Sangon Biotech (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Johnson & Johnson and Legend Biotech's growing Carvykti, Novo Holdings' investment in a Chinese firm and Beijing's latest efforts to attract foreign investments made our news this week. Johnson & Johnson and Legend Biotech's Carvykti keeps growing despite a newly launched off-the-shelf option. Novo Holdings joined a $290 million funding round in a Chinese R&D product and service provider. China is stressing biotech as a “major focus” in the government's latest attempt to woo foreign investment. 1. J&J, Legend's myeloma CAR-T Carvykti not slowing down in the face of new bispecific: Legend exec Johnson & Johnson and Legend Biotech’s Carvykti generated $117 million in second-quarter sales, up from $72 million in the first quarter. Even though J&J recently introduced the off-the-shelf bispecific antibody Tecvayli, doctors are typically using the newer drug as a bridge therapy while patients wait to get their CAR-T treatment, a Legend exec explained. 2. Novo Holdings backs Sangon Biotech in $290M financing round Novo Holdings participated in a $290 million investment round in Chinese life sciences research enabler Sangon Biotech. Sangon offers products and services related to DNA synthesis, genetic sequencing, and protein- and antibody-related drug research. 3. China highlights biotech in new push to lure foreign investment (SCMP) The Chinese government released a 24-point list of guidelines to “improve the business environment for foreign investors and boost foreign direct investment.” The new document highlights biotech as “an area of major focus.” It calls for more biotech R&D projects in the country and promised more efficient clinical trials and product registrations for drugs already approved elsewhere. 4. Arcturus JV scored $115M in Japanese grants to boost mRNA manufacturing The Japanese government has awarded two grants totaling $115 million to Arcalis, an mRNA-focused CDMO joint venture between Arcturus Therapeutics and Japanese drug discovery service provider Axcelead. With the money, Arcalis already completed construction of a drug substance plant, and a final drug product plant is expected to go online by 2026.  5. FDA again slams Biocon's troubled plant in Malaysia, citing 8 manufacturing shortfalls The FDA has once again found problems at Biocon’s Malaysia manufacturing facility. A new Form 483 laid out some repeat problems that the agency had identified before. Issues the FDA spotted include improper blockage of air filters, insufficient cleaning of sterile machinery, and subpar batch testing and record-keeping. 6. Gracell drops 3 CAR-T programs in hopes of speeding more advanced assets to the finish line China’s Gracell has decided to shift more focus on its lead candidate, GC012F, a BCMA/CD19 dual-targeting CAR-T therapy that has shown impressive early results in multiple myeloma. In parallel, the company is deprioritizing three early-stage programs. Other News of Note: 7. Innovent snags Chinese approval for home-grown PCSK9 cholesterol drug (Tracker) 8. Amgen taps Threads for 'An Amgen Minute' video series celebrating South Asian Heritage Month

Researchers demonstrate the implementation of a remote laboratory activity to teach students about enzyme kinetics. The COVID-19 pandemic forced teachers across the globe to embrace remote learning. Although adapting existing materials was relatively easy for lecture-based courses that revolved around theory, teaching laboratory classes remotely presented a formidable challenge. In a new paper, researchers from the Department of Bioengineering demonstrate the implementation of a remote laboratory activity to teach students about enzyme kinetics. "A significant challenge for online learning is the delivery of hands-on lab coursework. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we developed and shipped kits with supplies and reagents to provide lab experience to remote students," said Karin Jensen, a Teaching Assistant Professor of Bioengineering. "We wanted to help students practice techniques and perform experiments remotely using protocols that do not require large and expensive equipment that students normally have access to in our instructional lab." Previously, the researchers had developed remote exercises to teach students how to use micropipettes using at-home kits. Now, they are focusing on how to teach undergraduate students about enzyme kinetics, which looks at how quickly an enzyme breaks down its target to form a product. To do so, the team has developed an at-home enzyme kinetics kit that can be used as an alternative to traditional techniques that are performed in a laboratory setting. "While other instructors have developed lab kits in the past, none of those were focused on teaching enzyme kinetics, which is particularly challenging given the specialized equipment normally required to accurately measure the products of the enzymatic reactions" said Pablo Perez-Pinera (ACPP), an associate professor of bioengineering. "We used very basic and affordable equipment to teach students how to perform simple experiments and rapidly collect data to study enzyme kinetics." The students were studying how the enzyme lactase converts lactose to glucose. The kit included micropipettes; scales; lactose; lactase pills; and a glucose meter. In the weeks prior to the exercise, the students were trained remotely to use micropipettes and were taught to record data in electronic lab notebooks. After watching a prerecorded lecture on enzymes, they were provided with instructions on how to carry out the experiments. Eileen Johnson, a graduate student teaching assistant in bioengineering who taught the remote lab sections, engaged students in the activity by creating a friendly competition for students to design and conduct their own experiments. After meeting with the instructors and learning the basics of the experiment, the students were asked to investigate how different perturbations changed the kinetics of the reaction: do different brands of lactase make a difference, does boiling the lactase change anything, and does freezing the enzyme change the outcome? After introducing such variables, the students met with the instructors and presented their results. "Several students reported that the enzyme kinetics lab was one of their favorite parts of the course," said Abhishek Bhattacharjee, an undergraduate student in the Department of Bioengineering and lead course lab assistant who developed and optimized the protocols. "Our main limitation was the small number of students who provided feedback. Our future work will include additional and formal assessment of student feedback." The need for such at-home kits will remain long after the pandemic. For example, students who cannot attend in-person labs, those in summer camps, or participants of online programs may still require remote lab learning opportunities. The researchers hope that similar lab activities will also help in increasing access to STEM education.