💊 Health Futures #51

Happy Monday 👋

Samsung Biologics extended its partnership with LegoChem Biosciences to provide antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) services. The partnership reflects a growing trend in the biotech industry towards collaborative efforts in ADC development. NHS Lothian in Scotland and introduced Flok Health to provide personalized treatment to patients across the region. Flok Health uses video footage of human physiotherapists to simulate responsive video consultations. AbbVie and Denali Therapeutics reported that the respective drugs for ALS did not achieve primary efficacy endpoints in recent clinical trials. In health funding, Hologic completed its $350M acquisition of Gynesonics, signaling its continued focus on broadening women's health solutions following its earlier purchase of Endomagnetics.

What's new?

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

🩹 Samsung Biologics and LegoChem Biosciences expanded their collaboration to advance the development of ADC. This collaboration aims to leverage Samsung Biologics' extensive capabilities in ADC development and manufacturing, utilizing its proficiency in antibody development and drug substance manufacturing services.

💾 PhenoVista Biosciences partners with NETRI to enhance organ-on-chip services for drug development. The partnership combines PhenoVista's expertise in developing high-content assays with NETRI's cell-culture technologies to provide more relevant and functional assays. 

💉The FDA required GSK's and Pfizer's RSV vaccines to warn about a potential link to Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).  GSK and Pfizer included warnings on their RSV vaccines, Arexvy and Abrysvo highlighting a possible risk of GBS, a rare neurological disorder.

🌐 AI in Health

🤖 NHS Lothian introduced an AI-powered physiotherapy clinic pilot for patients. The launch of the AI-driven physiotherapy clinic, Flok Health is accessible to nearly one million patients across the region in Scotland.

🧪 The FDA proposed a framework to enhance the credibility of AI models used in drug and biological product submissions. The FDA issued draft guidance to provide recommendations on the use of AI intended to support regulatory decisions about a drug or biological product's safety, effectiveness, or quality.

🧠 South Korea approved its first AI-based software for diagnosing depression. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in South Korea approved ACRYL-D01, an AI-powered software developed by Acryl, designed to assist in diagnosing depression by analyzing patient interviews to assess the likelihood of clinical depression. 

🧬 Biotechnology

🔬 ALS drugs developed by Denali Therapeutics and Calico Life Sciences did not achieve their endpoints in the clinical trial. The failures underscore the complexity of ALS and the need for continued research to identify viable treatment strategies.

🩺 Candid Therapeutics secured exclusive global rights to a preclinical trispecific T-cell engager from WuXi Biologics in a $925M deal. The partnership underscores the increasing interest in T-cell engager therapies and highlights the strategic collaborations between biotech companies to advance innovative treatments.

🚚 MAIA Biotechnology entered into a clinical supply agreement with BeiGene. The partnership allows to evaluate the efficacy of THIO, its telomere-targeting anticancer agent, in combination with BeiGene's immune checkpoint inhibitor, tislelizumab, across three cancer indications.

🛠️ 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.

👩‍⚕️ The Dharavi Social Mission launched its first Resource Centre in India. This initiative is aimed at enhancing community welfare. Offering services in education, health, employment, and skill development, the initiative also seeks to create 3,000 jobs for local residents, providing vital resources and opportunities for economic growth in Dharavi.

📱 ETH Zurich students have launched a specialized healthcare job platform in Switzerland, PraxTor, aimed at addressing the growing talent shortage in the medical sector. The platform, designed with expertise offers a transparent, user-friendly environment for healthcare professionals at all levels. PraxTor aims to simplify and enhance the hiring process for both employers and job seekers in the medical field. Their primary objective is to address the increasing talent shortage in hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities nationwide.

🚑 Manipal Hospitals has launched a "Salute the Real Heroes" initiative to recognize the vital role of ambulance drivers in the healthcare system. The initiative, organized in observance of World Ambulance Day, aims to provide training in critical life-saving techniques like Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and the importance of using essential diagnostic equipment. 

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

⚕️ Hologic acquired Gynesonics for $350M enhancing its portfolio of minimally invasive women’s health solutions.

💊 Immedica Pharma acquired Marinus Pharmaceuticals for $151M aiming to enhance its rare disease portfolio with the addition of ZTALMY, an oral suspension for treating seizures associated with CDKL5 deficiency disorder (CDD) in patients aged two years and older.

🩺 Evergreen Nephrology secured $130M in funding to expand access to value-based kidney care.

🏥 FIRE1 raised $120M in funding. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and development efforts.

🔬 Orbis Medicines raised $92M in a Series A funding round. The funds will support the development of Orbis' pipeline of oral macrocycle drugs called 'nCycles'.

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Thank you for reading. Have a great week ahead!
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