This week's Philadelphia-area life sciences news includes a dermatology device acquisition, a patent update, some promotions and new hires, and more.
Here's the roundup:
Strata Skin Sciences
The Horsham medical technology company entered into a definitive agreement to acquire assets related to California-based Theravant Corp.'s TheraClear acne treatment.
Under terms of the deal, Strata (NASDAQ: SSKN) will make an upfront payment of about $1 million to Theravant, consisting of $500,000 in cash and $500,000 in common stock. The agreement also includes milestone-based payments based on product sales.
Strata CEO Robert Moccia said the company — which markets lasers systems for treating psoriasis, vitiligo and various other skin conditions — was looking for opportunities to expand to new dermatologic conditions.
“We identified Theravant’s technology as an ideal fit," he said. "[It provides] a seamless entry into the fast-growing acne market."
In the United States, an estimated 50 million patients have mild to moderate acne.
Moccia said the acquisition of the TheraClear system — which features a handheld device that can be easily operated by doctors, nurses, aestheticians and assistants — provides Strata with a "safe and effective technology" to complement and/or replace prescription drugs and topical creams.
The system treats a variety of acnes using a combination of a vacuum and broadband light to clear skin rapidly and visibly reduce acne and associated redness.
The Theravant deal is Strata's second acquisition in the past six months under the company's new leadership team led by Moccia. In August, Strata acquired Ra Medical’s U.S. dermatology business.
MBF Therapeutics
The Ambler immunotherapeutics company was awarded a U.S. patent for MBFT's new compositions and methods using DNA and RNA to induce immune responses to treat or prevent viral diseases and cancer in humans, livestock and companion animals.
MBFT is using its patented T-Max technology platform to develop protective T cell vaccines that prevent disease by rapidly clearing pathogens and infected cells at the earliest stage of infection. The platform is designed to protect and prevent individual-to-individual transmission at the population level.
The company said its T-Max technology also provides for needle-free, storage-stable vaccines that can be manufactured and distributed anywhere.
“The demand for a new approach to vaccine development has never been more evident than it is today," said Tom Tillett, CEO of MBFT, noting the continued global negative impact of infectious disease on humans and animals.
Tillet said Covid-19, SARS, MERS and influenza viruses are all examples of persistent human pandemic threats, while African swine fever and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome in pigs are devastating diseases that pose serious threats to the world’s food supply.
"This patent opens up additional and different markets to MBFT," Tillet said. "Our T-Max platform provides for a new, and we think better, way to build next generation vaccines. This allows us to create vaccines that will work in all animal species and that will translate to human health. Originally our focus was on canine cancer, but this new technology platform strengthens our ability to create better infectious disease vaccines, a huge unmet need in animal health."
Earlier this month, MBFT received a $256,000 Phase I National Science Foundation grant to support development of a protective next-generation SARS-CoV-2 vaccine designed to prevent disease at the earliest stages of infection, which Tillet said is critical to preventing person-to-person Covid-19 transmissions.
Cabaletta Bio
The Philadelphia cell therapy company promoted two key executives as it continues to advance it engineered T cell therapies for patients with B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases.
Gwendolyn Binder was promoted to president of science and technology, and Dr. Arun Das was promoted to chief business officer. Both will continue to report to Dr. Steven Nichtberger, the cofounder and CEO of Cabaletta (NASDAQ: CABA).
Binder was one of Cabaletta’s first employees, joining in February 2019, and was most recently executive vice president of science and technology. At Cabaletta, she established and currently leads the preclinical, translational, manufacturing and quality teams. Prior to joining Cabaletta, Binder, a former University of Pennsylvania researcher, was the chief technology officer of Adaptimmune Therapeutics.
Das joined Cabaletta in July 2019 and was most recently executive director of new product planning and business development. Before joining Cabaletta, Das was a resident physician in general pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Prior to that, he was an investment banking analyst within the health care group at Goldman Sachs.
Quicks Hits
Conshohocken-based Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MDGL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for fatty liver diseases including NASH, named Dominic F. Labriola as senior vice president and chief data and analytics officer. Labriola previously spent more than 20 years at Bristol Myers Squibb, where he was head of global biometric sciences and his responsibilities included overseeing the North Jersey company’s NASH program. … Covid-19 vaccine development partners Ocugen (NASDAQ: OCGN) of Malvern and Bharat Biotech of India said data from a preliminary analysis of their Covaxin booster shot showed it successfully neutralized both the omicron and delta Covid-19 variants. Ocugen is working with Bharat, the developer of Covaxin, to bring the vaccine to the United States. The companies also reported data this week showing Coxavin worked well in children. … Langhorne-based NexGel (NASDAQ: NXGL) launched its latest product: the Medagel ClearComfort hydrogel patch. The patches, available in a variety of shapes, are designed to prevent and treat foot blisters. … Aro Biotherapeutics expanded its management team with the appointment of Sukumar Sakamuri as the Philadelphia biotech company's chief technology officer. Sakamuri was previously vice president and head of chemistry at California-based Ambrx.
