Public Health England

AMSTERDAM and LONDON, May 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tessellate BIO, a preclinical stage biotechnology company with a focus on novel Synthetic Lethality approaches, today announces the appointment of Professor Sandra Strauss, University College London, to its Scientific Advisory Board. The SAB, which recently convened a successful meeting in San Diego ahead of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, brings together international experts to help guide the company’s scientific strategy and plays an important role in building Tessellate BIO’s academic networks so it can access cutting-edge research from international world-renowned laboratories to bring into its drug discovery programs. Dr. Jurgen Moll, Tessellate BIO CSO, said: “Sandra is an acknowledged leader in the treatment of bone and soft tissue sarcomas in both adults and teenagers and it is an honor to welcome her to our SAB. She joins an international group whose expertise and counsel we hugely value as we seek to redefine Synthetic Lethality, taking it beyond its proven potential in Homology Recombination Deficiency, and into areas where it can impact more cancers and more patients.” Prof. Sandra Strauss, University College London, said: “There is a clear need for new treatment approaches for many cancer indications and particularly for the treatment of sarcoma, where there has been very limited innovation, such that we commonly still rely on toxic drugs originally developed many decades ago. Tessellate’s approach to precision oncology is an exciting development with a strong rationale in sarcoma and I look forward to working with the team and the rest of the SAB to help the company advance its programs and, ultimately, bring new potential treatments to patients.” Sandra is Professor of Medical and Teenage Young Adult Cancer (TYA) and an honorary consultant medical oncologist at University College London Hospital NHS Trust. Her clinical role is based within the London Sarcoma Service, one of the largest sarcoma services in Europe. Here, she leads the clinical service, and specialises in the systemic treatment of bone and soft tissue sarcomas in both adults and teenagers. Her research appointment at UCL focuses on development of novel therapeutics in sarcomas across all ages. She is the chief investigator and principal investigator for a number of international and national phase I, II and III studies in sarcoma and is leading a national cohort study in osteosarcoma, ICONIC. She chairs the NCRI Sarcoma Clinical Studies Group Bone Subgroup and the executive committee of the European EuroEwing consortium (EEC), a pan-European collaboration to improve outcome for patients with Ewing sarcoma. She is also a member of the EORTC Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcoma Group and Innovative Therapies for Children with Cancer (ITCC) consortium and is the clinical lead for sarcoma and rare cancers for the Public Health England (PHE) National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS). Other members of the SAB were announced in 2023 - Tessellate BIO Andree Blaukat, CEO - andree.blaukat@tessellatebio.com Media Enquiries Charles Consultants Sue Charles – Sue@charles-consultants.com +44 (0)7968 726585 Chris Gardner - Chris@CGComms.onmicrosoft.com +44 (0)7956 031077 About Tessellate BIO Tessellate BIO discovers and develops novel precision oncology medicines with the mission to turn cancer patients into cancer survivors. A private preclinical stage biotechnology company, Tessellate BIO is redefining Synthetic Lethality by developing drugs that target unexplored or difficult to drug pathways beyond HRD. The company’s strategy is to drive small molecule drug discovery towards novel, validated oncology targets and, critically, the parallel development of associated companion diagnostics, including a potentially best-in-class diagnostic to detect ALT positive cancers for identification of treatment-eligible patients. The company also has follow-on programs in tumor suppressor Loss-of-Function (LoF) settings. Led by an experienced team of drug hunters, the company is building a pipeline of first-in-class medicines based on cutting-edge research sourced from international world-renowned laboratories including Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI), Australia and Instituto de Medicina Molecular (iMM), Portugal. Its lead program targets complexes that are critical for the ALT mechanism including the FANCM protein complex. Headquartered in the Netherlands and with research labs at the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, UK, Tessellate BIO is supported by top-tier life science investors BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) and Forbion. For more information, please visit: | follow us on LinkedIn

MANILA, Philippines, Jan. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumer advocacy group Quit for Good asked the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) to consider the lives of more than a billion smokers when it convenes the 10th Conference of the Parties in Panama next week. Dr. Lorenzo Mata Jr., president of Quit for Good, said the WHO should implement FCTC Article 1 (d) on harm reduction strategies to help smokers. The treaty defines tobacco control as "a range of supply, demand and harm reduction strategies." Continue Reading "Consider the lives of more than a billion smokers" - Dr. Lorenzo Mata of QFG, Nancy Loucas of CAPRHA and Prof. Jay Jazul of HARAP "Offering safer nicotine products to millions of adult smokers who want to reduce their exposure to toxic substances from smoke is common sense. This is what tobacco harm reduction (THR) is all about, which the WHO FCTC refuses to implement despite being part of the global treaty," Dr. Mata said. Representatives from countries that are signatories to the WHO FCTC will meet in Panama for the 10th Conference of the Parties this year, after the meeting was cancelled in November 2023, to tackle major topics such as how to treat "novel and emerging tobacco and nicotine products". The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) said blocking the use of products that can help save smokers' lives is against the mission of the WHO FCTC—a global treaty endorsed by most countries. "People who smoke should have the right to access less harmful alternatives to smoking, and the WHO FCTC should focus on helping them. We need a pragmatic campaign to reduce the harm caused by smoking, rather than a dogmatic, deceptive, ineffective campaign to compel abstinence," CAPHRA executive coordinator Nancy Loucas said. Loucas said the annual reviews of the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, formerly Public Health England, have consistently shown that vaping carries a fraction of the risks of smoking. "Despite the overwhelming scientific evidence supporting vaping products as less harmful alternatives to smoking, the WHO has consistently disregarded the positive role that vaping can play in tobacco control," she said. "It is time for the WHO FCTC and its member states to listen to the voice of the people that they are supposed to fight for and not against—the over 1 billion smokers whose lives are in danger if they continue to smoke," she said. Prof. Jay Jazul, Lead Convener of the Harm Reduction Alliance of the Philippines (HARAP), said: "E-cigarettes do not threaten public health but provide smokers with an exit from smoking, which is the real problem. The WHO's failure to substantiate its claims against e-cigarettes and labeling these innovative products an emerging threat to public health is worrisome." "The nicotine was not the problem, it was the delivery system that was the problem. We've known that for 50 years," said Professor David Sweanor of the University of Ottawa at a recent conference in Korea. "The best example of how products that don't burn tobacco can benefit public health comes from Sweden, which has the lowest smoking prevalence among men in the European Union and consequently the lowest tobacco-related mortality," said Dr. Lars M. Ramström, the principal investigator at the Institute for Tobacco Studies. Dr. Ramström served as a WHO expert and as secretary general of the 4th World Conference on Smoking and Health. "The meeting of the world's health leaders in Panama, the COP10, represents a unique opportunity to take a fresh look at the most recent evidence with an open mind. After all, if Sweden had followed WHO's advice from twenty years ago and banned snus, tobacco-related deaths in Sweden would have been much higher and the only unintended beneficiary profiting from such advice would be the cigarette industry," added Ramström. Contact: Jeimie Franco +639175593170 [email protected] SOURCE Quit For Good

The "sister hospitals" affiliation deal closing July 1 comes with a $500 million-plus investment into Franciscan Children's facilities, inpatient and behavioral bed increases, increased staffing targets and a push toward fully integrated pediatric care. Boston Children’s Hospital and nearby Franciscan Children’s are moving forward with an affiliation agreement that includes hundreds of millions in modernization investments and strengthened medically complex post-acute services for the region’s largest pediatric provider. The organizations had signed and announced the agreement back in October 2021, but have now confirmed that the arrangement will close on July 1. The deal sees Franciscan Children’s retain its branding as a “sister hospital” to Boston Children’s, though it will now be under the umbrella of Boston Children’s parent organization, Children’s Medical Center Corp. “We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity together to create a transformative new model of children’s behavioral and rehabilitative care, better serving the needs of our community and the children and families we serve,” Joseph Mitchell, M.D., president and CEO of Franciscan Children’s, said in the announcement. “We cannot wait to start this new chapter with our partners at Boston Children’s Hospital.” Brighton, Massachusetts-based Franciscan Children’s is the only pediatric post-acute provider in New England, offering specialized rehabilitation and mental health services. The organization had long collaborated with Boston Children’s on clinical coordination, preferred provider arrangements, staffing and advocacy. Their application for a Determination of Need to pursue the affiliation was approved by the Massachusetts Public Health Council in August 2022. By joining forces, the providers said they will be able to take a more integrated approach to children’s health across inpatient, outpatient, primary care and school-based settings. They also plan to expand outpatient therapy and partial hospitalization programs, children’s mental health research, community- and school-based prevention programs. In terms of concrete commitments, the deal will include a $500 million-plus investment in modernizing the Franciscan Children’s campus with, among other updates, “a new, state-of-the-art, net carbon-neutral building that will house the full continuum of care programs for medical rehabilitation and mental health services,” the organizations said. The organizations also said they plan to hire 150 to 200 additional full-time employees by 2030, bump up training programs and build “a diverse employee pipeline from high school through medical school.” Of note, demand for pediatric behavioral health services has escalated during the pandemic years. Researchers and organizations have sounded warnings on increased emergency care strain due in part to pediatric patients presenting with conditions such as attempted suicide, self-injury and depressive disorders. “We are in the midst of a children’s mental health crisis, and it’s clear our system simply isn’t working for children and families,” Boston Children’s Hospital President and CEO Kevin Churchwell, M.D., said in a statement. “It’s why we are coming together as one team to act with the urgency this crisis demands. Together we will reshape children’s mental health and rehabilitative care through a fully integrated approach focused on improved prevention, identification and treatment of these diseases. And we’ll do it while breaking down barriers caused by systemic racism and ensuring that every child has access to care regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender or zip code.” Eastern Massachusetts’ pediatric care market was upended in early 2022 with the shutdown of Tufts Medical Center’s inpatient services for children. At the time, patients and dozens of pediatric physicians were transferred to Boston Children’s. With the affiliation, Boston Children’s and Franciscan Children’s said they will be increasing the number of beds available for pediatric inpatient services from 98 to 127 and nearly doubling their existing behavioral health bed capacity. “This will reduce the number of kids forced to board in emergency rooms for medical and mental health needs,” they said in the announcement.