Monthly Archives: May 2021

This year, vaping and other key respiratory issues join COVID-19 on the agenda for the ATS 2021 International Conference.

Vaping really fell under the radar. And I actually think it would be worth mentioning that it hasn't gone away, said Andrew J. Halayko, PhD, ATSF, FCAHS, professor of physiology and pathophysiology and internal medicine at the University of Manitoba, in Canada, and chair of the international conference.

The conference begins Friday, May 14, formally opening with a keynote address on Saturday from Anthony Fauci, MD, titled, COVID-19 in 2021: Lessons Learned and Remaining Challenges. Fauci is President Joe Biden's medical adviser and head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

In an interview with The American Journal of Managed Care, Halayko gave a broad overview of what attendees can expect to hear during the meeting.

Asthma management guidelines

This session, called Three in One: Updates on Asthma Management From 3 Guidelines Committees, was postponed from last year, Halayko said, to ensure that it received due attention. It will highlight the most recent recommendations from the US National Asthma Education and Prevention Program and the Global Initiative for Asthma, as well as guidelines from the European Respiratory Society and the ATS.

Biologics and biomarkers

A number of presentations and posters will focus on various aspects of biologics and biomarkers for severe asthma, which affects about 10% of patients.

What we're learning is that a really good antibody therapy for asthma doesn't fit all, and it's really important to endotype or phenotype the patient, Halayko said. Given the expense of newer therapies, its vital to know which subset of patients they will help the most, he added.

COPD

Every talk in the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) section is starred as a hot topic, Halayko said, partly in recognition of the fact that it's time to move forward with a better understanding of disease pathology, but also therapies where we really have not made significant progress. And we are starting to get to the point where precision medicine and large data studies, omics studies, are coming forward.

Vaping and cannabis

There are more than 2 dozen posters on vaping and cannabis, the long-term pulmonary effects of which are not known. Previous studies have linked vaping to more severe effects from COVID-19. The 2019 e-cigarette or vaping-associated lung injury epidemic is continuing, and various presentations and posters will discuss the types of injuries seen, the chemicals involved, recovery trajectories, and more.

Racism and health equity

The president of ATS, Juan C. Celedn, MD, DrPH, division director, Pulmonology; the Niels K. Jerne Professor of Pediatrics; and professor of medicine, epidemiology, and human genetics, chairs a symposium asking if racial and ethnic disparities in respiratory health can be eliminated. Social determinants of health, universal health care, improving access to lung cancer screening, and other areas are up for discussion by the panel.

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5 Things to Watch for at the ATS 2021 International Conference - AJMC.com Managed Markets Network

BETHESDA, Md., May 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --The National Coordinating Center for the Regional Genetics Network (NCC) is excited to announce the second annual Public Health Genetics Week from May 24-28, 2021. The goal of Public Health Genetics Week is to increase awareness and to celebrate the field of public health genetics.

Each day of Public Health Genetics Week will have a different theme:

Individuals and organizations are encouraged to participate in the week by using the hashtags #PHGW and #PublicHealthGenetics across their social media platforms.

The following events will also occur throughout the week:

Ken Burns Presents The Gene: An Intimate HistoryVirtual Screening

In collaboration with WETA Washington, D.C., virtual daily screenings of Ken Burns Presents The Gene: An Intimate History ("THE GENE") will be held to celebrate Public Health Genetics Week. The landmark four-hour documentary seriesweaves together science, history, and personal stories to present a historical biography of the human genome, while also exploring groundbreaking breakthroughs for diagnosis and treatment of genetic diseases, and the complex web of moral, ethical and scientific questions raised by developments in genetics.

Listed below is the virtual screening schedule. More information, including registration information, can be found at https://phgw.org/thegene.

For more information about the film, visit https://pbs.org/thegene.

Social Media Events

Other Activities

OnPHGW.org, everyone can find more information about the daily themes, social media events, and social media tools (such as daily social media images, GIFs, social media banners, and more).

For questions or comments about Public Health Genetics Week, please contact [emailprotected]and be sure to follow NCC (@nccrcg) onFacebook,Instagram,LinkedIn,TikTok, andTwitterfor the latest updates on the week.

About the National Coordinating Center for the Regional Genetics Networks (NCC)

Funded since 2004 by the Health Resources and Services Administration/Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), NCC's mission is to improve access to genetic services for underserved populations. In collaboration with the seven Regional Genetics Network (RGNs) and the National Genetics Education and Family Support Center (NGEFSC), NCC achieves this mission by working in the following focus areas: genetics and genomics education; genetics policy education; telemedicine; and data collection and evaluation. Learn more about the efforts of the NCC athttps://nccrcg.org.

NCC Funding Acknowledgement

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Cooperative Agreement #UH9MC30770-01-00 from June 2020 to May 2024 for $800,000 per award year.

This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. government.

About Ken Burns Presents The Gene: An Intimate History

Ken Burns Presents The Gene: An Intimate Historyis a production of Florentine Films and WETA Washington, D.C., in association with Ark Media. Executive Producer and Senior Creative Consultant: Ken Burns. Written by Geoffrey C. Ward; and Barak Goodman & David Blistein. Based on the book "The Gene: An Intimate History" by Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee. Narrator: David Costabile. Senior Producer: Barak Goodman. Directors: Chris Durrance and Jack Youngelson. Executive Producers: Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, Dalton Delan, Tom Chiodo, John F. Wilson and Anne Harrington. Production funding has been provided by Genentech, 23andMe, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Gray Foundation, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) & Conquer Cancer Foundation, Judy and Peter Blum Kovler Foundation, Craig and Susan McCaw Foundation, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The Outreach and Education Partner is National Institutes of Health, National Human Genome Research Institute. Outreach support is provided by Foundation Medicine.

About WETA Washington, D.C.

WETA Washington, D.C., is a leading producer of new content for public television in the United States. WETA productions and co-productions include PBS NewsHour; Washington Week; documentaries by filmmaker Ken Burns, including Ken Burns Presents The Gene: An Intimate History, Cancer: The Emperor of all Maladies, Hemingway and the forthcoming MuhammadAli;and series and specials by scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., including Finding Your Roots, Reconstruction: America After the Civil War and The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song. WETA's multi-year campaign Well Beings addresses the critical health needs of Americans. More information on WETA and its programs and services is available at weta.org. On social media, visit facebook.com/wetatvfmon Facebook and follow @WETAtvfmon Twitter.

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SOURCE National Coordinating Center for the Regional Genetics Networks (NCC)

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National Coordinating Center for the Regional Genetics Network (NCC) Announces the Second Annual Public Health Genetics Week, May 24-28, 2021 -...

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Third Rock Ventures has closed a Series A financing round thatraised $82 million, funding which will be used to launchFlare Therapeutics, a new biotech startup focused on developing precision treatments for cancer and other diseases. Significant contributions were made to the Series A by Boxer Capital, Nextech Invest, Casdin Capital, Invus Financial Advisors, and Eventide Asset Management.

Flare uses a switch-site based drug discovery approach, which helped the company develop a pipeline of therapeutic programs that target pivotal cancer drivers such as transcription factor dysregulation and mutations. The new financing from the Series A will support its ability to advance its lead precision oncology program toward the clinic.

Flare currently has three lead precision oncology programs. The first program is expected to move into the clinic in 2023 or 2024, while the following two programs are expected to enter the clinic in the two years following.

Abbie Celniker, Ph.D., Flares interim Chief Executive Officer, and Third Rock Ventures partner, said in a statement that the new startup company was created to pursue the mission of conquering transcription factors which have been one of the most sought-after targets of drug developers based on the central role they play in cancer and other diseases.

Transcription factors appear to play a central role in cancer, among other diseases, according to emerging data and scientific discoveries published over the past ten years. Yet, transcription factors have continued to be elusive for finding targetable sites for drug discovery, with less than 1% of transcription factors successfully targeted for medicines, according to a statement made by Flares Scientific Co-Founder, Fraydoon Rastinejad, Ph.D., a professor of biochemistry and structural biology at the University of Oxford.

The novel drug discovery paradigm established by Flare uses an approach that targets transcription factors. According to the company, this strategy is based primarily on a broader understanding of the cooperative communication and allosteric interaction among the elements of the transcriptional molecular complex, in contrast to the previous scientific focus on only single, isolated transcription factor domains.

Recent work by the companys Scientific Co-Founders has helped Flare gain a greater understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in targeting transcription factors. This understanding, according to Flare, has helped its research team to recognize the broad potential to generalize these principles to the switch site as a focal point for drugging transcription factors in a new way.

Scientific Co-Founder of Flare, Steven McKnight, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Texas, Southwestern, noted, Maturation of the fields of human genetics and the biochemistry of gene regulation now point us towards opportunities for therapeutic intervention using conventional, small molecule drugs.

Likely, Flare will also plan to use the new Series A funding to grow its staff to 25 employees. Currently, the company employs 12 to 15 full-time staffers, mainly relying on contractors and partners to fulfill its operational needs.

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Third Rock Ventures Launches Flare Therapeutics With $82 Million Series A - BioSpace

Research that we have part-funded has led to the discovery of 179 kidney genes responsible for high blood pressure.

Scientists who led the study, which has been published in Nature Genetics, say that this sheds new light on our understanding of genes associated with the condition.

High blood pressure is a key risk factor for heart and circulatory diseases, such as heart attack and stroke, and can run in families. However, the exact ways in which genes can cause people to inherit the condition is not clear.

The study found how certain information inherited in DNA can translate into an increased likelihood of high blood pressure, through changes in the activity of certain kidney genes.

The research, led by Professor Maciej Tomaszewski at The University of Manchester, was possible through access to huge datasets of human DNA and biological material known as RNA from possibly the worlds largest source of human kidney tissue samples.

Around 80 per cent of the 179 genes discovered by the team have never been associated with high blood pressure before. Some of these genes can be targeted by existing medicines, creating new opportunities to treat the condition.

Professor James Leiper, our Associate Medical Director, said: We have known for many years that the kidney is a major regulator of blood pressure, but our understanding of precisely how the kidney controls blood pressure is incomplete.

The identification of this large set of genes that appear to directly affect blood pressure fills in an important missing piece of that puzzle. The researchers have also found a subset of these genes that are a potential new target for the treatment of hypertension.

This is important because many people taking existing medications still struggle to control their blood pressure. If doctors have more tools to work with then it will help stop thousands of lives being lost each year from this potentially preventable condition.

The study was also supported by Kidney Research UK.

OUR RESEARCH INTO HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

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Genes responsible for high blood pressure discovered in the human kidney - British Heart Foundation

PITTSBURGH, May 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NeuBase Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: NBSE) ("NeuBase" or the "Company"), a biotechnology company accelerating the genetic revolution with a new class of precision genetic medicines, announced today the appointment of Gerald (Gerry) J. McDougall to the Company's Board of Directors. For more than 25 years, Mr. McDougall has been the driving force behind large-scale strategic alliances, joint ventures, and industry partnerships across the healthcare industry to advance innovations in precision medicine and cancer.

"Gerry's deep expertise, passionate commitment to improve the human condition, and vast network have been the foundation for numerous transformational alliances in life sciences and healthcare, and his ability to create synergistic combinations of people, ideas, and resources is exceptional," said Dietrich A. Stephan, Ph.D., Founder, CEO and Chairman of NeuBase. "The Board and I look forward to working closely with Gerry as we advance NeuBase's comprehensive approach to precision genetic medicine to address previously untreatable diseases."

"Genetics are the foundation for understanding and treating rare and common diseases including cancers, and the ability to precisely modulate gene function is key to developing new medicines for the many diseases that still have no treatment options," said Mr. McDougall. "I have dedicated my career to coalescing divergent approaches to achieve precision care, and I believe NeuBase can unify the field of precision genetic medicine with its PATrOL technology platform."

Mr. McDougall spent almost his entire career as a senior partner at PwC where he built and led the firm's Global Health Science consulting practice before retiring. He has worked across the entire ecosystem of the healthcare industry and advised an array of Fortune 500 companies, including leading global pharmaceutical companies. Mr. McDougall has been instrumental around the globe in building public-private partnerships to address human health imperatives. These include the creation and maturation of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), Arizona's renowned bio-cluster; the design and launch of the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC); the strategic plan for the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and the Country of Luxemburg's biotechnology commercialization ecosystem.

About NeuBase Therapeutics, Inc.NeuBase is accelerating the genetic revolution by developing a new class of precision genetic medicines which can be designed to increase, decrease, or change gene function, as appropriate, to resolve genetic defects that drive disease. NeuBase's targeted PATrOL therapies are centered around its proprietary drug scaffold to address genetic diseases at the DNA or RNA level by combining the highly targeted approach of traditional genetic therapies with the broad organ distribution capabilities of small molecules. With an initial focus on silencing disease-causing mutations in debilitating neurological, neuromuscular, and oncologic disorders, NeuBase is committed to redefining medicine for the millions of patients with both common and rare conditions. To learn more, visit http://www.neubasetherapeutics.com.

Use of Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are distinguished by use of words such as "will," "would," "anticipate," "expect," "believe," "designed," "plan," or "intend," the negative of these terms, and similar references to future periods. Forward-looking statements include, among others, those related to the anticipated strategic guidance and assistance that the Company's new director will provide to support the Company's comprehensive approach to precision genetic medicine to address previously untreatable diseases. These views involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and, accordingly, our actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in our forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date of this press release. Factors or events that we cannot predict, including those risk factors contained in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), may cause our actual results to differ from those expressed in forward-looking statements. The Company may not actually achieve the plans, carry out the intentions or meet the expectations or projections disclosed in the forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Because such statements deal with future events and are based on the Company's current expectations, they are subject to various risks and uncertainties, and actual results, performance or achievements of the Company could differ materially from those described in or implied by the statements in this press release, including: the Company's plans to develop and commercialize its product candidates; the timing of initiation of the Company's planned clinical trials; the timing of the availability of data from the Company's clinical trials; the timing of any planned investigational new drug application or new drug application; the Company's plans to research, develop and commercialize its current and future product candidates; the clinical utility, potential benefits and market acceptance of the Company's product candidates; the Company's commercialization, marketing and manufacturing capabilities and strategy; global health conditions, including the impact of COVID-19; the Company's ability to protect its intellectual property position; and the requirement for additional capital to continue to advance these product candidates, which may not be available on favorable terms or at all, as well as those risk factors contained in our filings with the SEC. Except as otherwise required by law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise.

NeuBase Investor Contact:Dan FerryManaging DirectorLifeSci Advisors, LLCdaniel@lifesciadvisors.comOP: (617) 430-7576

NeuBase Media Contact:Jessica Yingling, Ph.D.Little Dog Communications Inc.jessica@litldog.com+1 (858) 344-8091

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NeuBase Therapeutics Appoints Gerald J. McDougall to Board of Directors - BioSpace