Monthly Archives: July 2020

Immunology

Harpoon Therapeutics Announces Changes to Board of Directors – BioSpace

Joanne Viney, Ph.D., brings expertise as an immunologist and veteran biotech executive to the board

Drs. Luke Evnin and Patrick Baeuerle step down from the Harpoon board

Dr. Baeuerle remains as a scientific advisor to the company

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., July 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Harpoon Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HARP), a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing a novel class of T cell engagers, today announced the appointment of veteran biotech executive Joanne Viney, Ph.D., to its board of directors as an independent board member. Current board members, Luke Evnin, Ph.D, and Patrick Baeuerle, Ph.D., will be stepping down from the board. Following these changes, Harpoons board will be composed of nine directors.

Jo is an accomplished executive with an impressive track record of scientific achievement and drug development, said Jerry McMahon, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Harpoon Therapeutics. Her expertise as an immunologist will be helpful to the company as we continue to advance our TriTACT cell engager platform.

I am excited to join the board of Harpoon and am looking forward to contributing to the companys immuno-oncology efforts and impacting the lives of people with cancer, said Dr. Viney.

Dr. Viney is an entrepreneurial scientist and experienced biotech executive with deep autoimmune and inflammatory disease expertise. Dr. Viney currently serves as President, CSO and Co-founder of Pandion Therapeutics, a privately held startup drug discovery and development company focused on developing modular biologics for regulating autoimmunity and inflammatory disease. Previously, Dr. Viney worked at Biogen where she began as Vice President, Immunology Research and was responsible for building and advancing the companys immunology portfolio before moving on to become Senior Vice President, Drug Discovery and a member of the senior R&D leadership team. Previous roles include Director of Inflammation Research at Amgen as well as Director, Department of Autoimmunity and Inflammation at Immunex. She received a Ph.D. in immunology from the University of London, St. Bartholomews Hospital Medical School and a B.Sc. in biophysical science from the University of East London. Dr. Viney is a member of the Board of Directors of Finch Therapeutics and Quench Bio, and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for HotSpot Therapeutics.

In addition, I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to Patrick Baeuerle and Luke Evnin, who were instrumental in founding Harpoon in 2015, for their years of service, dedication, impactful contributions, and valuable insights that both of them have brought to Harpoon, said Jerry McMahon.

In the relatively short time since Harpoon was launched, the company has created a significant clinical pipeline of products that have the potential to impact human diseases, and I am proud to leave the Harpoon board in capable hands to execute against the ambitious vision for the company and to deliver value to itsstakeholders, said Luke Evnin, Ph.D., Founder and Managing Director of MPM Capital.

While I am leaving the Harpoon board, I am pleased to continue to advise the company on scientific matters as the company executes its founding mission to bring T cell engagers to cancer patients with solid tumor malignancies, said Patrick Baeuerle, Ph.D., Executive Partner at MPM Capital and CSO of Cullinan Oncology.

About Harpoon Therapeutics

Harpoon Therapeutics is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing a novel class of T cell engagers that harness the power of the bodys immune system to treat patients suffering from cancer and other diseases. T cell engagers are engineered proteins that direct a patients own T cells to kill target cells that express specific proteins, or antigens, carried by the target cells. Using its proprietary Tri-specific T cell Activating Construct (TriTAC) platform, Harpoon is developing a pipeline of novel TriTACs initially focused on the treatment of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. HPN424 targets PSMA and is in a Phase 1 trial for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. HPN536 targets mesothelin and is in a Phase 1/2a trial for cancers expressing mesothelin, initially focused on ovarian and pancreatic cancers. HPN217 targets BCMA and is in a Phase 1/2 trial for relapsed, refractory multiple myeloma. HPN328 targets DLL3 and Harpoon plans to initiate a Phase 1/2a trial in the second half of 2020. For additional information about Harpoon Therapeutics, please visit http://www.harpoontx.com.

Cautionary Note on Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as may, will, expect, plan, anticipate, target, estimate, intend and similar expressions (as well as other words or expressions referencing future events, conditions or circumstances) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Harpoon Therapeutics expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release. Each of these forward-looking statements involves risks and uncertainties that could cause Harpoon Therapeutics clinical development programs, future results or performance to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements about the timing of clinical trials. Many factors may cause differences between current expectations and actual results, including unexpected safety or efficacy data observed during clinical studies, clinical trial site activation or enrollment rates that are lower than expected, unanticipated or greater than anticipated impacts or delays due to COVID-19, changes in expected or existing competition, changes in the regulatory environment, the uncertainties and timing of the regulatory approval process, and unexpected litigation or other disputes. Other factors that may cause Harpoon Therapeutics actual results to differ from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements in this press release are discussed in Harpoon Therapeutics filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Risk Factors sections contained therein. Except as required by law, Harpoon Therapeutics assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in expectations, even as new information becomes available.

Contacts:

Harpoon Therapeutics, Inc.Georgia ErbezChief Financial Officer650-443-7400media@harpoontx.com

Westwicke ICRRobert H. UhlManaging Director858-356-5932robert.uhl@westwicke.com

Read more here:
Harpoon Therapeutics Announces Changes to Board of Directors - BioSpace

Immunology

Mark Wahlberg Health ‘WTF Moment’ Is One Every Man Can Learn From – DMARGE

Mark Wahlberg has been a fitness icon since the early 90s. The 49-year-old actor, restaurateur and former rapper has always had an incredible rig, and keeps in tip-top shape through a frankly ridiculous daily routine including a pre-dawn workout and cryotherapy.

Wahlberg owns a stake in Australian international fitness phenomenon F45, and even produced some (now cringy) workout videos in the 90s during his Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch days. In short? Hes afitness inspiration for men the world over, whod like to emulate his remarkable build and youthful vigour.

But his latest fitness escapade, a recent trip to an immunologist, perhaps shouldnt be so quickly emulated.

The big Boston boy posted a photo of his (huge) back covered in welts from an allergy sensitivity test, also called a scratch test. For those who are unfamiliar, sensitivity or tolerance tests involve having your skin pricked with a variety of different, common allergens in order to diagnose potential allergies or intolerances.

Wahlbergs comment is obviously a joke, but allergy tests can be scary (and a pain in the arse). Getting treated like a corkboard and getting a nasty rash to boot? Its hardly the kind of thing youd do just for kicks.

Fellow actor (and Hollywood heartthrob) Chris Pratt saw the funny side too.

Im no doctor, but based on the inflammation near the puncture marks it looks like youre allergic to getting poked by needles, Pratt commented on the Instagram post.

Marks nephew Jeff joined in on the fun, commenting what if u found out u were allergic to wine.

All jokes aside, Wahlbergs allergy experiment might have done him more harm than good.

DMARGE spoke to A/Prof Sheryl van Nunen, Senior Staff Specialist in the Department of Clinical Immunology and Allergy at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Sydney. As an internationally recognised authority on allergies and clinical immunology, she warns that sensitivity tests can sometimes return false positives.

While it is possible to develop allergies later in life, its more common among kids or the elderly.

Youre likely to return a positive reaction towards something, but that doesnt mean that you have a serious allergy. Whatever you do, make sure your testing is factually and clinically based. Different testing regimes pick up different things, too, she explains.

In short? Just because Wahlbergs back looks bad, doesnt mean he necessarily has a bad allergy, and certainly doesnt mean you need to run off and get an allergy test.

Because strong allergies are so uncommon, its unlikely that cutting out a food or allergen you have a sensitivity to isnt going to miraculously improve your health. So keep that cat around and keep eating prawns (unless have an anaphylactic reaction, in which case, uh, dont).

Prof van Nunen reveals that the most common allergy in Australia is hayfever, 74% of which is caused by dust mites.

Australias climate makes it easy for dust mites to proliferate they thrive in warm conditions. Additionally, dust mites are more prevalent on the coast, as they like humidity. Essentially, good weather equals more dust mites.

Food allergies affect around 2% of Australian adults, with the most common being egg, milk, nuts, sesame, soy, fish, shellfish, and wheat allergies, according to the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy.

See more here:
Mark Wahlberg Health 'WTF Moment' Is One Every Man Can Learn From - DMARGE

Immunology

Spanish immunity expert on coronavirus: Those who have tested positive for antibodies are protected – EL PAS in English

Six months after the coronavirus began to spread across the world, there is still little understanding of how the human body responds to the infection. Knowing whether or not a person is immune to Covid-19 after recovering from the disease, and for how long, and why there are some people who do not contract the virus even though they are exposed to it and have no immunity, are some of the main questions immunologists are trying to answer.

Resolving these questions would reveal whether or not it would make sense to create immunity passports for the coronavirus, and shed light on what part of the population is at greatest risk to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Manel Juan, the head of the immunology department of the CBD-Clnic Hospital in Barcelona, is one of the researchers trying to solve these issues. This expert is currently coordinating a project between several medical centers in Europe to find out what happens in the immunological system of coronavirus patients when they have an excessive response to the virus (which is one of the ways that Covid-19 kills), and to create more accurate diagnostic tests. In some cases, current tests for Covid-19 fail to detect antibodies even though a person has recovered from the disease, or may even have developed immunity through exposure to other kinds of coronavirus that produce nothing more than cold-like symptoms.

Question. Do the current antibody tests allow us to know if we are immune to a new contagion?

Answer. The determining factor to know whether or not there is immunity are T-cells, which are the ones that offer protection. But the type of test needed to detect them is very complex, takes too long and is not practical. Thats why a test is done with a subrogated marker, which are the antibodies. If you are positive for IgG antibodies [the most common antibody in fighting bacterial and viral infections], we know that there has been a response by T-cells. Its all connected.

Q. If a person tests positive for Covid-19 antibodies, can they be considered protected? Or does it depend on their antibody levels?

A. Antibody levels are an approximation. It is a mistake to think of them as an absolute figure in a diagnosis. You can have low levels and this may be enough to know that the immune system is working. Saying that if you have more antibodies you will have more immunity, or longer-lasting immunity, is incorrect. Antibodies are not the only element that is immunizing and protecting us in the future. You can have a lot of antibodies yet immunity can last for a shorter period of time, and you can have practically none and it can last a long time. [...] Antibodies are not a real marker of immunity.

We know that patients who have had SARS, which is the most similar to Covid-19, have maintained antibodies for at least one or two years

Q. Does it make sense to create an immunity passport that offers a guarantee that a person is immune?

A. The passport makes sense from the point of view of knowing whether or not a person is immune, but the consequences of using this passport are complex. In the workplace, the existence of this passport could involve discrimination based on the presence or not of antibodies. Whats more, a person with a negative antibody test could also be protected. This is more of a political and social debate, even one for the unions.

Q. Is it possible for a person who tests positive for antibodies to contract the virus again or transmit it?

A. There have been millions of cases in the world and a clear reinfection due to a new entry of the virus once there were antibodies has not been detected. In cases where there was doubt as to whether this had happened, it was demonstrated that it was a reactivation of the same virus, which at that time, the immune system had not been able to eliminate sufficiently for it to not be detected by a PCR lab test. At any rate, among the millions of cases, there may be one who despite having the virus is not able to maintain protective immunity and avoid reinfection.

Q. Its also been suggested that a person with an asymptomatic infection will have a lower immunological response and could be reinfected, although with a less severe case. Is this something you rule out?

A. It has not been ruled out, but I believe that during the pandemic we have often forgotten the positive data that exists, or we have opted for the most negative possibility if there was still no data. This is not very scientific, although many scientists have argued this way. Researchers need data to affirm that this virus will last a long time or that a specific infection is protective or not. Until this is demonstrated, it is not possible to know. But science is also based on comparisons of similar situations. What we know now is that in patients who have had SARS, which is the most similar thing [to Covid-19] that we know of, even those who have not experienced symptoms, have maintained antibodies for at least one or two years.

A clear reinfection due to a new entry of the virus once there were antibodies has not been detected

Q. Your message is more positive than what is normally heard about the coronavirus.

A. I think that those who have transmitted the most negative version have based their views more on making sure that no one can later tell them but you said that than on actual science. Science is centered on the analysis of data, which is very often similar, because you never have 100% of biological figures. But we have enough information on viral infections, even on very similar viruses like SARS, which makes me think the way I do. We have to say that we will never know whether protection lasts one year until a year has passed, but all the data, for now, suggests that this is the case. [Spanish scientist and politician] Eduard Punset used to say that until proven otherwise, he would not die. In the end, he died. Looking around us everyone dies, so the most scientific thing to say is that everyone will die one day. This is similar. In biology, for now, what we know is that those who have antibodies are protected.

Q. If someone tested positive for antibodies two months ago, but negative today, would you say that person has lost their immunity?

A. You have to consider that they are immune, you cant worry about that. If they have generated IgG antibodies it is because there is a response from T-cells. It is the same thing that happens with vaccines. Vaccines work, although if you look later at the antibodies, you may not have them, but you are still protected, sometimes for five or 10 years. You dont keep measuring whether your antibody count has dropped. It doesnt work that way.

English version by Melissa Kitson.

Follow this link:
Spanish immunity expert on coronavirus: Those who have tested positive for antibodies are protected - EL PAS in English

Immunology

SARS-CoV-2 Immunity Likely To Be Higher Than Antibody Testing Has Shown – Technology Networks

A recent preprint study published in bioRxiv, suggests that many people who contract SARS-CoV-2 but have mild or no clinical signs still develop so-called T-cell-mediated immunity to the virus, even in the absence of a positive antibody test. The researchers conclude that this is likely to mean that public immunity is probably higher than antibody testing has so far suggested.The multi-centered team based at the Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital performed immunological analyses on over 200 people, including unexposed individuals as well as exposed family members and individuals with acute or convalescent COVID-19. From this they mapped the functional and phenotypic landscape of SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses.

T cells are an important subset of our immune cells, pivotal in the immune systems ability to recognize and destroy virus-infected cells in our bodies and mount an immune response on re-exposure to a previously encountered infection. Cytotoxic T cells are essential in destroying virus-infected cells, whilst a phenotypically distinct group of T cells, sometimes called memory T cells, are important in the development of long-term immunity.

In a University press release, Marcus Buggert, Assistant Professor at the Center for Infectious Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, and one of the papers main authors commented, Advanced analyses have now enabled us to map in detail the T-cell response during and after a COVID-19 infection. Our results indicate that roughly twice as many people have developed T-cell immunity compared with those who we can detect antibodies in.

The team showed that even in the absence of a detectable antibody response, a robust memory T cell response could be measured in many individuals, akin to the response seen following vaccination against other viral infections.

Professor Danny Altmann, British Society for Immunology spokesperson and Professor of Immunology at Imperial College London, said, Among the many studies of cellular (T cell) immunity to SARS-CoV-2 that have appeared in the past few months, this is one of the most robust, impressive and thorough in the approaches used. It adds to the growing body of evidence that many people who were antibody-negative actually have a specific immune response as measured in T-cell assays, confirming that antibody testing alone under-estimates immunity.

Whilst this could be good news for public health, T-cell testing is less straight-forward than antibody detection, and so may be less accessible for mass testing endeavors.

Altmann continued, The big unknown for the moment is which parameters of immunity offer the most faithful indicator of true, protective immunity from future infection. So far, there is a sense from some studies that functional, virus-neutralizing antibody is one such correlate of protection. We urgently need experimental studies to help confirm whether T-cell immunity alone can give protection. This sentiment was echoed by Buggert. Larger and more longitudinal studies must now be done on both T cells and antibodies to understand how long-lasting the immunity is and how these different components of COVID-19 immunity are related.

This article is based on research findings that are yet to be peer-reviewed. Results are therefore regarded as preliminary and should be interpreted as such. Find out about the role of the peer review process in research here. For further information, please contact the cited source.

Originally posted here:
SARS-CoV-2 Immunity Likely To Be Higher Than Antibody Testing Has Shown - Technology Networks

Immunology

We developed tools to study cancer in Tasmanian devils. They could help fight disease in humans – The Conversation AU

Emerging infectious diseases, including COVID-19, usually come from non-human animals. However our understanding of most animals immune systems is sadly lacking as theres a shortfall in research tools for species other than humans and mice.

Our research published today in Science Advances details cutting edge immunology tools we developed to understand cancer in Tasmanian devils. Importantly, these tools can be rapidly modified for use on any animal species.

Our work will help future wildlife conservation efforts, as well as preparedness against potential new diseases in humans.

Tasmanian devil populations have undergone a steep decline in recent decades, due to a lethal cancer called devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) first detected in 1996.

A decade after it was discovered, genetic analysis revealed DFT cells are transmitted between devils, usually when they bite each other during mating. A second type of transmissible devil facial tumour (DFT2) was detected in 2014, suggesting devils are prone to developing contagious cancers.

In 2016, researchers reported some wild devils had natural immune responses against DFT1 cancers. A year later an experimental vaccine for the original devil facial tumour (DFT1) was tested in devils artificially inoculated with cancer cells.

While the vaccine didnt protect them, in some cases subsequent treatments were able to induce tumour regression.

But despite the promising results, and other good news from the field, DFT1 continues to suppress devil populations across most of Tasmania. And DFT2 poses an additional threat.

Read more: Deadly disease can 'hide' from a Tasmanian devil's immune system

In humans, there has been incredible progress in treatments targeting protein that regulate our immune system. These treatments work by stimulating the immune system to kill cancer cells.

Our teams analyses of devil DNA showed these immune genes are also present in devils, meaning we may be able to develop similar treatments to stimulate the devil immune system.

But studying the DNA blueprint for devils takes us only so far. To build a strong house, you need to understand the blueprint and have the right tools. Proteins are the building blocks of life. So to build effective treatments and vaccines for devils we have to study the proteins in their immune system.

Until recently, there were few research tools available for this. And this problem was all too familiar to researchers studying immunology and disease in species other than humans, mice or rats.

You could build a house with just a saw, hammer and nails but a better and faster build requires a larger, more versatile toolbox.

In our new research, weve added more than a dozen tools to the toolbox for understanding tumours in Tasmanian devils. These are Fluorescent Adaptable Simple Theranostic proteins or simply, FAST proteins.

The term theranostic merges therapeutic and diagnostic. FAST proteins can be used as a therapeutic drug to treat a disease, or as a diagnostic tool to determine its cause and better understand it.

A key feature of FAST proteins is they can be tagged with a fluorescent protein marker, and can be released from the cells that we engineered in the lab to make them.

This way, we can collect and observe how the proteins attach and interact with other proteins without needing to add a tag later in the process.

To understand this, imagine trying to use a tiny key in a tiny lock in the dark. It would be difficult, but much easier if both were tagged with a coloured light. In the context of the immune system, its easier to understand what we need to turn on or off if we can see where the proteins are.

By mapping how proteins within the devils immune system interact, we can find better ways to stimulate the immune system.

The FAST system is also adaptable, meaning new targets can be cut-and-pasted into the system as theyre identified, like changing the bits on a drill. Therefore, its useful for studying the immune systems of other animals too, including humans.

Also, the system is simple enough that most people with basic cell culture and molecular biology experience could use it.

Read more: A virus is attacking koalas' genes. But their DNA is fighting back

Cancer cells in humans and animals can travel via the bloodstream to spread, or metastasise, throughout the body. Identifying single tumour cells in blood can shed light on how cancer invades devils organs and kills them.

Using FAST tools, we discovered CD200 a protein that inhibits anti-cancer responses in humans is highly expressed in devils. With FAST tools, we were able to mix DFT2 cancer cells into devil blood and pick them out, despite there being about one cancer cell for every 1,000 blood cells.

CD200 is a powerful off switch for the immune system, so identifying this off switch allows us it can help us produce a vaccine that disables the switch.

By rapidly sifting out the best ways to stimulate the devils immune system, FAST tools are accelerating our research into developing a preventative vaccine to protect devils from DFT.

COVID-19 has once again brought emerging infectious diseases onto the global stage. The ability to rapidly develop immunology tools for new species means we can jump into action when a new virus jumps into humans.

Additionally, species are going extinct at an alarming rate, and wildlife disease is increasingly threatening conservation efforts.

Understanding how the immune systems of other animals fight diseases could provide a blueprint for developing vaccines and therapeutics to help them.

Read more:
We developed tools to study cancer in Tasmanian devils. They could help fight disease in humans - The Conversation AU

Immunology

Reven Announces the Appointment of Eminent Physician-Scientist Fatih M. Uckun, M.D., Ph.D., Internationally Recognized for His Seminal Contributions…

GOLDEN, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Reven Holdings, Inc. (Reven), a privately held clinical stage biotechnology and pharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel treatment platforms for cancer, viral illnessesincluding COVID-19and inflammatory disorders, today announced the appointment of Dr. Fatih M. Uckun as its Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Officer.

In his new position at Reven, Dr. Uckun will provide executive oversight for Revens global Research & Development and clinical programs. In addition, Dr. Uckun will contribute medical-scientific leadership and direction for Revens basic and translational research activities, R&D and clinical development programs in cancer, transplantation immunology, sepsis, metabolic disorders, inflammatory disorders, and the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in patients with sepsis, including COVID-19 patients with viral sepsis.

Dr. Uckun stated, It is an exceptionally exciting time to join Reven to support a global registration strategy for its unique RJX platform. The components of RJX exhibited very promising activity in clinical studies involving ARDS patients and non-clinical studies in animal models of ARDS. The published data from these clinical, and recent non-clinical, studies confirming its unique mechanism of action, provide the medical-scientific rationale for Revens clinical development strategy for RJX. The clinical study in COVID-19 patients is a logical next step. I very much look forward to working with the talented and experienced leadership team of Reven and our collaborators. The goal is to diligently advance the RJX clinical trial program with the vision of developing RJX-based new treatments for COVID-19 patients, as well as patients with difficult-to-treat forms of cancer and inflammatory disorders who are in urgent need for therapeutic innovations.

As we move forward with our planned clinical trial of Rejuveinix (RJX) for treatment of COVID-19, Dr. Uckuns decades of drug development experience will be critical in successful execution and the establishment of effective collaborations with other stakeholders, said Peter Lange, Chief Executive Officer of Reven. Dr. Uckun embodies Revens core values: dedication to patients, passion for science, and excellence in execution. I am delighted to have the opportunity to welcome Dr. Uckun as part of Revens leadership team.

About Dr. Uckun

Dr. Uckun is an elected Member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), an honor society for physician-scientists, and an active member of several professional organizations. He received numerous awards for his work on monoclonal antibodies, recombinant cytokines and fusion proteins, radiation sensitizers, kinase inhibitors and targeted therapeutics for difficult-to-treat cancers, including the Stohlman Memorial Award of the Leukemia Society of America, the highest honor given to a Leukemia Society Scholar. He has served as a member of several editorial boards and National Institutes of Health grant review/special emphasis panels.

Dr. Uckun earned his doctoral degrees at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, where he also served as an active member of the autologous bone marrow transplant and peripheral stem cell transplant clinical research teams of the Tumor Center. Dr. Uckun completed his residency training in pediatrics, clinical fellowship training in Hematology/Oncology/Blood and Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation, as well as postdoctoral research training in immunology and microbiology at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Uckun has more than thirty years of professional experience in developmental therapeutics with a special emphasis on targeted therapeutics/precision medicines and biopharmaceuticals. He has published more than 500 peer-reviewed papers, authored numerous review articles and book chapters, and is an inventor on numerous patents.

For eleven years, Dr. Uckun worked as a Professor of Bone Marrow Transplantation, Therapeutic Radiology-Radiation Oncology, Pharmacology, and Pediatrics as well as Director of the Biotherapy Institute at the University of Minnesota, where he became the first recipient of the Endowed Hughes Chair in Biotherapy. At the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, he was a Professor and Head of Translational Research in Leukemia and Lymphoma of the CCBD and a Principal Investigator of the Stem Cell-Regenerative Medicine Initiative for six years. From 2012 to 2015, Dr. Uckun served as chair of the Biotargeting Working Group and a Member of the Coordination and Governance Committee of the National Cancer Institute Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer.

Dr. Uckun has held executive positions in multiple biotechnology companies and has extensive regulatory experience. Prior to joining Reven, Dr. Uckun served as Vice President of Scientific Solutions at Worldwide Clinical Trials, Chief Medical Officer of Oncotelic and Mateon Therapeutics, Head of Immuno-Oncology at Ares Pharmaceuticals, and as Executive Medical Director and Strategy Lead in Global Oncology and Hematology at Syneos Health. Previously, he was Vice President of Research and Clinical Development at Nantkwest, and Chief Scientific Officer of both Jupiter Research Institute and Paradigm Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Uckun is a former Vice Chair of the New Agents Committee as well as a Member of the Leukemia Steering Committee of the Childrens Cancer Study Group, an NCI-funded cooperative clinical trials consortium that coordinated pediatric and adolescent/young adult leukemia trials at 120 institutions in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Europe.

Dr. Uckun has deep knowledge and experience in the treatment of infectious diseases and their complications. In particular, he has extensive experience in viral, fungal, and bacterial infections of immunocompromised hosts, septic shock, ARDS, systemic capillary leak syndrome and cytokine release syndrome (CRS). He served as the Principal Investigator of a virus neutralizer project funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as part of its unconventional countermeasures program. Dr. Uckun directed several federally funded virology/innate immunity projects and published numerous peer-reviewed papers on RNA viruses and anti-viral agents.

About Rejuveinix (RJX)

RJX is an intravenous (IV) formulation of known physiologically compatible compounds that is being developed for more effective supportive therapy of patients with sepsis, including COVID-19 patients with viral sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The RJX formulation is a solution of buffered acid products, electrolyte components, and vitamins, including ascorbic acid, cyanocobalamin, thiamine hydrochloride, riboflavin 5 phosphate, niacinamide, pyridoxine hydrochloride, and calcium d-pantothenate, and magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, a mineral with a negative oxidation-reduction potential. The components of RJX exhibited promising activity in clinical studies involving ARDS patients and/or non-clinical studies in animal models of ARDS. The published data from these clinical and non-clinical studies provided the medical-scientific rationale for Revens clinical development strategy for RJX and a clinical study in COVID-19 patients. The clinical tolerability of RJX was confirmed in a recently completed double blind, placebo-controlled Phase 1 dose-escalation study in healthy volunteers (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03680105).

About Reven Holdings, Inc.

Reven Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation, through its Golden, Colorado-based operating company Reven, LLC, is a biopharmaceutical company. Revens vision is to make a difference in the world by making its products accessible to everyone suffering the effects of vascular and metabolic related diseases. Reven is committed to being the premier, research-intensive biopharmaceutical company that advances the health and well-being of people around the world. Its primary product, Rejuveinix (RJX), targets patients suffering from COVID-19, sepsis, vascular and metabolic related diseases as well as specific patient populations suffering PAD and other cardiovascular related medical conditions.

Revens Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this communication regarding strategy, future operations, future financial position, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. Words such as may, on-track, expect, anticipate hope, vision, optimism, design, exciting, promising, will, conviction, estimate, intend, believe and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements about future plans, the progress, timing, clinical development, scope and success of future clinical trials, the reporting of clinical data for the companys product candidates and the potential use of the companys product candidates to treat various disease indications. Each of these forward-looking statements involves risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Many factors may cause differences between current expectations and actual results, including unexpected safety or efficacy data observed during preclinical or clinical studies, clinical trial site activation or enrollment rates that are lower than expected, changes in expected or existing market competition, changes in the regulatory environment, failure of collaborators to support or advance collaborations or product candidates, and unexpected litigation or other disputes. These risks are not exhaustive; the company faces known and unknown risks, including the risk factors described in the companys periodic SEC filings. Forward-looking statements are based on expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in expectations, whether as a result of new information regarding future events, or otherwise.

Read more from the original source:
Reven Announces the Appointment of Eminent Physician-Scientist Fatih M. Uckun, M.D., Ph.D., Internationally Recognized for His Seminal Contributions...

Immunology

Nobelists: scientists ‘circled the wagons’ over coronavirus threat – Times Higher Education (THE)

Scientists have circled the wagons during the coronavirus pandemic, Nobel laureates have argued, and been afraid to have a truly open debate about whether the virus is as deadly as feared and if lockdowns are justified.

Michael Levitt, a winner of the chemistry prize in 2013 and, since February, an outspoken contrarian voice on the pandemic, said he had received only abuse from fellow scientists for questioning predictions of catastrophic death tolls.

Using statistical analysis across different countries with varying degrees of lockdown, Professor Levitt has repeatedly and publicly argued that the virus slows far earlier than would be expected if everyone was susceptible, possibly indicating some kind of prior immunity.

Just 15 per cent of the population needs to be infected to reach herd immunity, he believes.

The data had very clear things to say, he told the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, an annual gathering of prizewinning academics and young researchers, itself moved online due to coronavirus.

But when sharing his results, nobody said to me, let me check your numbers. They all just said, stop talking like that, he said.

At the beginning of the crisis, scientists failed to collectively ask basic questions like does this thing grow exponentially, said Professor Levitt, Robert W. and Vivian K. Cahill professor in cancer research at Stanford University.

Physicists and theoretical chemists who understand trajectories were often better qualified to analyse the pandemic than epidemiologists, who see their job not as getting things correct, but preventing an epidemic, leading them to overstate the threat, he argued in a debate on the role of science in a crisis.

We should never have listened to the epidemiologists, Professor Levitt said. They have caused hundreds of billions of dollars worth of suffering and damage, mainly on the younger generation, he said. Its going to make 9/11 look like a baby story.

Instead of one or two voices dominating the debate, scientific institutions like the Royal Society should have formed a committee back in February to convene a range of experts, Professor Levitt argued.

Instead, we let economics and politics dictate the science, he said. For me, the worst opposition I got was from very, very prominent scientists, who were so scared that the non-scientists would break quarantine and infect them.

Many experts have pushed back against Professor Levitts arguments. As yet, there is no proof of widespread immunity to Covid-19, and the spread has slowed in many countries following lockdowns.

Still, Professor Levitt was not the only laureate to worry that scientists had hidden uncertainty during the pandemic. Saul Perlmutter, a physics prizewinner in 2011, said when scientists felt under attack because the democratic system fails to heed them, there was a tendency to circle the wagons and hide all the conversations that need to happen.

Scientists get scared about whether politicians will respond to them and so take a frozen moment of science and stick to that line until somebody hears it in the political world, said Professor Perlmutter, Franklin W. and Karen Weber Dabby of physics at the University of California, Berkeley.

But Peter Doherty, an immunology expert who won the medicine prize in 1996, defended other aspects of the scientific response to coronavirus, arguing that in the hunt for treatments and a vaccine, researchers had worked with extraordinary speed, and with extraordinary cooperation.

I think science comes out of it very well in fact, and I think thats the general perception, said Professor Doherty, laureate professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Melbourne.

david.matthews@timeshighereducation.com

View post:
Nobelists: scientists 'circled the wagons' over coronavirus threat - Times Higher Education (THE)

Immunology

Health Matters: Repeat of Covid-19 Update – Fact from Fiction – Red River Radio

Airs Thursday, July 2, 2020, at 6 p.m. REPEAT -Information about COVID-19 in the news and on social media can be confusing. Tune in for Health Matters, Thursday at 6 p.m. Dr. Randall Brewer will be joined by Dr. Andrew Yurochko, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and Dr. Jeremy Kamil, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, both with LSU Health Shreveport, to help us separate fact from fiction and also tell us if the virus is showing mutations. This is a repeat broadcast and no calls will be taken.

See the original post here:
Health Matters: Repeat of Covid-19 Update - Fact from Fiction - Red River Radio

Immunology

In what does Cuba’s genetic study of patients recovered from COVID-19 consist of? – OnCubaNews

Help us keep OnCuba alive here

The appearance at the end of 2019 of a new coronavirus and its rapid spread throughout the world until it became a pandemic, has put the scientific community to work with an intensity rarely observed.

Although currently the main international research is focused on the search for the vaccine, the mass immunization as the only way to stop such a contagious virus, another question arises from a characteristic of the virus, or rather how each person responds to the contagion: Why do some die from COVID-19 and others dont get to feel the slightest symptom?

The answer may lie in genetics; thats why Cuba launched a research that takes this factor into account in the response of those who suffered from the disease and those who have already been discharged.

According to the director of the National Center for Medical Genetics, Beatriz Marcheco, the project includes clinical-epidemiological, laboratory, basically hematological, immunological, and DNA studies.

The research began its clinical stage in early June, in the provinces of Pinar del Ro, Cienfuegos and Las Tunas, as well as the municipality of La Lisa, in Havana.

The study seeks to find out the blood group and factor of each individual and to study the subpopulations of lymphocytes that participate in the immune response, using flow cytometry and Elisa assays, explained the specialist in an interview with Granma daily.

Cuba studying genetic factors of patients recovered from COVID-19

After taking the blood sample, these are taken to the laboratories of the National Center for Medical Genetics to submit them to the tests related to the study, in which the Immunoassay Center also participatesthe Immunoglobulin g test is done there to identify if the person has specific antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virusand the Center for Molecular Immunology.

The results could help scientists to characterize all the factors related to the incidence of the disease, its lethality and clinical and therapeutic approach in each case.

If, for example, an individual is identified as being more vulnerable to symptoms or severity, strategies to prevent such severity could be applied with early therapeutic interventions, Marcheco added.

By identifying the genetic factors related to clinical severity, we will be taking a significant step at the same time in the objective of developing personalized treatments that respond to individual genetic characteristics, strengthening the implementation of population-based prevention strategies, she explained.

The studies we are conducting also allow us to appreciate how each person is recovering individually from a disease that strongly damages the immune system. Therefore, the research project contains actions that are part of the strategy of our health system in the post-COVID-19 stage of each patient, she said.

The screening also includes the study of a first-degree relative (mother, father, son or daughter, brother or sister) who lives with the positive case and was exposed to the virus, but had no symptoms nor was positive for COVID-19.

The study of these subjects can be very useful in identifying protective factors against the virus and that is also important in terms of prevention, the scientist concluded.

Help us keep OnCuba alive here

See the original post:
In what does Cuba's genetic study of patients recovered from COVID-19 consist of? - OnCubaNews

Anatomy

Weather Wednesday: Anatomy of a Heat Wave – WLNS

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) Michigan residents are known for being outside during the summer season, and soaking in the sunshine and heat. Michiganders are no strangers to heat, humidity or even a heat wave.

In the upcoming forecast, there is a stretch of time where highs are forecasted in the 90s. The definition of a heat wave is three days with highs at 90 degrees or more. Early in the summer season, this heat will make its mark as minimal rainfall is expected during what could be almost a two week period.

StormTracker 6 Chief Meteorologist David Young explains the science of a heat wave during this weeks Weather Wednesday segment.

Go here to see the original:
Weather Wednesday: Anatomy of a Heat Wave - WLNS