【Portfolio】Viva Biotech Portfolio Highlights: Clinical and Financing Updates of AIxplorerBIO, Genhouse, VivaVision, Domain, Amberstone, Anji and QurAlis
Jul 28, 2022 | Source: Viva Biotech
AIxplorerBIO and the Institute of Immunology at Tsinghua University Reached a Strategic Collaboration Agreement to Explore and Promote the R&D of New Drugs in the Field of Autoimmunity
Recently, AIxplorerBIO, which invested and incubated by Viva BioInnovator, reached a strategic collaboration agreement with the Institute of Immunology at Tsinghua University in the field of autoimmunity on the pathogenesis of selected diseases, the selection and validation of relevant targets, and other topics of mutual interests. The two sides held their first pipeline strategy meeting in Beijing on July 19. Professor Xiaoyu Hu, the Executive Director for the Institute, Professors Zhihua Liu and Wenwen Zeng participated in the discussion. This strategic collaboration, combined with the AIxplorerBio team's rich experience in drug R&D, coupled with the company's comprehensive AI drug discovery platform AIxMol, will position AIxplorerBio at the forefront in the AI drug discovery race to bring better treatment options to patients with autoimmune diseases.
CDE Accepted the IND Application of Genhouse's ERK1/2 Inhibitor GH55
On July 12th, 2022, Genhouse Bio, a biotech company focusing on developing next-generation small molecule anti-cancer therapeutics and incubated by Viva BioInnovator, announced that the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) has recently accepted the IND application for the new Class I drug, GH55. At the same time, the company is actively preparing for the IND filing of this program in the U.S.
The clinical trial application of GH55 further improves the strategic layout of Genhouse Bio's 1.0 pipeline in the RAS/MAPK signaling pathway. GH55 is a dual-mechanism ERK1/2 inhibitor that inhibits not only the kinase activity of ERK1/2, but also the activation of ERK1/2 by MEK. It thus has the potential to overcome the acquired drug resistance caused by the negative feedback loop.
VVN539, an Innovative Dual-target Glaucoma Drug Independently Developed by VivaVision, Completed the Enrollment of the First Patient in Phase II Clinical Trials in the United States
On July 8th, VivaVision Biotech, Inc. (VivaVision), an innovative ophthalmic drug company focusing on differentiation and global new development and which was invested and incubated by Viva BioInnovator, completed a big milestone. It announced that its self-developed dual-target drug VVN539 has completed the first patient enrollment of the Phase II clinical study for patients with open-angle glaucoma in Rochester Ophthalmological Group, New York, USA. This also sets a new milestone of the first independent innovation drug for glaucoma in China entering a stage for rapid advancement. This clinical study is a randomized, double-blinded, vehicle-controlled, dose-exploratory, phase II clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of VVN539 eye drops. VVN539 is an ophthalmic drug independently developed by VivaVision with global intellectual property rights. As a new-generation drug with a dual-target mechanism, VVN539 directly acts on the trabecular meshwork of the eye to increase the outflow of aqueous humor and achieve an ideal reduction in the intraocular pressure.
Domain Therapeutics receives a single digit multimillion development milestone payment from Merck for M1069 clinical development in immuno-oncology
On June 28, 2022, Domain Therapeutics, which invested and incubated by Viva BioInnovator, is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the research and development of innovative drugs targeting G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) in immuno-oncology (IO), announced that it obtained a single digit multimillion milestone payment from Merck as part of the €240m ($261m) milestone payments and undisclosed royalties collaboration and license partnership signed in 2017.
M1069 is an orally available small molecule antagonist of adenosine receptors discovered jointly by both companies. This productive and successful partnership, based on Domain's expertise in GPCR medicinal chemistry, pharmacology and drug discovery, led to the identification of the drug candidate M1069 to be included in the oncology pipeline of Merck. This drug candidate is the first out of Domain's pipeline to reach clinical development stage in immuno-oncology.