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Two months after Centessa Pharmaceuticals launched following the merger of 10 private biotech companies, the company is already eyeing a $100 million splash on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Founded by Medicxi, Centessa burst onto the scene in February with a $250 million Series A. The company hit the ground running following the merger of 10 private companies that will continue to operate under the Centessa umbrella as “asset-focused” companies. When Centessa launched in February, it said each subsidiary team is focused on a single program or biological pathway, which will enable Centessa to develop multiple impactful medicines for patients. “The vision of Centessa is to build a pharmaceutical company with a unique operational framework that aims to reduce some of the key R&D efficiencies that classical pharmaceutical companies face because of structural constraints,” Francesco De Rubertis, co-founder and partner at Medicxi and chairman of the board of Centessa said at the time of the company’s launch. Centessa is comprised of ApcinteX, Capella BioScience, Janpix, LockBody, Morphogen-IX, Orexia Therapeutics, Palladio Biosciences, PearlRiver Bio, Pega-One and Z Factor. The Centessa portfolio consists of four clinical stage programs, including two in late-stage clinical development, and more than ten additional programs that span diseases with high unmet need across oncology, hematology, immunology, inflammation, neuroscience, and rare diseases. Each of the companies is primarily based in the United Kingdom and is between two and five years old. Centessa’s most advanced candidate is lixivaptan, which has been under development from Palladio Biosciences. Lixivaptan is an oral non-peptide, a new chemical agent that works by selectively suppressing the activity of the hormone vasopressin at the V2 receptor being developed for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. The company has two Phase II candidates in its pipeline. ApcinteX is developing SerpinPC for hemophilia A and B. SerpinPC is a specific inhibitor of the anticoagulant protease-activated protein C (APC). PegaOne is developing imgatuzumab, a humanized, non-fucosylated, anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody to treat cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma other solid tumor indications. Another Centessa subsidiary, Orexia Therapeutics, is developing oral and intranasal orexin receptor agonists to treat narcolepsy type 1. The agonists have the potential to directly address the underlying pathology of orexin neuron loss, as well as other neurological disorders characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness. When Centessa burst onto the scene, it did so with former GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines and Operation Warp Speed head Moncef Slaoui in chief scientific officer and company advisor. However, after allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct that occurred during his tenure at GSK surfaced, Slaoui stepped down from his role at Centessa. Slaoui was also forced to leave his role as chairman of Galvani Bioelectronics, a position he held since the company's formation. Centessa filed to sell American Deposit Shares on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “CNTA.” In its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company did not disclose the share price range for its stocks. While the company is seeking to raise $100 million in the IPO, that number is likely just a placeholder. Given the fact that its Series A was a quarter of a billion dollars, it is likely Centessa will garner a much higher raise in its IPO. Centessa joins numerous other companies in a rush to go public. Earlier this week, Talaris Therapeutics, Gyroscope Therapeutics and Sagimet Biosciences announced their intentions to trade on the Nasdaq.

June 15, 2015 By Riley McDermid , BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor The moderator of a panel at Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) International on how the biotech and life sciences industry handled last year Ebola epidemic told BioSpace exclusively Monday that although there’s certainly more funding for treating the disease now, the standard of care for treating Ebola remains challenging in many poorer countries. Elizabeth Posillico , president and CEO of Elusys Therapeutics, Inc. , made the comments as part of an interview with BioSpace . She will be moderating today’s panel Learning from the Ebola Outbreak: Sustaining and Strengthen the public-Private Partnership and Ensuring Preparedness along with Gary Disbro , director of the Division of chemical, Biological , Radiological and Nuclear Countermeasures Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) ; Rainer Engelhardt , assistant deputy minister and chief scientific officer for the Public Health Agency of Canada ; Ron Hann , director, Chemical/Biological Technologies Department(J9CB) , DTRA and USSTRATCOM Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction ; Michael Kurilla , director of the Office of BioDefense, Research Resources , and translational Research-DMID , NAID / NIH ; Moncef Slaoui , chairman, GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines Posillico said the biggest lessons global healthcare leaders learned from the Ebola outbreak was that they must be ready for a rapid response immediately, as opposed to the somewhat slow start last year’s crisis unfortunately experienced. “Perhaps the starkest lesson from the recent Ebola outbreak was that, when a health crisis breaks out, it is critical that we have a rapid response capability ready to go in real time,” she said. “Investing and preparing during a crisis is far too late to save lives, and investment today is more cost-effective than investment at the time a threat is detected. Thousands of lives were already lost to Ebola before the government authorized its first advanced development contract for a vaccine. She added that despite more funding that ever to treat and even attempt to cure Ebola, the global health community’s standard of care for outbreak/crisis situations remains the same. That is a shame, said Posillico. “Unfortunately, I’m not certain that the Ebola threat has changed the standard response, though it has provided added rationale for investment in the development of medical countermeasures and overall preparedness,” she told BioSpace . “We saw a very clear bolus of funds immediately following identification of the present threat, followed by waning interest as the crisis became better contained. We should use this experience as a teachable moment so that we’re more invested in advance of a crisis and we’re better prepared for future events.” However, Posillico stressed that public/private partnerships were a key part of delivering crucial medications quickly during the Ebola epidemic. She pointed to efforts by the U.S. Government , through the National Institute of Allergy And Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) , to support the development of medical countermeasures against Ebola in collaboration with biopharmaceutical companies. NIAID and BARDA also supported the development of a therapeutic to treat Ebola and multiple vaccines to prevent Ebola, which lead to contracts being awarded to Mapp Biopharmaceuticals , Profectus BioSciences, Inc. , GlaxoSmithKline , NewLink Genetics , Merck & Co. and Bavarian Nordic A/S / Johnson & Johnson . “The lifesaving medications used during a biosecurity emergency do not just appear on pharmacy shelves or in the national stockpile,” she said. “Governments must make clear that they are needed, and fund their development appropriately in partnership with the companies that are capable of delivering them, ideally in advance,” said Posillico. “That’s where public-private partnerships come in. The biosecurity industry does not have a natural market for its products and therefore relies on predictable government investment, complemented by its own private investment, to drive innovation.” After AstraZeneca CMO Abruptly Quits, Where Could He Be Headed? This week the chief medical officer of British drugmaker AstraZeneca PLC abruptly quit his post to become the chief executive officer of an unnamed, smaller biotech company. That’s lead BioSpace to wonder, with his background in R&D and in large companies like Pfizer Inc. , where will Briggs Morrison wind up? We want to know your thoughts. var _polldaddy = [] || _polldaddy; _polldaddy.push( { type: "iframe", auto: "1", domain: "biospace.polldaddy.com/s/", id: "after-astrazeneca-cmo-abruptly-quits-where-could-he-be-headed", placeholder: "pd_1434065855" } ); (function(d,c,j){if(!document.getElementById(j)){var pd=d.createElement(c),s;pd.id=j;pd.src=(' '==document.location.protocol)?' ':' ';s=document.getElementsByTagName(c)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(pd,s);}}(document,'script','pd-embed'));