LimmaTech Biologics AG

GSK will work with Bharat to design the phase 3 trial.\n GSK has licensed its shigella vaccine candidate to Bharat Biotech. The Big Pharma, which has vowed to help Bharat with trial design and fundraising, framed the deal as a way to get the vaccine to patients in low- and middle-income countries where the pathogen is a health threat.Shigella, a type of bacteria, is a leading cause of death from diarrhea. While antibiotics are available, the bacteria is estimated to be responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of children under 5 years of age in low- and middle-income countries every year. The recent rise of strains that are resistant to many antibiotics has ratcheted up the need for a vaccine.GSK developed altSonflex1-2-3 to address the unmet need. Phase 1 and interim phase 2 data met GSK’s immunogenicity success criteria, the London-based drugmaker said. Yet, GSK has decided to hand off to India’s Bharat for the phase 3 trial.Thomas Breuer, chief global health officer at GSK, said in a statement that Bharat’s “expertise in developing and supplying vaccines for infectious diseases, especially as a trusted supplier to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and UNICEF, positions them to further advance this important work.” GSK licensed its malaria vaccine, RTS,S, to Bharat in 2021. After the shigella technology transfer, GSK will work with Bharat to design the phase 3 trial and support its partner’s search for external funding. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation supported GSK’s clinical development of the malaria vaccine RTS,S.GSK has taken steps to keep the cost of making the vaccine low. The candidate uses GMMA technology, a platform that repurposes vesicles from bacteria to deliver antigens. One study found that a 500L fermenter could make 100 million doses of a GMMA vaccine a year for $1 each.The deal marks the second time in two years that GSK has offloaded a shigella vaccine candidate. In 2023, the drugmaker returned the rights to another vaccine to LimmaTech Biologics. LimmaTech went on to license the candidate to Valneva, which is now racing GSK and Bharat to market. 

GlycoEra’s oversubscribed series B was led by new investor Novo Holdings.\n It’s GlycoEra’s time to shine. The Swiss biotech has closed a series B fundraise clocking in at $130 million, with the funds set to support clinical trials for the company’s lead autoimmune protein degrader later this year.The oversubscribed round was led by new investor Novo Holdings with participation from existing investors Sofinnova Partners, 5AM Ventures, Roche Ventures, Bristol Myers Squibb and others, GlycoEra announced in a May 27 release.The cash will primarily go toward initiating clinical trials for GE8820, a bispecific molecule designed to destroy IgG4 autoantibodies. IgG4s are antibodies that can cause numerous autoimmune diseases when they go rogue and begin targeting the patient’s own body, such as pemphigus, muscle-specific kinase myasthenia gravis, primary membranous nephropathy and autoimmune encephalitis, according to the company.“Our lead program, which has demonstrated deep and rapid IgG4 degradation preclinically, presents an opportunity to deliver transformative therapies to patients suffering from multiple autoimmune diseases,” GlycoEra President and CEO Ganesh Kaundinya, Ph.D., said in the release.  GlycoEra also plans to use the new cash to bring a second program into the clinic and further develop the biotech’s pipeline of extracellular degraders in immunology and other indications. The Massachusetts- and Switzerland-based company has four programs in development for undisclosed indications, according to its website. GlycoEra was spun out of LimmaTech in late 2020, which was itself spun out of specialist vaccine company GlycoVaxyn after it was acquired by GSK in February 2015. GlycoEra raised a $49 million series A at the time of its launch, with GlycoVaxyn and LimmaTech partaking in the round.The biotech\'s approach is to use degraders that bind to disease-causing proteins, like IgG4, that are circulating in the body outside of cells. GlycoEra’s molecules are built to haul offending proteins off to the liver, where they are absorbed into hepatocytes by glycan receptors and digested.

A biotechnology startup developing drugs designed to eliminate troublesome proteins found outside of cells has raised $130 million to start its first clinical trial.The startup, GlycoEra, will use the Series B funds to generate initial clinical data for its lead program, an immune disease treatment dubbed GE8820. It intends to bring a second immune drug into human testing as well.GlycoEra views GE8820 as having the type of broad potential that could make it a pipeline in a product, said company president and CEO Ganesh Kaundinya. The drug targets IgG4, a circulating antibody that can be protective against allergies, but malfunctions and attacks the bodys own tissues in many autoimmune conditions, among them the skin disorder pemphigus and the kidney condition primary membranous nephropathy.GE8820 is a dual-acting drug that coaxes the body into destroying this defective IgG4.One part of the molecule binds to the antibody and drags it to the liver. The other part then latches onto a receptor that absorbs IgG4 into cells, where its trashed by an internal protein-disposal system.According to GlycoEra, preclinical testing has shown the approach can remove malfunctioning IgG4 antibodies with the type of precision not seen with other approaches. By doing so, GE8820 may avoid the broadly immunosuppressive effects of other autoimmune medicines. It may also ease the burden on the healthcare system, Kaundinya said.Patients typically get treated, they get better, they are fine, and then they come back to that relapse, Kaundinya said. Our approach not only enables the patients to live better lives, it also overall contributes to better healthcare economics across the board.Ganesh Kaundinya is the president and CEO of GlycoEra.Permission granted by GlycoEraGlycoErahas publicly disclosed three other programs behind GE8820, but hasnt specified which diseases theyre targeting. The company could submit a request to begin trials for its second drug in 2026, according to its website.Novo Holdings led GlycoEras Series B round, which involved the venture arms of Roche and Bristol Myers Squibb, Sofinnova Partners and several other firms.What really stood out with GlycoEra is that you had a use case here where, in autoimmune disease, there's limited competition, a high amount of medical need and the biological rationale is really strong, said Novo Holdings partner Max Klement. As we see the autoimmune disease space evolve, precision medicine makers such as GlycoEra are going to come to the forefront.GlycoErais named after glycosylation, the process by which sugar chains are attached to proteins. The company is headquartered in Wdenswil, Switzerland and has a U.S. footprint in Newton, Massachusetts. It was spun out of Swiss biotech LimmaTechBiologics in January 2021, and raised approximately $49 million in Series A funding that November.The companys latest round is further evidence of continued interest in so-called protein degraders, which offer a way of getting to proteins traditional drugmaking methods cant reach. Research into protein degradation has taken off since the turn of the century, yielding an array of companies using different methods to destroy harmful proteins.Many of these companies are focused on protein targets inside of cells. GlycoEra is among those zeroing in on so-called extracellular proteins outside of cells or on their membranes. Fellow startups EpiBiologicsand Lycia Therapeuticsare as well. '