Biochemistry

Remdesivir Q&A: Cautious Optimism for Coronavirus Treatment – American Council on Science and Health

Stat News just broke a story that has been picked up by the wider press and has generated quite a bit of excitement1. The gist is that early clinical trial results from Gilead show that its antiviral drug, remdesivir, has promise in treating patients with severe COVID-19.

But, as always, science advances in fits and starts. There are rarely any truly groundbreaking discoveries that happen overnight. So, let's discuss why we can be cautiously optimistic, but with caveats.

Does remdesivir successfully treat patients with COVID-19?

It appears the answer is "yes," but there are two major caveats: (1) Patients already requiring ventilators were excluded; and (2) There was no control group. The first caveat means that the absolute sickest patients -- people literally on their death beds -- were not included in the study. The second caveat is puzzling. Perhaps Gilead thought it was unethical to give the control group a placebo.

So, this is why it's not clear just how excited we should be. Still, there is reason to be hopeful: 113 patients in this part of the clinical trial were severely ill, but only two died.

Are there side effects?

Oh yes, and possibly very unpleasant ones. According to BioSpace:

"[A]bout 25% of patients receiving it have severe side effects, including multiple-organ dysfunction syndrome, septic shock, acute kidney injury and low blood pressure. Another 23% demonstrated evidence of liver damage on lab tests."

This is one of the problems with developing antivirals. Viruses, by their nature, hijack our cells and take over their machinery. Therefore, any drug that targets a virus also (usually) inadvertently targets our own cellular machinery. It's sort of like having a terrorist holding you hostage inside your own house. The police could throw in some grenades to kill the terrorist, but they would also damage the house and possibly kill you, too.

On the other hand, it's possible that what are thought to be "side effects" of the drug are actually sequelae of COVID-19. It's now thought that the coronavirus may be causing damage to other organs, including the heart and kidneys.

If remdesivir didn't work against Ebola, why would it work against coronavirus?

That's a great question, and it's one that was expertly handled by my colleague, Dr. Josh Bloom2. The answer involves fairly sophisticated biochemistry, but the punchline is that the drug is far better at binding to a particular kind of coronavirus enzyme than to the equivalent Ebola enzyme.

When will we know for sure if remdesivir works?

There are several ongoing trials, some of which won't be completed for a couple of years. One trial for patients with moderate COVID-19 will be completed this May, and it does have a proper control group. So, we should have a clearer answer next month.

When will the drug be ready?

According to FiercePharma, Gilead will have enough of the drug to fully treat 140,000 patients very soon, as in some of the product is ready to be shipped right now. Gilead plans another 360,000 courses by October and 1 million by the end of the year. A company in India is already working on a generic version of the drug.

Why does remdesivir have such a stupid name?

Blame the FDA and branding consultants. There are elaborate rules for the naming of drugs. But here's an easy one: Any drug that ends in "-vir" is an antiviral.

Notes

(1) Bizarrely, one of the article's authors, Matthew Herper, also retweeted a complaint that it is a "violation of trial integrity" to report on partial results. Apparently, Mr. Herper is condemning his own role in reporting the story.

(2) Dr. Bloom is so good at writing, that he'll make you think you're an expert in biochemistry and toxicology. But you are not. (And neither am I.) His explanations are simply that good.

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Remdesivir Q&A: Cautious Optimism for Coronavirus Treatment - American Council on Science and Health

Immunology

LJI Scientists Awarded New Funding to Combat COVID-19 – Times of San Diego

Share This Article:To aid vaccine design, researchers at LJI will investigate how a diverse population fights off viral attack

The coronavirus behind COVID-19 is new in the human population, meaning few have any natural immunity to the disease. Yet many people are able to fight off the disease through an effective immune system response. Scientists at theLa Jolla Institute for Immunology(LJI) are working to figure out how to help everyone combat the virus.

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The laboratory of LJI professorAlessandro Sette, Dr. Biol. Sci., has been awarded $500,000 from the National Institutes of HealthsNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseasesto study how the human immune system recognizes the novel coronavirus. The research team will hunt for sites on the coronavirus surface that trigger an immune system responsesites which may be important to target through a COVID-19 vaccine.

This will further allow us to tackle key issues for research right now, Sette said. The funding will allow us to measure immune responses and ask questions related to how immune responses translate in more or less severe disease, which response we want, which response we want to avoidand what response should a vaccine induce? We are also eager to make all data available to the scientific community, basic researchers, industry, and vaccine developers as fast as we possibly can.

At the end of this, we want a map of the virus that tells us what parts of the virus are recognized by the immune system, and that will guide vaccine design, said LJI research assistant professor Daniela Weiskopf, a member of the Sette lab.

The new project will take advantage of LJIs expertise in identifying epitopes, small molecular structures on the surface of a pathogen. When immune cells spot foreign epitopes, they step up to defend the body. This means that scientists designing vaccines need to know which epitopes the immune system can see. Past studies in the Sette lab have shed light on vulnerable epitopes on pathogens responsible for diseases such as dengue fever, malaria and tuberculosis.

We already have everything in house: methods, technical set-ups and expertise. We just have to look at a different virus now, Weiskopf said.

The labwill investigate epitopes targeted by a diverse group of COVID-19 survivors. They will also analyze samples from uninfected donors. These donors may harbor immune memory against other types of coronavirus that only cause the common cold, and researchers are curious whether these immune cells may also recognize epitopes of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

The researchers will add their findings to theImmune Epitope Database(IEDB), a free online resource run by Sette and LJI professorBjoern Peters, Ph.D.Through the IEDB, researchers worldwide can access this coronavirus epitope data and even add their own.

Learn more about COVID-19 research underway at LJI:https://www.lji.org/covid-19/research-efforts-underway/

The new supplement is part of NIH contract #75N93019C00065.

LJI Scientists Awarded New Funding to Combat COVID-19 was last modified: April 17th, 2020 by Debbie L. Sklar

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LJI Scientists Awarded New Funding to Combat COVID-19 - Times of San Diego

Immunology

Temperatures and pollen counts both predicted to rise this week in Seattle area – Seattle Times

Its on, allergy sufferers. Especially if youre sensitive to tree pollen.

Pollen counts are predicted to soar for the rest of this week as temperatures through most of the Puget Sound region climb toward 70 degrees on Thursday and Friday.

Pollen count is predicted to be very high Thursday through Sunday, according to theNorthwest Asthma & Allergy Center.

Seattle-area allergy experts say that once your allergies are activated and apparently Western Washington is one of the best places to discover whether youre allergic to tree pollen you take a deep breath on a beautiful spring day, and instantly your mast cells jump into action.

The key feature of allergies and our immune system in general is also the reason they are persistent and frustrating, said Dr. Jakob von Moltke, an assistant professor of immunology at the UW School of Medicine. You can go a whole winter without any issues, and then your immune system is triggered in seconds.

And allergists say the masks many people are wearing lately havent really mitigated pollen allergy symptoms: sneezing, runny noses, postnasal drip, and itchy, puffy, watery eyes. (That said, you should wear one when youre out in public, to protect yourself and others from the novel coronavirus especially if youre sneezing, which launches your germs into the air.)

If there is a difference (for allergy sufferers during the pandemic), it may be because people are not walking around outside a lot and are staying indoors, which is what we recommend, said Dr. Lahari Rampur, a UW Medicine allergy and immunology professor.

It can help to keep your windows closed, saidDr. Scott Itano, medical center chief at Kaiser Permanente Northgate Medical Center.

Most plants release their pollen in the middle of the night, so leaving windows open at night as many people do when the weather gets warm is one of the worst things you can do, he said. Then, you will be allergic inside and outside your house.

And if you are taking medicine to combat allergies, such as allergy pills and nasal steroid sprays, Itano recommends taking it at night before bed to help suppress the allergic reaction before it happens.

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Temperatures and pollen counts both predicted to rise this week in Seattle area - Seattle Times

Immunology

Birmingham experts join forces to improve COVID-19 antibody diagnosis – University of Birmingham

Coronavirus

Birmingham experts are working together on improving detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies the best way of fighting the disease as the search for a vaccine continues.

Working with the Binding Site, and through Birmingham Health Partners alongside colleagues at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust experts at the University of Birminghams Clinical Immunology Service aim to improve antibody diagnosis.

This will help to identify patients where prompt medical intervention can prevent them having to go into intensive care, whilst guiding relaxation of the COVID-19 lockdown by identifying the proportion of communities at large that are now immune.

David Adams, Head of the College of Medical and Dental Sciences and Director of Birmingham Health Partners, commented: The current COVID-19 pandemic represents a previously unimaginable global challenge. Without vaccination, the role of antibody testing, as a means to assess community infection, is of paramount importance.

By bringing together unrivalled academic, clinical and commercial expertise in antibody testing this collaboration has the potential to deliver a reliable test to detect antibodies against coronavirus. If successful, this will be a game changer in our fight against Covid-19.

He added that commercial and academic collaborative partnerships would be required to rapidly develop, verify and validate such tests.

With over 40 years experience in developing novel in vitro diagnostics (IVD) based on the generation of highly-specific monoclonal and polyclonal immunoglobulins, the Clinical Immunology Service is well-placed to coordinate such an effort.

The Binding Site leads the way in specialist protein diagnostics. Built on strong scientific foundations with extensive expertise in antibody specificity technology, Binding Site gives clinicians and laboratory staff the tools to significantly improve diagnosis and management of patients across a range of cancers and immune system disorders.

Charles de Rohan, CEO, The Binding Site, commented: Binding Site came out of the University of Birmingham in the 1980s and now produces more than 30 million IVD tests for worldwide sale every year.

Weve maintained our close collaboration with the University of Birmingham and researchers such as Professor Mark Drayson, Dr. Alex Richter and Dr. Aarnoud Huissoon. We share their scientific passion and are delighted to continue our partnership with them during this unprecedented time.

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) is one of the largest teaching hospital trusts in England, serving a regional, national and international population.

Professor Simon Ball, Chief Medical Officer, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, commented: We are proud of our long-standing association with the Binding Site. I have no doubt that this collaboration will provide significant assistance to our efforts to deliver the best care possible to patients affected by Covid-19.

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Birmingham experts join forces to improve COVID-19 antibody diagnosis - University of Birmingham

Immunology

Zania Stamataki – The Conversation UK

Profile Articles Activity

Dr Stamataki is interested in applying immunology and cell biology methodologies to understand liver diseases from autoimmune, viral or metabolic injury. Her team is using authentic human liver tissues to develop new therapies that restore immune regulation in liver inflammation and cancer.

Her team is fascinated by the intricate architecture of the liver and they are investigating how cells of the immune system influence and are influenced by the liver microenvironment to coordinate immune regulation.

They use cell biology, immunology and virology experiments to understand and quantify interactions between immune cells and liver resident cells. They build models to manipulate these interactions using human tissues and they develop novel drug candidate molecules, in collaboration with industrial partners.

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Zania Stamataki - The Conversation UK

Immunology

Coronavirus immunity permits for Washingtonians? ‘We’re not quite there yet’ – KUOW News and Information

As the Covid-19 death toll rises, scientists are racing to understand the human body's response to the disease.

While some coronavirus antibody tests have been approved for use in the U.S., several key questions remain: What happens to the immune system after a person recovers from the virus? Could they be reinfected, and are they still a risk to others?

The Trump administration and some European countries have proposed allowing nonessential employees to return to work if they can prove they're no longer capable of spreading the virus.

This would be done by testing for coronavirus antibodies, the proteins created by the immune system in response to the presence of a virus. U.S. officials said last week that coronavirus antibody tests would soon hit the national market.

As of April 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized three coronavirus antibody tests. But some scientists argue that not enough is presently known about how novel coronavirus antibodies work, in order to correctly determine whether someone is immune.

"It's very likely that there are a large number of people out there that have been infected have been asymptomatic and did not know they were infected," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases during an April 10 appearance on CNN's New Day. Fauci is also a member of the federal coronavirus task force.

"If their antibody test is positive, one can formulate kind of strategies about whether or not they would be at risk or vulnerable to getting reinfected, this will be important for healthcare workers for first line fighters those kinds of people," he said. But those tests need to be validated, he added.

Fauci also stated that the prospect of people receiving immunity permits "is something that's being discussed" and that such a policy "might actually have some merit under certain circumstances."

But before the feasibility of such a policy can be weighed, the research must first catch up, said Dr. Helen Chu with the University of Washington's epidemiology department.

"We do think that having immunity to the virus may be protective," Chu told KUOW's The Record. "We don't know what an antibody test, at this point, means though. People who are currently infected and then recover from the virus we don't actually know what the immune signature of recovery is."

Chu said it's not clear which particular antibodies could protect a person against Covid-19.

Researchers also have yet to discover how high those antibody levels would need to be to provide immunity, or how long they would last, she said. Moreover, having antibodies for the novel coronavirus wouldn't necessarily mean a person isn't still infectious to others.

"The idea of being able to have a test to say that you're protected and you can go back and work we're not quite there yet," she said.

While there's still a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the immune system's response to Covid-19, Chu said seasonal flu epidemics could offer a window of insight.

"Once you get infected [with influenza] and you develop a protective response, that doesn't last for very long," she said. "And by the next year, you're going to be reinfected again or you're going to get another vaccine and that'll protect you for a certain amount of time but then you become susceptible again. And we don't know how coronavirus behaves."

The University of Washington's Clinical Immunology Laboratory has set out to help answer some of the looming questions about coronavirus antibodies.

"Basically, we're looking for antibodies that bind to the coronavirus proteins," said Dr. Susan Fink, assistant director of the University of Washington's Clinical Immunology Laboratory.

Thus far, the tests conducted by Fink's team have yielded varying outcomes.

"We've looked at a number of different assays, basically to look for performance characteristics are they sensitive, are they specific? And one of the things that we found is that [with] the different sort of ways that you can measure antibodies, we get very different results," she said.

Samples collected prior to the pandemic have provided some insight, albeit inconclusive, Fink said. Her team is still trying to figure out the best method for measuring coronavirus antibodies.

"We see reactivity and the way we're interpreting that is we think that those are probably false positives," Fink said, adding that her team attributes this to the presence of antibodies for other coronavirus strains not the one at the center of our current pandemic.

The Clinical Immunology Laboratory is also probing the potential for herd immunity against Covid-19: The concept of vaccinating a high percentage of people in a community to prevent them from contracting or transmitting an infectious disease, thus suppressing it.

"If we can develop an assay that we know is pretty specific for the novel coronavirus, as opposed to other coronaviruses that people have been infected with, then we can start to ask the questions about, 'Well how many people have actually developed these antibodies?'"

However, Fink said a lot more research is needed before drawing any conclusions about who might be immune to the virus.

The University of Washington's Virology Lab on Friday announced that it will begin performing widespread antibody tests starting early next week. The tests are manufactured by the Illinois-based health care company Abbott Laboratories, Inc. and people will be able to get them through their health care provider.

Read more about the new antibody tests here.

Bill Radke contributed to this report. Additionally, this report was updated on Friday, April 17 to include new information about antibody tests that will be available to Washingtonians in the coming week.

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Coronavirus immunity permits for Washingtonians? 'We're not quite there yet' - KUOW News and Information

Immunology

Yuan He wins Provost’s University Research Grant for inflammation project – The South End

The research of Yuan He, Ph.D., is getting a boost from the Wayne State University Office of the Provost in the form of a 2020-2021 University Research Grant from Associate Provost for Faculty Development and Faculty Success Annmarie Cano.

I feel very happy to be selected for this grant, which will provide the essential resource for pursuing my research projects, he said.

Dr. He, an assistant professor of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology in the School of Medicine, will use the grant to support his project, Molecular Mechanism of NEK7-mediated NLRP3 inflammasome activation.

Excessive inflammation is associated with many human diseases. Inflammation is initiated by sensor proteins of our innate immune cells that detect microbial infection and tissue injury. NLRP3 belongs to one type of sensor proteins that are activated to form intracellular multiple protein complexes called inflammasomes, and its aberrant activation is implicated in several human diseases, such as arthritis, Alzheimers disease, diabetes and atherosclerosis, he said.

NEK7 has emerged as a critical regulator of NLRP3 inflammasome activation. However, how NEK7 mediates NLRP3 inflammasome activation remains unclear.

Our studies aim to decipher the underlying molecular mechanism of NEK7-mediated NLRP3 inflammasome activation and might facilitate the development of novel treatment strategies for NLRP3-driven diseases, Dr. He said.

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Yuan He wins Provost's University Research Grant for inflammation project - The South End

Immunology

Eating varied diet will help body fight Covid-19, says scientist – expressandstar.com

Eating a diverse and varied diet provides the best chance of boosting the immune system to fight Covid-19, according to a scientist.

Philip Calder, a professor of nutritional immunology at the University of Southampton, has produced a report advising the public to ensure they eat a mixed diet to help combat the virus.

His research also shows that supplements are a safe, effective and low cost way to support an optimal immune system.

A university spokesman said: A diet with a diverse and varied mixture of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and pulses, along with some meat, fish and dairy products provides the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients the immune system needs for optimal function.

Prof Calder said: The strength of somebodys immune systems will not influence whether they get coronavirus; handwashing and social distancing are the best ways to avoid that.

However, the immune system helps the body deal with the virus if they are infected and what we want is a system that functions properly when its challenged with bacteria and viruses.

The university spokesman added: Among the foods Professor Calder recommends are a variety of fruits and vegetables which are a good source of vitamins and minerals that are important for supporting the immune system.

Foods that are high in fibre are also important as some of the undigested fibre in the gut can promote the growth of good bacteria which interact with the immune system to make it work better.

The third recommendation is oily fish which is a source of omega 3 fatty acids that help to regulate and control the immune system.

Finally, meat is important as a good source of nutrients such as iron and vitamin B12, so people who do not eat meat should consider supplements.

Whilst consuming commercial probiotic products can have a role to play by seeding good bacteria in the gut Professor Calder recommends plant-based food and fibre as an alternative as these provide an environment to grow the good bacteria that are already in the large intestine.

Professor Calder added: The present situation with Covid-19 shows that we cannot just rely on vaccinations to limit the impact of respiratory infections.

Improving our nutrition is a very straightforward step that we can all take to help our bodies deal with infections and limit the emergence of new, more virulent strains of viruses.

We therefore strongly encourage public health officials to make sure nutritional strategies are included in all their messaging about coping with viral infections.

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Eating varied diet will help body fight Covid-19, says scientist - expressandstar.com

Immunology

Images from the strangest graduation day in UCC history; Medical students prepare to go ‘into the trenches’ – Echo Live

Almost 200 UCC medical graduates are set to head "directly into the trenches" in the battle against Covid-19, as they graduated in an unconventional ceremony today.

It was an unprecedented event, which saw a total of 197 graduates conferred - the first in UCCs 175-year history to be conducted entirely online.

Taoiseach Leo Vardakar, one of the keynote speakers at the graduation, said that for the first time in Ireland, every graduate of medicine will be offered an internship within the health system as part of the effort to battle the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Varadkar made the pledge as he addressed the University College Cork Medicine graduates of 2020 - whose exams and graduation were brought forward to get more doctors into the field amid the pandemic.

"I know we're living in very strange times as a pandemic affects the world," Mr Varadkar said in a pre-recorded message.

"You're graduating early, and you're doing so without being able to celebrate with your friends and your families as I know you'd like to.

"But there will be a time for that in the months ahead, when we develop new treatments, a new vaccine, a much better and more effective testing and contact tracing regime.

"In the meantime, we need you to graduate early and to start work as interns already, because there's so much work to be done.

"I know you will be starting in posts in the middle of May, in hospitals, and also some of you in community settings, and for the first time ever, we are providing for over 1,000 internships for medical graduates in Ireland.

"That pretty much means that everyone graduating this year will be offered an internship," he said.

Across the city and county, graduates, their friends and relatives, tuned in online to watch the unique conferring.

For Robert Shannon, son of Fianna Fil councillor Terry Shannon, the occasion was indeed a "pretty bizarre" affair.

He watched the proceedings along with his housemate, Kathryn Lesko, who also conferred today.

Dr Shannon, who also has a BSc in Neuroscience from UCC and an MSc in Immunology and Global Health from Maynooth University, said it was a graduation like no other.

"It was a bit of a change from the usual pageantry of conferrings," he laughed.

"It was pretty bizarre alright and a small bit of an anticlimax after all the work but I think it's a testament to the class group that almost 200 of us made it out the other side when the exams were brought forward," he said.

The graduates are set to begin their posts from May 25, joining the frontline in the battle against Covid-19.

Dr Shannon says he is used to working in hospital environments but the daunting prospect is entering into his preferred area, infectious diseases - heading "directly into the trenches".

Also graduating today was Kate Henry from Ballincollig, who received a first-class honours degree in Medicine.

Dr Henry is a third-generation UCC medical graduate, who will be starting work as an intern in the Southern Intern Training Network (UCC) in May.

Speaking at the conferrings today, UCC President Patrick O'Shea commended the resilience of the graduates.

"Your resilience and adaptability in responding to Covid-19 is genuinely remarkable and has no doubt prepared you for the challenges and rewards of the career path you have chosen.

"I wish you every success in your careers. We are all deeply proud of your accomplishments.

"What you have achieved in 2020, and indeed this event itself will constitute an essential chapter in the history of your University, your Alma Mater, University College Cork," he said.

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Images from the strangest graduation day in UCC history; Medical students prepare to go 'into the trenches' - Echo Live

Immunology

Sangamo Appoints D. Mark McClung as Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer – BioSpace

BRISBANE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sangamo Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: SGMO), a genomic medicine company, today announced the appointment of D. Mark McClung as Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer. Mr. McClung will oversee commercial strategic planning, alliance management and corporate and business development.

Mr. McClungs appointment is the latest in the evolution of Sangamos leadership implemented over the last three years as the Companys technology and research programs have advanced into a diversified pipeline of therapeutic product candidates in various stages of clinical development. During this period, Sangamo has also appointed executive vice presidents overseeing R&D, manufacturing, legal and finance.

Im excited to welcome Mark to Sangamo. With our first product candidate entering Phase 3 and our broad pipeline of proprietary and partnered programs advancing in development, we are increasingly focused on late stage development and commercialization strategies for genomic medicines. Mark has extensive experience leading commercial organizations in therapeutic areas where innovative products have disrupted standards of care, said Sandy Macrae, Sangamos CEO.

From 2015 through 2019, Mr. McClung was Vice President and General Manager of Global Oncology Commercial at Amgen, which he joined from Onyx Pharmaceuticals where he had served as Chief Commercial Officer. For two decades prior, Mr. McClung held roles of increasing responsibility at GlaxoSmithKline in marketing and sales, commercial operations, and general management in the United States and Europe, including as Vice President and Head of Global Commercial for GSK Oncology from 2009 2013.

Over the next decade, genomic medicines have the potential to transform the practice of health care across therapeutic areas from rare monogenic diseases to immunology and oncology, and even to highly prevalent neurological disorders such as Alzheimers disease and Parkinsons disease, Mr. McClung commented. With its deep scientific expertise, diverse technology platforms, broad pipeline and significant collaborations, Sangamo is well positioned for this new era, and Im thrilled to join the Company at this time.

Stephane Boissel, Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy, will leave Sangamo at the end of July and eventually return to an entrepreneurial project. Mr. Boissel joined Sangamo in 2018 following the acquisition of TxCell (now Sangamo France), where he had served as CEO.

Stephanes impactful contributions to Sangamo will endure for many years. He has driven several remarkable deals to fruition, including most recently our transaction with Biogen, which is among the largest preclinical collaboration deals ever, Macrae said. It has been an enormous pleasure working with Stephane these last two years, and we wish him every success in the future.

About Sangamo Therapeutics

Sangamo Therapeutics is committed to translating ground-breaking science into genomic medicines with the potential to transform patients lives using gene therapy, ex vivo gene-edited cell therapy, and in vivo genome editing and gene regulation. For more information about Sangamo, visit http://www.sangamo.com.

Sangamo Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Sangamo's current expectations. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements relating to the potential to develop, obtain regulatory approvals for and commercialize immunology and oncology therapies, therapies to treat rare monogenic diseases, neurological diseases and other diseases and other therapies and the timing and availability of such therapies, the potential for Sangamo to receive upfront licensing fees and earn milestone payments and royalties under the Biogen and other collaborations and the timing of such fees, payments and royalties, Sangamos product pipeline, technology platforms and scientific expertise, Sangamos financial resources and expectations and other statements that are not historical fact. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to: the research and development process; the regulatory approval process for product candidates; the commercialization of approved products; the potential for technological developments that obviate Sangamo's technologies; the potential for Biogen to breach or terminate the collaboration agreement; and the potential for Sangamo to fail to realize its expected benefits of the Biogen and other collaborations. There can be no assurance that Sangamo will earn any upfront licensing fees or milestone or royalty payments under the Biogen or other collaborations or obtain regulatory approvals for product candidates arising from these collaborations. Actual results may differ from those projected in forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties that exist in Sangamo's operations and business environments. These risks and uncertainties are described more fully in Sangamo's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and Sangamo undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200417005086/en/

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Sangamo Appoints D. Mark McClung as Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer - BioSpace