The Wellcome Trust Ltd.

Texas Biomed now part of global "100 Days Mission" effort aimed at preventing and quickly containing infectious disease outbreaks through accelerated vaccine development SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed) has entered a global partnership with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). The five-year agreement will see the Institute join CEPI's specialized preclinical network totaling 16 laboratories worldwide. Under the partnership, Texas Biomed will deliver preclinical research and resources to help develop vaccines for reducing global epidemic and pandemic risks. "This is an exciting moment for Texas Biomed as we take a leading role in the development of viable countermeasures for infectious diseases," said Larry Schlesinger, M.D., President/CEO. "This decade has seen a tripling of large outbreaks relative to prior decades and the threat is not going away. Texas Biomed has a vital role to play in addressing this global public health issue and this partnership with CEPI is a major recognition of the quality of our science." CEPI was formed in 2017 after the devastating West African Ebola epidemic that killed 11,000 people. The coalition aims to transform the world's response to the next novel threat by supporting researchers and scientists in producing safe and effective vaccines, among other strategies. It has received support from over 30 national governments and key philanthropic organizations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust. "CEPI is committed to preventing future epidemics and pandemics. We were impressed by Texas Biomed's nimble and forward-leaning approach and we are honored to now be partners. We look forward to collaborating on world-class science together," said Amy Shurtleff, Ph.D., Director, Department of Laboratory Research and Innovations at CEPI. Part of the work undertaken at Texas Biomed will include testing vaccines against CEPI's priority pathogens, such as Lassa fever and Nipah, in preclinical models and generating data to more rapidly assess CEPI-supported vaccine candidates in development. The strategies are at the heart of CEPI's 100 Days Mission, said Texas Biomed Executive Vice President, Cory Hallam, Ph.D., who directs the Institute's Applied Science and Innovation (ASI) unit focused on advancing contract research, innovation and commercialization. "Texas Biomed shares CEPI's goal of enabling the world to be prepared for the next potential pandemic with a new vaccine developed in just 100 days," Hallam said. "It's a bold and inspired approach that draws on the power of a global collaborative network. Our new partnership builds on Texas Biomed and CEPI's complementary strengths and provides a compelling opportunity for our senior scientists and researchers to make a significant contribution to international efforts to combat infectious disease." About Texas Biomedical Research Institute Texas Biomed is a nonprofit research institute focused on infectious diseases. Through basic research, preclinical testing and innovative partnerships, we accelerate diagnostics, therapies and vaccines for the world's deadliest pathogens. Learn more at txbiomed.org. About CEPI CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic and civil organisations. Its mission is to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so they can be accessible to all people in need. CEPI has supported the development of more than 50 vaccine candidates or platform technologies against multiple known high-risk pathogens or a future Disease X. Central to CEPI's pandemic-beating five-year plan for 2022-2026 is the '100 Days Mission' to compress the time taken to develop safe, effective, globally accessible vaccines against new threats to just 100 days. Find out more at SOURCE Texas Biomedical Research Institute WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED

Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute have discovered that a common diabetes medication can slow the growth of precancerous cells in the oesophagus. The findings published in Nature Genetics suggest that metformin could be used to manage squamous oesophageal cancer risk, and also highlight the role of metabolic conditions in accelerating the growth of potentially cancerous cells. Approximately 9,200 new cases of oesophageal cancer are diagnosed in the UK every year and about 20% of these are squamous carcinomas. The team, partly-funded by Cancer Research UK, used experiments in mice, cell cultures and DNA sequencing of human samples to study the evolution of mutations in the oesophagus and focused on the PIK3CA gene, which plays a major role in cell growth and can cause cells to multiply rapidly when altered. The researchers observed that cells with these PIK3CA mutations grow faster than normal cells, and that when treated with metformin, the mutant cells lost their growth advantage, both in mice and in lab-grown cells. They also found that a high-fat diet and type 1 diabetes in mice enhanced the growth of cells with PIK3CA mutations, and human oesophagus sample analysis showed that overweight individuals had more cells with PIK3CA mutations compared to those at a normal weight, suggesting that obesity may increase the risk of oesophageal cancer. Senior author of the study at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Phil Jones, said: “Our findings show how a common, safe medication like metformin might be used in new ways to prevent cancers related to PIK3CA mutations. “This discovery could offer a new tool for cancer prevention, especially in people at higher risk due to metabolic disorders.” Repurposing existing drugs offers a promising strategy for improving cancer outcomes. Just last month, a team of researchers found that a drug currently used to treat breast cancer could help slow the growth of the rare childhood brain tumour diffuse hemispheric glioma. Published in Cancer Cell , the research from the Institute of Cancer Research and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute showed that ribociclib could be a potential new drug to target the disease.

A freshly drawn-up deal will use Quotient’s platform to identify new links between genes and cardiovascular or renal diseases. Flagship Pioneering and Pfizer have added Quotient into their 10-program partnership, inking a deal to discover new targets for two programs in cardiovascular and renal diseases.The deal fits into a larger equation: Back in July 2023, Pfizer and Flagship Pioneering each put down $50 million to build a 10-program pipeline. The Big Pharma said the VC firm and its bioplatform companies could make up to $700 million in biobucks for each successful drug that emerges from the pact. Now, Flagship-founded Quotient will work with Flagship’s drug development arm—dubbed Pioneering Medicines—to spot somatic mutations in genes that change the progression of heart and kidney diseases, according to an Aug. 28 release.“Quotient’s somatic genomics platform explores the extensive genetic diversity within the 30 trillion cells inside our body. This offers an incredibly rich and unchartered territory for drug discovery,” Quotient CEO and co-founder Jacob Rubens, Ph.D., said in the release. Rubens is also an origination partner at Flagship Pioneering, previously helping form Flagship’s Tessera Therapeutics and Sana Biotechnology.  Quotient will use its platform to identify new links between genes and cardiovascular or renal diseases for the freshly drawn-up research programs, Rubens explained.Flagship Pioneering launched the genomics company in 2022 and publicly unveiled the biotech a year later. The young biotech has homebases in both the U.K. and Cambridge, Massachusetts.Born out of research from teams at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in the U.K. and the University of Texas Southwestern, Quotient tapped Sanger Institute founder Peter Campbell, Ph.D., to serve as the biotech’s chief scientific officer earlier this month.Specific financial details of the deal were not disclosed, nor were specific disease indications shared, though Pfizer’s chief scientific officer of internal medicine research, Bill Sessa, Ph.D., said the pharma would keep pushing boundaries in research innovation to address remaining gaps in cardiometabolic care. Quotient is the second publicly named Flagship offshoot unveiled as part of the Big Pharma-VC pact. This June, Pfizer and Flagship Pioneering picked obesity as the first target in the billion-dollar, multiprogram collaboration. The New York pharma giant is now working with Flagship’s ProFound Therapeutics to find new proteins and determine whether they can be used for new obesity therapeutics.The general purpose of the programs is to address unmet needs within Pfizer’s core strategic areas of interest. The Big Pharma can pluck partnerships from Flagship’s ecosystem that currently spans 40 companies. Though Moderna is included in that network, the partnership will more likely involve companies in earlier-stage development, President of Pioneering Medicines and Flagship General Partner Paul Biondi previously told Fierce Biotech.   Editor's note: This article was updated Aug. 28 at 4:45 pm ET to clarify where Quotient is headquartered.