resistant infections, particularly following surgery and in hospitalized patients. The infections can be lethal and contribute to more than $30 billion annually in added health care costs. "Over the past 75 years, antibiotics have saved hundreds of millions of lives and have contributed greatly to the success of all types of surgery," said Gilmore, who also is director of the Infectious Disease Institute at Harvard Medical School. "Over the past 30 years, however, many of the most problematic bacteria have become increasingly resistant to antibiotics and this is now reaching crisis proportions. Our findings may improve understanding of how resistance genes spread to hospital bacteria and threaten human health." Discovered in the 1920's, antibiotics like penicillin are compounds naturally produced by microbes in the soil. Gilmore notes that antibiotic producing microbes thrive in rotting leaves and plant matter on the forest floor and give forest soil its smell. Gilmore and Ashlee Earl, PhD, director of the Bacterial Genomics Group at Broad, assembled an international team of scientists, including elite adventurers, to scour remote corners of the globe for scat, soil and other samples that would likely contain bacteria of the Enterococcus type. The diversity of specimens they collected spanned samples from penguins migrating through sub-Antarctic waters, duiker and elephants from Uganda; insects, bivalves, sea turtles, and wild turkeys from Brazil to the United States; kestrel and vultures from Mongolia; wallaby, swans, and wombats from Australia; and zoo animals and wild birds from Europe. The team's collection efforts had previously led to the discovery of new classes of bacterial toxins and showed that Enterococcus bacteria arose about 425 million years ago when the first animals, ancestors of millipedes and worms, came onto land. They likely dominated the planet for about 50 million years before four-legged animals came ashore. Their most recent collections expanded genus diversity of enterococcal strains by more than 25 percent and in doing so, uncovered more clues, revealing that insects and other invertebrates are likely by far the greatest natural source for enterococci bacteria, including species that are naturally antibiotic resistant. "Until recently, most of what we've understood about the genetics of enterococcus come from those that make us sick, and that's a problem -- like trying to understand darkness without ever seeing the light," said Earl. "Expanding our view to include those from outside of hospitals, with the help of citizen scientists, gave us the contrast we needed to identify how they make people sick in the hospital, and also gives the public the chance to co-own solutions." Gilmore posits that insects have been eating the rotting plant material, and naturally giving themselves a dose of the antibiotics in the process. He hypothesizes that for hundreds of millions of years, bacteria in the guts of these insects like Enterococcus have been exposed to those antibiotics and have become resistant. In the 1940's and '50's, when humans first began taking antibiotics, the resistances were already in the environment and worked their way into the bacteria that cause human infection. "The COVID-19 pandemic revealed that nature contains many infectious risks for humans," said Gilmore. "This study shows that insects and their relatives in nature are a large and uncharacterized reservoir of undiscovered genes in microbes closely related to those that cause some of the most antibiotic resistant infections." Authorship: Julia A. Schwartzman, Francois Lebreton, Rauf Salamzade, Terrance Shea, Melissa J. Martin, Katharina Schaufler, Aysun Urhane, Thomas Abeel, Ilana L.B.C Camargo , Bruna F. Sgardiol, Janira Prichula, Ana Paula Guedes Frazzon, Gonzalo Giribet, Daria Van Tyne , Gregg Treinish, Charles J. Innis, Jaap A. Wagenaar, Ryan M. Whipple Abigail L. Manson, Ashlee M. Earl, and Michael S. Gilmore. Disclosures: The authors declared no competing interests. Funding: This project was supported by the Harvard-wide Program on Antibiotic Resistance, NIH/NIAID grant AI083214 and U19AI110818 to the Broad Institute. Portions of the work were supported by a Research Sabbatical grant to Gilmore from Research to Prevent Blindness to explore the origins of antibiotic resistance. Schwartzman was supported by the NIH Ruth Kirschstein fellowship F32GM121005. Paper cited: Schwartzman, JA et al. "Global diversity of enterococci and description of 18 novel species" PNAS DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2310852121

BOSTON, Feb. 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LAPIX Therapeutics, Inc. (“LAPIX”), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel, orally bioavailable immune system restoration therapies for autoimmune diseases, today announced the appointments of Henry A. McKinnell, Ph.D., and Anthony Gibney to its Board of Directors and Francisco Leon, MD, Ph.D. as a Board Observer. These appointments bring more than five decades of scientific acumen and growth-focused leadership to LAPIX as the company works to transform how medical communities treat and support patients diagnosed with serious and complex autoimmune diseases. “We are thrilled to announce the appointment of our newest board members, whose arrivals mark a pivotal moment for LAPIX, especially as we complete the ongoing Phase I study and move LPX-TI641 towards Phase II,” said Anas M. Fathallah, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of LAPIX. “Dr. McKinnell, Mr. Gibney and Dr. Leon are exceptionally well-equipped to contribute to LAPIX's strategic vision, providing insights that will undoubtedly shape the future trajectory of our company and our pursuit of immune restoration strategies.” Dr. McKinnell is the former Chairman and CEO of Pfizer, Inc., former chairman of Moody’s, and co-founder and past Chairman of the Infectious Disease Institute in Kampala, Uganda. He is a member of the boards of directors of Nexcella and the Science and Technology in Society Forum. He serves as chairman emeritus of the Connecticut Science Center, the Business Roundtable, the Pharmaceutical Research Manufacturers Association, the Food and Drug Law Institute, and the Medical Device Manufacturers Association. He also currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Quris AI and Spire. Dr. McKinnell holds a Bachelor of Commerce in business from the University of British Columbia and MBA and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Bringing over 25 years of life-science and investment banking experience to Lapix, Mr. Gibney has previously held Chief Financial Officer and/or Chief Business Officer positions at Iveric Bio (acquired by Astellas Pharma), FogPharma, and Achillion Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Alexion). His dual expertise in finance and biotech uniquely positions his insights at the intersections of financial strategy and operational expertise. He also served as Managing Director and Co-Head of the Biotechnology Investment Banking Team at Leerink Partners, and lead the East Coast effort at Merrill Lynch as a Managing Director. Mr. Gibney holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and in History from Yale University. Joining the Board as a Board Observer, Dr. Leon will lend his significant expertise in clinical immunology, translational medicine and as a successful drug developer. Dr. Leon is currently the founder and CEO of Tolerance Bio and previously served as the Chief Scientific Officer and cofounder at Provention Bio (acquired by Sanofi), co-founder and CEO of Celimmune (acquired by Amgen) and Vice President & Head, Immunology Translational Medicine J&J/Janssen amongst other endeavors. He has played a pivotal role in the development and success of these organizations and has been responsible for the translational strategies and early clinical development of biologic and small molecule therapies for immune-mediated diseases. His dedication to immunology spans 30 years, culminating in the FDA approval of teplizumab/TZIELD®, the first-ever non-chronic immune resetting agent in T cell autoimmunity. He earned a Ph.D. in Mucosal Immunology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and completed a Specialist program in Clinical Immunology at Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Madrid. He earned a MD from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. "I am honored to welcome new colleagues to the board,” added Dr. Fathallah. "Their considerable and demonstrated capacity to offer strategic guidance to companies poised for growth is an invaluable asset as we collectively navigate the intricate challenges of developing cures for autoimmune diseases." About LAPIX Therapeutics LAPIX Therapeutics Inc. is a Boston, MA-based company in the biopharma sector, focused on developing novel, orally bioavailable immune system restoration therapies, including immune tolerance restoration therapy for autoimmune diseases and immune function restoration therapies for oncology. To learn more, visit www.lapix.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. Contact:Anas M. Fathallah, Ph.D.CEO and Co-Founderinfo@lapixtherapeutics.com

Appointment of Alexandra Joseph, PhD, as Executive Vice President of Biology CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Exo Therapeutics, Inc., a company developing a pipeline of drug candidates that target exosites, unique small-molecule binding pockets that are distal to traditional active sites, thereby reprogramming enzyme activity for precise and robust therapeutic effect, today announced its lead program directed against TBK1, and the appointment of Alexandra Joseph, PhD, as Executive Vice President of Biology. Dr Joseph will be responsible for leading biology, translational and pre-clinical work for Exo’s programs. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: Dr. Alexandra Joseph - Executive Vice President, Biology (Photo: Business Wire) “Exo is excited to have Dr. Joseph join us at this time, given her strong record of delivering multiple therapeutic candidates through clinical trials,” said Dorothy Lou Bailey, Chief Operating Officer and President at Exo. “Her experience and leadership, with particular expertise in autoimmune diseases, will be especially important as we approach identification of a development candidate for our lead program, an exosite-targeted compound that selectively reprograms the activity of TBK1 in the STING pathway that drives pathogenic signaling in diseases such as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), Aicardi-Goutières Syndrome (AGS) and others.” Prior to joining Exo, Dr. Joseph was Vice President of Research at ImmuneID, where she was responsible for building their industry-leading platform for precision therapeutics, resulting in multiple targets and biomarkers being developed for treatments in autoimmune disease. She also previously served as Head of Translational research at Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, where she was responsible for the design and implementation of translational research strategy for the company. Previously, during her 17-year tenure at Sanofi, Dr. Joseph held positions of increasing responsibility, culminating as Head of Scientific Portfolio Management and Operations, where she established and managed the Global Immunology and Inflammation Research Therapeutic Area and oversaw the discovery pipeline that delivered seven clinical candidates. "Exo is on a mission to unlock intractable drug targets and has already developed a unique platform to identify and target exosites, as well as generated a robust pipeline of best- and first-in-class programs," said Alexandra Joseph. "Exo is bringing a new approach to previously undruggable or difficult-to-target indications and I'm excited to join the company at this stage to bring these candidates forward to meaningfully impact patients' lives. The lead program is particularly exciting as it is another strong example of the exosite approach to selectively reprogramming enzyme function, in this case modulating the STING-TBK1 signaling axis while preserving the other necessary activities of TBK1. Historically, active-site inhibitors have not resulted in beneficial effects due to their pleiotropic inhibitory activity while we believe, in contrast, that the TBK1 exosite inhibitor has the promise of mitigating the unwanted effects while providing therapeutic benefit.” "The appointment of Dr. Joseph," added Nagesh Mahanthappa, PhD, Executive Chair, "evidences Exo's commitment to building a leadership team of industry-leading professionals with the breadth and depth of experience to successfully translate our unique scientific insights into therapies that have the potential to make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients with limited treatment options." Dr. Joseph received her PhD in Immunology from Tufts University Graduate School of Biomedical Science and completed her post-doctoral training at the Immune-Mediated Disease Institute at Harvard Medical School. She received a BA in Biology from Santa Clara University in California. Exo intends to declare a development candidate in their lead program later this year and enter the clinic within the next two years. About Exo Therapeutics Exo Therapeutics is a small molecule drug discovery and development company co-founded by Professors David R. Liu, Alan Saghatelian, and Juan Pablo Maianti with a pioneering technology to address intractable pharmaceutical targets. By leveraging the company’s ExoSight™ platform, Exo is developing a deep pipeline of potent drug candidates that bind exosites, distal and unique binding pockets that have the potential to reprogram enzyme activity for precise and robust therapeutic effect. Through this specific and selective approach to challenging targets, the company's team of world-class researchers is unlocking breakthrough therapeutics in oncology, inflammation and a broad range of other diseases. For more information, visit .