18 Oct2022

Variantyx Secures $20M Debt Financing to Support Precision Medicine in North America, Europe

Written by 2020HCP.com. Posted in News

NEW YORK – Variantyx said Tuesday that it has secured $20 million in debt financing from Kreos Capital. The genomic analysis company plans to use the additional cash to grow in the North American and European precision medicine markets, particularly in cancer.

Framingham, Massachusetts-based Variantyx offers a proprietary whole-genome analysis platform to support testing and diagnostics for rare genetic disorders, reproductive health, and precision oncology.

“Variantyx has built a unique and advanced platform for precision medicine, and its ability to process the whole genome sets it apart in the genomic diagnostics market. Our funds, which enhance the company’s already strong capital position, will allow it to significantly scale up its commercial efforts,” Aris Constantinides, general partner of London-based Kreos Capital, said in a statement.

Variantyx completed a $41.5 million Series C-2 funding round earlier this year, which supported the launch of the analysis platform. That built on a $26 million Series C that closed in two stages in 2021.

The company started with a proprietary WGS-based testing method for diagnosing rare inherited and neurological disorders but expanded into oncology and prenatal testing last year.

21 Jun2022

SQZ Biotechnologies Presents Celiac Disease Tolerizing Antigen Carrier Preclinical Data at 2022 Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS) Annual Meeting

Written by 2020HCP.com. Posted in News

WATERTOWN, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– SQZ Biotechnologies Company (NYSE: SQZ), focused on unlocking the full potential of cell therapies for multiple therapeutic areas, today presented Tolerizing Antigen Carrier (TACs) nonclinical results at the 2022 Federation of Clinical Immunology Sciences (FOCIS) annual meeting. The new celiac disease research found that in an in vitro assay, SQZ® TACs with deamidated gliadin, a protein associated with celiac disease, resulted in dendritic cell presentation of tolerizing antigens to T cells. In addition, the early data showed that the company’s Cell Squeeze® process could produce TACs with consistently high levels of antigen. The findings build upon additional research showing SQZ® TACs engineered to induce protection against type 1 diabetes could combat active autoimmune responses and prevent hyperglycemia.

28 Apr2022

SQZ Biotechnologies Receives FDA Fast Track Designation for its Lead Cell Therapy Candidate for the Treatment of HPV16+ Tumors

Written by 2020HCP.com. Posted in News

WATERTOWN, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– SQZ Biotechnologies (NYSE: SQZ), focused on unlocking the full potential of cell therapies for multiple therapeutic areas, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track Designation for the company’s lead cell therapy candidate, SQZ-PBMC-HPV, for the treatment of HPV16+ advanced or metastatic solid tumors.

11 Apr2022

SQZ Biotechnologies Presents New eAPC Preclinical Data Demonstrating That Multiplexed mRNA Engineering of Immune Cells Increases Killer T Cell Activity In Vivo

Written by 2020HCP.com. Posted in News

WATERTOWN, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– SQZ Biotechnologies (NYSE: SQZ), focused on unlocking the full potential of cell therapies for multiple therapeutic areas, today shared enhanced antigen presenting cell (eAPC) preclinical data demonstrating that delivery of multiple mRNAs encoding for disease-specific antigens together with immune stimulators (CD86 costimulatory factor and membrane bound IL-2 and IL-12 cytokines) had a synergistic effect that substantially increased killer T cells in humanized mouse models.

05 Apr2022

SQZ Biotechnologies Publishes Comprehensive Preclinical Research on SQZ® TAC Platform’s Ability to Induce Multiple Key Mechanisms of Antigen-Specific Tolerance and Protect Against Type 1 Diabetes

Written by 2020HCP.com. Posted in News

WATERTOWN, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– SQZ Biotechnologies (NYSE: SQZ), focused on unlocking the full potential of cell therapies for multiple therapeutic areas, today announced the publication of comprehensive preclinical research on the SQZ® Tolerizing Antigen Carrier (TAC) platform. The data, published in Frontiers in Immunology, demonstrated that TACs can induce multiple key mechanisms of antigen-specific tolerance in various model systems, including deletion of autoreactive T cells, anergy, and expansion of regulatory T cells (Tregs) capable of bystander suppression. In an in vivo model of type 1 diabetes (T1D), the TAC treatment was able to combat active autoimmune responses and prevent hyperglycemia.

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