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brad niles

Tenant Spotlight on ARIZ: Rising to the Challenge to Make Cancer Treatments More Humane 

Cancer treatments are often as grueling as the disease itself—chemotherapy can bring unbearable side effects like debilitating fatigue, nausea, and hair loss, leaving patients vulnerable and stripped of their identity. But what if cancer care could be better? More precise? Less harmful? Enter ARIZ Precision Medicine. Their mission is to revolutionize cancer care by developing therapies that not only fight the disease but also preserve the quality of life for patients. Learn how they're doing this in our latest Tenant Spotlight.

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Dart hits the bullseye

ARIZ One of “Eight Nanotechnology Companies to Watch Out for”

The company’s product is composed of a nanoparticle, which is customized based on the kind of cancer it is attacking, and has small interfering RNA (siRNA) that kill proteins that drive cancer without harming the neighboring healthy cells, cancer cell targeting peptides, as well as the chemotherapy drug – which is encapsulated within the nanoparticle. The nanoparticle is PEGylated, a process by which the polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG) is added to protect the drug. Read post
The HOPO Therapeutics team in front of the Bakar Labs core facility

HOPO Therapeutics Awarded Up to $226 Million from BARDA for Advanced Development of its Oral Decorporation Agent for Heavy Metal Toxicity

The funds will be used to advance development of the drug candidate HOPO-101 through registrational studies as a medical countermeasure against radiological threats, including planned submission of a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The initial award of approximately $9.4 million will fund toxicology and pharmacology studies, manufacturing activities, and nonclinical research in other types of heavy metal poisoning, with approximately $216 million in additional funding available for later-stage development upon agreement between BARDA and HOPO. Read post
aikium

Tenant Spotlight on Aikium: A Trillion Shots at Targeting Tangled Proteins

Aikium has essentially invented a new protein family. Called “SeqR” proteins, they are sequence specific binders that can be applied to different therapeutic needs such as cancer, neuro-inflammation, and some autoimmune disorders. Aikium is going after chemokine receptors, a subset of G-protein coupled receptors, a large class of molecules that have long proven difficult to target. By virtue of being on immune cells, they are front and center in cancer and immune-mediated diseases. Read post
RVB cells delivering protein therapy continuously on skin

NIH Awards ResVita Bio a $2M Phase II SBIR Grant for Continuous Protein Therapy for Netherton Syndrome

ResVita Bio is pioneering continuous protein therapy, delivered through a genetically engineered probiotic platform that temporarily colonizes the skin and continuously releases therapeutic proteins, such as LEKTI, to inhibit protease activity. This continuous delivery method ensures high levels of the therapeutic agent at the site of damage, restoring the integrity of the skin barrier. This represents a significant shift from traditional therapies, which may not provide sustained treatment at the site of the disease. Read post
David Hochschild of the California Energy Commission

Launch of Bakar ClimatEnginuity Hub Unites UC Berkeley Climate Tech Community

"Berkeley's different from Las Vegas: what starts here does not end here," said Dan Kammen, a UC Berkeley professor of energy and founding director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory, in his keynote address at the symposium to launch the Bakar ClimatEnginuity Hub (BCH), Berkeley's innovation center and incubator for climate technology. BCH will accelerate the commercialization of new technologies, sending them forth to be adopted by humanity across the world as we adapt to and combat climate change. Read post
Illustration of genetic sequence of zinc finger domains

ARIZ Precision Medicine Announces Grant of Key US Patent Covering Lead Cancer Drug

ARIZ has a proprietary ligand targeted nanoparticle drug delivery system designed to destroy cancer cells, without harming normal cells. ARIZ’s target a family of genes known as the PRDMs (Positive Regulatory Domain-containing Methyltransferases) that are genetic drivers that control cell growth, proliferation, survival and mobility. Studies show that alterations in the expression and activity of the PRDMs are among the first drivers in normal cells that lead to cancer cell formation. The PRDMs have been implicated in solid tumors such as breast, colon, gastric, liver, lung, melanoma, and prostate cancers, as well as in blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Read post
The Bakar ClimatEnginuity Hub, expected to open during the 2027-2028 academic year, will provide a home for entrepreneurs in the burgeoning field of climate technology. The donor-funded facility will be located on the west side of campus at the site currently occupied by University Hall. Rendering by Gensler

Bakar Climate Tech Incubator Recruiting Director of BD & Partnerships

The Director of Business Development and Partnerships of BCH will be responsible for developing highly innovative new programs and partnerships with local, national and international public and private entities to create and support a vibrant ecosystem that accelerates startup companies focused on the translation of scientific discoveries into solutions in the energy and climate tech marketplace. Read post
positivo accepts award

Positivo Biotechnology Wins Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s 2024 Golden Ticket Contest

Positivo Biotechnology has won the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s “Golden Ticket” Competition for their groundbreaking technology that may be the key to the next generation of treatments for cystic fibrosis. The company will receive one year of free office and lab space at Bakar Labs and access to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s network of resources to develop genetic therapies for cystic fibrosis. Read post
Graphic depiction of robot hand editing DNA

The AI Effect: How a Hot Computing Tool Is Tying ‘Bio’ and ‘Tech’ Closer Than Ever

“In protein design, until the last couple of years, successes were rare,” said Fraser, a professor of bioengineering and therapeutic sciences in UCSF's School of Pharmacy. “(AI has) just been a sea change. Stuff works now.” Those successes are elevating a new generation of AI-focused drug-development companies in the Bay Area, including Profluent Bio, a 20-person Berkeley startup founded by the leaders of the Salesforce project. In the wake created by ChatGPT and a wealth of biological data, those companies may be key to AI’s evolving ability to fix human ills. Read post
Sophia Lugo

Startup Launches With ‘RNA Sensor’ Technology From Stanford and MIT To Better Control mRNA Therapies

“We want to turn off an RNA transcript and prevent it from being expressed by default,” CSO Eerik Kaseniit, a former graduate student who worked on the technology in Gao’s lab, told Endpoints News in an interview. Radar’s scientists do that by adding a stop codon — three genetic letters that are the molecular equivalent of a red light — in front of the mRNA therapy, which prevents cells from reading the message. Read post
Illustration of hands exchanging money for lightbulb

Jim Collins’ Latest Venture Raises $13.4M To Programme Logic-Gated mRNA Therapies

Radar Therapeutics thinks it can push the technology to the next level – and into more diseases – with safety switches that boost cell specificity, safety, and accessibility. The biotech, co-founded by MIT professor and synthetic biology pioneer Jim Collins, launched Thursday with a $13.4-million seed round led by NfX Bio and boasting Eli Lilly as one of its investors. Read post