💊 Health Futures #45

Happy Monday 👋

Kura Oncology entered a global partnership with Kyowa Kirin to develop and commercialize its experimental acute leukemia treatment. Kyowa Kirin will pay Kura $300M upfront for licensing rights to ziftomenib, Kura's late-stage treatment for a specific type of advanced leukemia.  Lunit and AstraZeneca partnered to develop AI-based digital pathology solutions for cancer diagnosis and treatment reflecting a growing trend in using AI to support healthcare innovations. Genprex secured an exclusive license agreement with the University of Michigan for additional gene therapy technologies targeting lung cancer. In health funding, C Ray Therapeutics secured over $100M  in Series A+ funding strengthening the position of the company in developing radiopharmaceuticals for targeted cancer treatment.

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HolonIQ’s new Green Skills Map and Workforce section reveal industry-wide sustainability skills and jobs, as well as workforce development initiatives, supporting upskilling for a sustainable economy.

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💊 Drug Production

⚕️ Kura Oncology formed a global partnership with Kyowa Kirin.  The partnership focuses on developing and commercializing ziftomenib, an experimental treatment for acute leukemia. 

🎗️ The Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) announced that Enhertu will remain unavailable through the NHS for advanced breast cancer treatment. AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo failed to reach a cost-effective pricing agreement with NICE for their antibody-drug conjugate, Enhertu.

🧑‍⚕️ Laekna formed a clinical collaboration with Eli Lilly. Through this partnership, both companies will focus on developing an experimental obesity drug, LAE102  that aims to help patients lose weight while preserving muscle.

🌐 AI in Health

🤖 Subtle Medical partnered with 626 to deliver AI-powered software upgrades for MRI machines.  This collaboration allows 626 to offer SubtleMR, a vendor-neutral software, to its clients. SubtleMR can improve MRI efficiency and image quality, enabling healthcare providers to perform scans up to 60% faster with improved diagnostic confidence.

🩺 Lunit and AstraZeneca are collaborating to develop AI-based digital pathology solutions for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Lunit's AI technology will be used to improve the accuracy and efficiency of NSCLC diagnosis. This partnership has the potential to benefit patients by enabling faster and more precise diagnoses, ultimately leading to better treatment outcomes.

🥼 ScreenPoint Medical's Transpara AI decision support system is reducing false-negative cancer diagnoses. The technology assists radiologists in identifying potential cancers earlier and faster. By improving detection accuracy, Transpara has the potential to significantly impact patient outcomes and survival rates.

🧬 Biotechnology

🧪 Genprex secured an exclusive license for new gene therapy technologies from the University of Michigan to treat lung cancer. The licensed technologies aim to improve Genprex’s portfolio of treatments for non-small lung cancer and continued efforts to develop more effective and targeted therapies for lung cancer.

🔬 The FDA considered a faster approval process for Regenxbio's Duchenne gene therapy. This therapy delivers microdystrophin, a protein deficient in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients, and aims to produce at least 10% of normal levels within 3 months.

🏥 Neurogene discontinued its gene therapy program for Batten disease. This initiative follows an earlier announcement this week regarding complications in the Rett syndrome gene therapy trial. Nurogene stated the rarity of the disease and the lack of FDA approval. 

🛠️ Skills and Workforce

With reskilling and upskilling playing a key role in closing workforce gaps, HolonIQ is now tracking these impactful initiatives shaping the health industry. Read on for this week’s insights, and discover more in HolonIQ's latest Skills newsletter.

🦾 Singapore's National Healthcare Group (NHG), in collaboration with the Centre for Healthcare Innovation, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Healthcare Academy. This partnership aims to revolutionize the nation's healthcare workforce by equipping healthcare professionals with essential skills in areas such as artificial intelligence, sustainable healthcare practices, workplace safety, and innovation.

👩‍⚕️ 40,000 workers from the University of California health system have launched a statewide strike, protesting ongoing staffing shortages and rising challenges with housing costs and the cost of living. While UC officials report efforts to increase staffing, the union contends these measures have been insufficient, driving the large turnout.

HolonIQ has also launched the Green Skills Map, an open-source framework initiated for cataloging, evaluating, and contextualizing the different components of the rapidly expanding field of green jobs. This comprehensive taxonomy will serve as a resource for understanding the full spectrum and complexity of green skills required across various sectors, thereby enabling a cohesive approach toward achieving net zero and decarbonizing the global economy. Green Skills Map spans 11 areas, 54 sub-areas, and 243 green skills clusters. A snippet of the map covering four areas has been included above. Explore the full map on greenskills.org.

💰 Deals of the Week

💉 C Ray Therapeutics secured over $100M in Series A+ funding. This significant investment strengthens the position of the company in developing novel radiopharmaceuticals for targeted cancer treatment.

🧬 ATB Therapeutics secured $52M in Series A funding. The funding will allow ATB to expand its platform and accelerate the development of its targeted antibody drugs for oncology and immunology applications.

💊 Vitara Biomedical raised an additional $50M in funding. The funding will help advance Vitara's technology towards a first-in-human clinical trial.

🩹 GenEdit secured $35M in Series B funding. The investment will fuel the company’s efforts to advance gene therapy treatments for autoimmune diseases building on its existing collaborations with global pharmaceuticals like Roche.

🧫 LUUM closed its Series A funding round, reaching a total of $30M. The company intends to use the funds to expand its market reach and launch its next-generation product. 

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