Immunology

HI-Bio Announces $95 Million Series B Financing to Advance Targeted Therapies for Immune-Mediated Diseases – PR Newswire

Funding allows advancement of diverse programs through multiple clinical data readouts, including multiple indications for lead candidatefelzartamab

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Jan. 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --Human Immunology Biosciences (HI-Bio), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing targeted therapies for patients withsevere immune-mediated diseases (IMDs), today announced the closing of a $95 million Series B financing led by new investor Alpha Wave Global. Viking Global Investors and Arkin Bio Capital participated in the financing, as well as existing investors Jeito Capital and ARCH Venture Partners.

"These funds allow us to advancefelzartamab, our clinically differentiated lead therapeutic candidate, through clinical readouts in multiple indications and preparation for registrational studies," said Travis Murdoch, M.D., CEO of HI-Bio. "We are encouraged by promising clinical data to date for felzartamab and its anti-CD38 cell depletion approach, and we look forward to new data, including Phase 2 results from an investigator-initiated trial for antibody-mediated rejection in kidney transplant patients."

Since the company's launch, HI-Bio has advancedfelzartamab, a monoclonal antibody targeting CD38 and in-licensed from MorphoSys, across indications including antibody-mediated rejection (AMR), IgA nephropathy (IgAN), lupus nephritis (LN) and primary membranous nephropathy (PMN). Felzartamab has received Breakthrough Therapy Designation and Orphan Drug Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in PMN. HI-Bio has also initiated a clinical study of HIB210, an anti-C5aR1 candidate targeting neutrophil activation and chemotaxis.

"Immune-mediated diseases contribute to an immense disease burden which drives the need for novel targeted treatments to improve on existing therapies," said Chris Dimitropoulos, Managing Director of Healthcare Investments at Alpha Wave Global. "HI-Bio is generating compelling clinical data demonstrating the differentiated potential of felzartamab; we look forward to continued progress for felzartamab across multiple indications with high unmet need."

Funding from the Series B will be used to advance clinical development offelzartamab, to evaluate the clinical properties of HIB210 in healthy volunteers and to advance a discovery-stage program targeting mast cell dysfunction toward IND-enabling studies. In conjunction with the financing, the company announced that Chris Dimitropoulos, Managing Director of Healthcare Investments at Alpha Wave Global, has been appointed to the HI-Bio Board of Directors.

About HI-Bio Human Immunology Biosciences, Inc. (HI-Bio) is a clinical-stage biotechnology companyfocused on discovering and developing precision medicines for people suffering from immune-mediated diseases (IMDs). HI-Bio is leading clinical immunology into its next chapter by targeting cellular drivers of disease. To learn more about HI-Bio, visit us at http://www.hibio.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

SOURCE HI-Bio

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HI-Bio Announces $95 Million Series B Financing to Advance Targeted Therapies for Immune-Mediated Diseases - PR Newswire

Immunology

UCLA to turn former shopping mall into centers for research on immunology and quantum science – The Caledonian-Record

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UCLA to turn former shopping mall into centers for research on immunology and quantum science - The Caledonian-Record

Biology

Some wild misadventures of a college biology instructor – The Boston Globe

While teaching a field lab for a class of ecology students in the woods behind the Merrimack campus, I was telling them that if you flip over logs and rocks, sometimes you can find snakes, salamanders, and other interesting animals.

As I stooped down and turned over a small log, I was promptly stung on my finger by a centipede. The pain was pretty intense, like that of a bee sting, and the next thing the students heard me say was [bleep]! I looked up to see 15 shocked, wide-eyed students staring at me. Embarrassed by my involuntary outburst of profanity, I quickly apologized to the group of stunned students, who laughed when they realized what had happened.

For one of our lab exercises, we waded into a small man-made pond behind the science building at Merrimack to catch crawfish and goldfish and do population estimates. I put on my rubber chest waders and told my students they had to enter the water carefully because the plastic lining on the bottom of the pond was very slippery. I sat down at the edge of the pond, lowered my legs into the water, and as soon as I stood up, I slipped and fell in. In addition to being embarrassed, I had to walk around in cold wet clothes for the remainder of the day.

While co-leading a college biology trip to the Galapagos Islands, I was snorkeling with several students. I was floating at the surface a few feet from the rocky shoreline and decided to take a photo of a small, bright orange anemone that was attached to an underwater rock. I took several photos and when I was through, the students swam over to me and excitedly asked if I had seen the giant manta ray.

What manta ray? I asked.

It was about 10 feet wide, one of the students told me. It swam right behind you!

Manta rays are the largest rays in the world, and one of the species I had hoped to see on our trip. Apparently, it swam within a few feet of me, and I missed it because I was preoccupied with photographing an anemone? Arrrggghhh!

On a college biology trip to Australia, after a 20-hour-plus flight, we landed at the Cairns Airport in Queensland at around 2 in the morning. Half asleep, we all had to go through customs before heading to our hotel. The two head professors were leading the group at the front of the line, so I decided Id take up the rear to make sure everyone got through OK.

The last student in line was an affable young man named Lou. The customs agent asked Lou to open his duffle bag, and then began to ask him some questions.

You did fill out the customs declaration form on the plane, didnt you?

Yes, I did, Lou replied.

And you read it carefully?

Yes, I did, said Lou.

And you do know youre not supposed to bring any meat or agricultural products into the country, right?

At this point I thought, uh-oh, somethings wrong.

The customs agent reached into Lous duffle bag and pulled out a plastic bag that contained about half a pound of pork fat.

Whats this, mate? asked the customs agent.

Its pork fat, sir, Lou replied. I brought it to use for fishing bait.

Fishing bait? I interjected.

Ya, Lou responded. I didnt know if Id be able to get any bait down here, and I wanted to go fishing.

Lou, I said, First of all, Australia is surrounded by ocean. Its a gigantic island. Im sure theyve got fishing bait. Secondly, I dont think any self-respecting fish would even eat pork fat!

The customs agent just smiled, gave Lou a warning, and confiscated his fishing bait.

On the Belize trip I mentioned earlier, a group of us were standing outside the general store in a village. Tropical developing countries always seem to have mangy stray dogs hanging around human settlements, and Belize was no exception.

A group of three or four skinny, sickly-looking dogs were milling around near the general store. Im always afraid of stray dogs because they could carry diseases, including rabies. Suddenly the dogs started to fight with each other, and the snarling, snapping pack rapidly moved toward us. Instinctively, I grabbed the person closest to me who happened to be one of our students and put her in front of me as protection. She screamed and said, What are you doing?

Thankfully, no one was bitten.

I still get teased about that one.

Don Lyman can be reached at donlymannature@gmail.com.

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Some wild misadventures of a college biology instructor - The Boston Globe

Biology

UC biologist tells NY Post spiders are probably not attracted to Sephora body lotion – University of Cincinnati

The Post was following up on a one-star brand review posted to Reddit that suggested the lotion attracted spiders and not just any spiders but wolf spiders, which have a fearsome name but are actually so harmless that UC biology students routinely catch them by hand.

By Tuesday, the post on Reddit generated nearly 800 comments and reviewers on the brand page were promising new product reviews free of spider talk.

The brouhaha even made the storied pages of The New York Times.

The new urban legend gained traction when other posters suggested the body cream contained spider sex pheromonesor chemicals used to signal receptivity.

But Uetz, who has published more than 200 studies primarily on spiders, told the New York Post that pheromones are highly species-specific.

The internet is a great source of information, but its not always accurate, and someone putting a dab of body butter on a tissue and reporting in Reddit that it attracts spiders doesnt count as research, Uetz said.

Read the New York Post story.

Featured image at top: UC students study wolf spiders in a biology lab. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II/UC

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UC biologist tells NY Post spiders are probably not attracted to Sephora body lotion - University of Cincinnati

Biology

Kuru Disease: Bridging the Gap Between Prion Biology and Human Health – Cureus

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Kuru Disease: Bridging the Gap Between Prion Biology and Human Health - Cureus

Biology

Feathers from deceased birds help scientists understand new threat to avian populations – EurekAlert

image:

A working turbine at a wind energy facility in Northern California

Credit: Todd Katzner

As concernsover the worlds declining bird population mount, animal ecologists developed an analytical approach to better understand one of the latest threats to feathered creatures: the rise of wind and solar energy facilities.

Bird mortality has become an unintended consequence of renewable energy development, said Hannah Vander Zanden, an assistant professor of biology at the University of Florida. If we want to minimize or even offset these fatalities, especially for vulnerable populations, we need to identify the geographic origin of affected birds. In other words, are the dead birds local or are they coming from other parts of North America?

Birds can be killed when they collide with wind turbines, fly into solar panels they mistake for bodies of water or become singed by the intense heat from concentrating solar power plants. While the death rate of birds due to these energy facilities is far less than deaths due to domestic cats and collisions with building, efforts to mitigate this problem is important, scientists say.

Vander Zanden and colleagues performed geospatial analyses of stable hydrogen isotope data obtained from feathers of 871 individual birds found dead at solar and wind energy facilities in California, representing 24 species.

Their analysis of natural-occurring markers in the feathers provided information about where the feathers were grown based on the water the birds consumed.

With these markers, we could determine whether the bird was local or if it was migrating from somewhere else, said Vander Zanden, who is the principal investigator of UFs Animal Migration and Ecology Lab.

Results from the study, which were published Friday in the journal Conservation Biology, show that the birds killed at the facilities were from a broad area across the continent. Their geographical origins varied among species and included a mix of local and nonlocal birds.

Researchers found most birds killed at solar facilities were nonlocal and peaked during the migratory periods of April and September through October. The percentage of migratory birds found at wind facilities nearly matched that of local birds, at 51%, Vander Zanden said.

This kind of data can help inform us about best strategies to use to minimize or mitigate the fatalities, she said. For example, facilities management could work with conservationists to improve the local habitat to help protect local birds or improve other parts of the species range where the migratory birds originate.

The results also illustrate the power of stable isotope data to assess future population growth or decline patterns for birds due to a variety of reasons.

Studying the remains of animals is a noninvasive approach to get information that is otherwise hard to track and apply to conservation, Vander Zanden said. Its a great way to understand the mysteries about animals.

Conservation Biology

The geographic extent of bird populations affected by renewable-energy development

5-Jan-2024

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Feathers from deceased birds help scientists understand new threat to avian populations - EurekAlert