New York Blood Center, Inc.

Industry Veterans Appointed to Drive Strategic Vision of the Specialized Investment FundBOSTON, Oct. 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NYBC Ventures LLC (“NYBC Ventures”), a specialized fund focused on investments in blood and cellular technologies, announced today the formation of its limited liability company structure and the addition of four esteemed industry leaders to its newly-constituted Board of Managers. This critical step advances NYBC Ventures’ mission of accelerating groundbreaking life science innovations and expanding New York Blood Center Inc.’s (NYBCe) influence within the blood and cell-related ecosystems. “We are incredibly proud of the progress the fund has achieved since its inception in 2022 and are excited to further support impactful biopharmaceutical and other investments,” said Christopher D. Hillyer, MD, President and CEO of NYBCe, and General Partner and Manager of NYBC Ventures. “With a $50 million commitment, we’ve deployed capital across 15 companies that are delivering breakthrough solutions to address significant challenges in hematology, transfusion medicine, cell therapy, and infectious diseases.” The newly appointed Board of Managers comprises recognized industry veterans whose expertise will enhance NYBC Ventures’ strategic capabilities in specialized investing. Their collective experiences will be key in identifying, guiding, and scaling investments in groundbreaking companies. The four new additions join Christopher D. Hillyer, MD, and Jay Mohr, Executive Vice President & Chief Business Officer at NYBCe, and General Partner and Manager at NYBC Ventures, on the Board which now includes: John Rosenthal (Board Chair): Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer at Brighthouse Financial, Mr. Rosenthal has over 40 years of investment management experience, including at MetLife, Inc. where he held multiple leadership roles and served as Chair MetLife’s Corporate Blood Program. He has been a trustee of NYBCe since 2018 and chairs its Finance Committee. Mr. Rosenthal holds a BA in Economics from Franklin & Marshall College and an MBA from Cornell University. Christopher D. Hillyer, MD (General Partner): President and CEO, New York Blood Center Enterprises; General Partner, NYBC Ventures; Distinguished Investigator, Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute; and Professor, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell College of Medicine. An internationally recognized expert in hematology, transfusion and transplantation, and cellular/gene therapies, Dr. Hillyer brings a unique combination of vision, executional experience, and proven success as a seasoned business executive, scientist, board member, and global leader. Dr. Hillyer has a distinguished career as a board-certified physician in internal medicine, hematology, medical oncology, and transfusion medicine. He received his BS with Honors from Trinity College and his MD from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, with postgraduate training and fellowships in hematology-oncology, transfusion medicine, and bone marrow transplantation at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston. Jay Mohr (General Partner): Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer of New York Blood Center Enterprises’ (NYBCe), where he leads NYBCe’s cell therapy manufacturing business unit, Comprehensive Cell Solutions®, the specialty pharmacy and business development activities. Mr. Mohr has over 30 years of executive-level and entrepreneurial experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, generating over $1B in shareholder value over the course of his career. He holds a BA in Economics and German from Vanderbilt University, and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Jung Choi (Manager): An executive with over 25 years of experience in novel biopharmaceutical drug development and commercialization, Ms. Choi serves as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Third Rock Ventures and Director of Annexon Biosciences and Marea Therapeutics. She and her teams have closed over 50 transactions valued at more than $17 billion. Her prior roles include Chief Business and Strategy Officer at Global Blood Therapeutics and senior positions at Gilead Sciences and InterMune. She has been a trustee of NYBCe since 2020. She holds an BA and MBA from Stanford University. Cristina Csimma, PharmD (Manager): A Director of Syncona, Ltd. and Chair of Sardona Therapeutics, with decades of experience in global drug development and biotech value creation, Dr. Csimma held leadership roles spanning venture capital and major pharmaceutical firms, including Pfizer. Dr. Csimma holds degrees from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Northeastern University. David Kabakoff, PhD (Manager): A biochemist with over 30 years in diagnostic and pharmaceutical development and 18 years as a venture investor, Dr. Kabakoff serves as Executive Partner at Sofinnova Investments and Founding Senior Partner at HealthQuest Capital. He has co-founded and led multiple biotech companies and currently chairs NextCure. He holds a PhD from Yale University and a BA from Case Western Reserve University. “John, Jung, Cristina, and David are not just leaders in their fields – they are visionaries with proven track records of driving strategic growth in the life sciences,” said Jay Mohr. “Their guidance will be pivotal as we continue to support early and established companies advancing innovations in blood and cellular therapies.” “It’s an honor to join as Chair of NYBC Ventures’ Board of Managers and to work alongside this talented team,” said John Rosenthal. “We look forward to leveraging our collective expertise to guide the fund’s success.” About NYBC VenturesNYBC Ventures is an early-stage life sciences investment fund dedicated to advancing innovations in blood and cellular therapies. The fund invests in therapeutics, devices, and cutting-edge technologies that address critical challenges in these fields. Its mission is to improve patient outcomes by supporting groundbreaking therapeutics, platforms, and collaborative efforts. For more information, visit nybcventures.com. Media Contact:Jonathan Pappasjpappas@lifescicomms.com(857) 205-4403

The Applied Biosystems™ Axiom™ BloodGenomiX™ Array and Software provide a high-throughput solution for more precise blood matching research WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, today introduced the Applied Biosystems™ Axiom™ BloodGenomiX™ Array* and Software, a first-of-its-kind solution for more precise blood genotyping in clinical research. The new array detects most extended and rare blood groups, tissue (HLA) and platelet (HPA) types in a single, high-throughput assay, supporting future advancements in donor blood matching for extended phenotypes. Blood typing is a critical medical service used to match blood and tissue types ahead of transfusions and transplants. When an individual receives incompatible blood, they can form antibodies that can increase the risk of a severe, even life-threatening, reaction to future transfusions. This risk increases significantly for people who receive frequent transfusions, such as patients undergoing chemotherapy and people with inherited blood disorders such as sickle cell disorder. While testing for the four main blood types (A, B, AB, and O) and determining if the blood is Rh positive or negative is common practice, there are many more blood group systems, including some extremely rare blood types. Therefore, research is critical to bring extended blood typing into strategies to mitigate potential risks of hemolytic transfusion reactions in the future. “Adoption of DNA-based blood typing will pave the way for large-scale genomics research and the future establishment of international standards to improve the safety and efficacy of blood transfusion for millions of patients,” said Willem H Ouwehand, Blood transfusion Genomics Consortium chair and Professor of Experimental Haematology at the University of Cambridge and NHS Blood and Transplant in England. The Axiom BloodGenomiX Array covers more than 40 genes and 260 antigens across 38 blood group systems, in addition to HLA and HPA types. It was developed in collaboration with the Blood transfusion Genomics Consortium (BGC), an international partnership of blood services, research institutions and industry leaders that aims to improve the safety and efficacy of blood and platelet transfusion. In a validation study using 14,000 diverse DNA samples from the national blood services of Australia, Canada, England, Finland, the Netherlands, South Africa and the New York Blood Center, the array showed a high level of concordance (99.89%) with participants’ blood group antigen types. “The Blood transfusion Genomics Consortium’s goal is to develop an affordable, scalable blood typing solution that can one day be embedded in accredited labs globally,” said Dr. Connie Westhoff, BGC deputy chair and representing the National Center for Blood Group Genomics at the New York Blood Center. “Our vision is to one day make comprehensive blood typing for all donor and patient blood the standard of care.” For a complete workflow, the BloodGenomiX Array can be coupled with Applied Biosystems™ BloodGenomiX Reporter Software and the Applied Biosystems GeneTitan MC Instrument, helping to alleviate pain points with automated analysis, reporting and quality control. The workflow requires minimal hands-on time and can be run by existing lab staff. “The Axiom BloodGenomiX Array and Software provide a cost-effective, high-throughput solution for extended blood typing research,” said Kevin Lowitz, vice president and general manager, microarray solutions at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “In the future, having access to a scalable, array-based blood typing solution may help blood services effectively screen extended blood types for more precise blood matching.” For more information, please visit thermofisher.com/extendedbloodtyping and read the white paper, “Genotyping for extended and rare blood types.” *For research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures. About Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue of more than $40 billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, increasing productivity in their laboratories, improving patient health through diagnostics or the development and manufacture of life-changing therapies, we are here to support them. Our global team delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services, Patheon and PPD. For more information, please visit .

NEW YORK, May 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Traverse Biotech, Inc. has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH. This grant will support the development of our oral innate immunotherapy stimulant modality with an emphasis on the evaluation of monocytic cellular activation using pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) motifs. Brandy Houser, co-Founder and CEO of Traverse Biotech, expressed: "We are grateful for the support of NIAID. We believe that our product candidate has broad applicability to several immunological pathologies where myeloid derived cells are dysfunctional and ultimately not effective in disease resolution." This work will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Sara Lustigman, Head of Molecular Parasitology at Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute of New York Blood Center Enterprises. Dr. Lustigman's extensive academic research in immunology and infectious diseases will enable the evaluation of Traverse's innate immune stimulator mechanism of action in validated preclinical pathogenic models. About Traverse Biotech, Inc. is a privately held US biotechnology company that develops innovative immunotherapy products. Traverse Biotech focuses on late-stage preclinical and early clinical development of product candidates derived from de-risked technology platforms. For each product within its pipeline, Traverse licenses worldwide commercialization rights from selected international biopharma companies that are divesting promising product candidates due to strategic portfolio rationalization. Via an original partnership model, Traverse Biotech accelerates therapeutic development of each asset through clinical proof-of-concept. Its flexible and lean operating structure enables rapid clinical evaluation and cost reduction around all aspects of product development reaching patients sooner. SOURCE Traverse Biotech