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Innovation community news – March
Published on 28 March 2025
Image caption: ©Oxitec Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
News and announcements from Milton Park based companies:
- Immunocore presents data for HIV functional cure
- Gylden Pharma plans clinical trials
- Nium nominated for The Earthshot Prize 2025
- Oxitec scales innovation for impact
- Summit Therapeutics announces collaboration with Pfizer
Immunocore presents data for HIV functional cure
Milton Park-based Immunocore has presented initial data for a functional cure that could enable people with HIV to remain healthy without lifelong antiretroviral treatment, which currently involves a combination of drugs to stop the virus replicating in the body.
The data presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in San Francisco, shows that IMC-M113V, the first T-cell receptor bispecific therapy to target HIV in the clinic, is well-tolerated in the multiple ascending dose* (MAD) portion of is Phase 1/2 trial.
*A multiple ascending dose is a type of trial designed for safety
Dr Beatriz Mothe, Associate Investigator, HIV Unit, Infectious Diseases Department, IrsiCaixa, commented: “I am encouraged by the safety profile and initial signals of anti-viral activity of IMC-M113V in the Phase 1/2 trial.
“I look forward to further data from the trial at higher doses, as part of wider efforts to find solutions that could enable people with HIV to remain healthy without lifelong antiretroviral treatment.”
Gylden Pharma plans clinical trials
Clinical-stage biotechnology company based at Milton Park, Gylden Pharma has announced that clinical trials are planned to evaluate its T-cell priming (TcP) candidates against Dengue fever, an infection spread by mosquitoes, in a Phase II study, as well as disease caused by Betacoronaviruses, which pose significant epidemic or pandemic risk, in Phase I-II and Phase II trials.
Professor Thomas Rademacher, Co-founder, Executive Director and CEO of Gylden Pharma, commented: “We begin 2025 having achieved substantial milestones in 2024 and anticipating major innovations in how the world approaches infectious diseases and pandemic threats.”
Nium nominated for The Earthshot Prize 2025
Milton Park-based nanotechnology start-up Nium, has been nominated for The Earthshot Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious environmental awards dedicated to accelerating groundbreaking solutions that can repair and regenerate the planet.
Launched by Prince William and Sir David Attenborough in 2020, the Prize’s five winners will be awarded £1 million to scale their innovations and drive climate impact.
Lewis Jenkins, Co-Founder of Nium, commented: “We are incredibly proud and excited to be in the nominations for the 2025 Earthshot Prize.
“When we founded Nium, a company with a mission to eliminate emissions, we aspired to be recognised by Earthshot, so this is a dream come true for our small team.
“We have worked hard to get this nomination and are grateful to all the nominees and supporters who put us here.”
Oxitec scales innovation for impact
Oxitec is collaborating with industry leaders across Asia to advance and scale the next generation of biological solutions to combat the escalating threat of vector-borne diseases*.
The Milton Park-based biotech shared that its Friendly™ mosquitoes are already protecting communities in Brazil from dengue-spreading Aedes aegypti (also known as the yellow fever mosquito), demonstrating a proven, safe and effective biological control approach. Oxitec is now scaling Sparks™, harnessing Wolbachia, a dengue-blocking technology, to expand impact across Asia.
*A vector-borne disease results from an infection transmitted to humans and other animals by blood-feeding arthropods such as mosquitoes.
Summit Therapeutics announces collaboration with Pfizer
In a step forward in tackling cancer tumours, Summit Therapeutics has announced it will be collaborating with global biopharmaceutical company, Pfizer for clinical trials evaluating potential first-in-class investigational antibody, Ivonescimab, in combination with antibody drug conjugates* (ADCs), in unique solid tumour settings.
*Antibody drug conjugates are a combination of chemotherapy and targeted therapy to treat certain tumours
Bob Duggan and Dr. Maky Zanganeh, CO-CEOs at Summit Therapeutics, commented: “As we seek to accelerate the development of our potentially transformative ivonescimab across non-small cell lung cancer and other solid tumour settings, this collaboration will allow us to quickly advance beyond our promising late-stage development plan to evaluate ivonescimab in combination with some of the most innovative ADCs from Pfizer.”
Clinical trials are expected to begin mid-2025.
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