Weekly Quick Hits (Greater Philly) – Week of April 3, 2023
By Mark Terry, Alex Keown, and Sarah Ellinwood
April 7, 2023
Funding, Awards and Collaborations
Jefferson U to Expand Jefferson Institute of Bioprocessing Facilities
The Jefferson Institute for Bioprocessing (JIB), part of Thomas Jefferson University, officially announced its facility expansion program. It plans to increase production area to include four more clean room suites and empower pilot-scale production of early phase clinical cell and gene therapy material for clients.
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Receives $10 Million to Study Neurofibromatosis
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) received more than $10 million in a series of gifts to fund research into neurofibromatosis (NF1). The funding is from the Gilbert Family Foundation. NF1 is a genetic disease characterized by skin changes, skeletal abnormalities, and tumors.
Therapeutic Articulations Awarded $1 Million-Plus for Joint Mobility Device
Philadelphia-based Therapeutic Articulations received over $1 million by the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The awards were used to develop and launch an innovative joint mobility device, the Mobil-Aider.
Incyte and Biotheryx Ink Research and License Deal
Delaware-based Incyte and San Diego-based Biotheryx inked a Research Collaboration and License agreement to discover and develop targeted protein degraders for novel oncology targets. Biotheryx will use its PRODEGY platform to identify and initially develop molecular glue degraders. Incyte is paying the company a technology access fee of $7 million with an additional $6 million in potential R&D funding for costs tied to the collaboration.
Research Roundup
Penn Med Research: Model to Predict CV Risk in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients
Researchers at Penn Medicine developed a new proteomic risk model for cardiovascular disease in chronic kidney disease patients. The study evaluated almost 5,000 proteins in 2,667 participants with CKD from the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) and the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) cohort.
Penn Research: Exposure Therapy for Kids with Eating Disorders
Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine found that exposure therapy is a promising treatment for adolescents with eating disorders. Exposure to feared foods, such as candy bars and pizza, helped the kids who were in a partial hospitalization program for eating disorders experience reduced anxiety toward food.
Princeton Research: Tracking Chromatin State Changes
Chromatin is a DNA-protein complex that binds DNA into chromosomes. Researchers at Princeton published research using µMap, a proximity-labeling system, and in nucleo protein trans-splicing to study minute interactions in chromatin and how it changes in the presence of genetic mutations.
People on the Move
Jabboure Netto to Chair Pathology and Lab Med at Penn Medicine
Starting August 1, 2023, George Jabboure Netto, MD, will join the Perelman School of Medicine, and chair the department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Dr. Netto was previously professor and the Robert and Ruth Anderson Endowed Chair of Pathology at The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Heersink School of Medicine.
Rocket Expands C-Suite
Rocket Pharmaceuticals, headquartered in Cranbury, NJ, expanded its leadership team to support its pipeline of AAV and LV gene therapy assets. Jonathan Schwartz, MD, founding CMO, has been appointed to the newly created position of Chief Gene Therapy Officer. Mark White, MB.ChB joins the company as CMO after more than 25 years at AstraZeneca.
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