Icosavax, Inc.

Over decades, antibodies have established themselves as a key therapeutic modality for a wide range of diseases. But antibodies as they are found in nature did not evolve to be used as drugs, says James Lazarovits, co-founder and CEO of Archon Biosciences. These proteins became drugs because scientists co-opted them to do things. One of the limitations of currently available antibodies is the therapeutic window, which is the dose range within which a drug achieves its therapeutic effect without also causing dose-limiting toxicity. Lazarovits describes this window as the interplay between how much of the drug gets to where you want it to go versus how much goes where you don’t want it to go (thereby causing toxic effects). The technology of Archon changes the size and shape of an antibody, adjusting how a therapy gets where it needs to go in the body, what it does when it gets there, and whether or not it stays there. The Seattle-based startup emerged from stealth this past week with $20 million in funding for R&D of what could become a new class of antibody drugs. The field of antibody drug R&D includes efforts in multivalency, which is the ability to bind to multiple sites on the same target, and multispecificity, which is binding to two or more different antigens. These antibodies can be good for certain application, but not as good for others, Lazarovits said. Rather than engineering an antibody by altering the order of amino acids that make up a protein or adding different arms or multiple binding domains, Archon designs antibodies in a way that controls their structures. Archon calls its drugs antibody cages, or AbCs. These antibodies are made in a way that plugs into the established format for manufacturing antibodies, simply adding an additional work step at the end of the manufacturing process. But this additional step gives the antibody features it did not have in the first place. Sponsored Post The Funding Model for Cancer Innovation is Broken — We Can Fix It Closing cancer health equity gaps require medical breakthroughs made possible by new funding approaches. By Eve McDavid - CEO of Mission-Driven Tech An AbC offers tunability that is not found naturally in antibodies, Lazarovits said. More than just turning a target on or off, the AbC’s structure can adjust how much. Antibodies often require secondary signals to activate. While that’s achievable and controllable in a closed system, within a patient and across patient populations it become more difficult. Lazarovits said the structure of the AbC can autonomously activate pathways without needing something to happen elsewhere. “The structure that we make changes how we actually activate the biology of a cell surface,” he said. “It’s not whether the antibody binds the target, it’s how it binds to the target.” The Archon technology comes from the University of Washington’s Institute for Protein Design, which is led by David Baker, the professor of biochemistry awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in computational protein design. Computational protein companies that have spun out of the institute include vaccine developer Icosavax, which was acquired by AstraZeneca last year for $800 million up front, and A-Alpha Bio, whose technology for analyzing protein-protein interactions has landed partners such as Bristol Myers Squibb. Archon co-founder George Ueda worked with Baker for more than a decade. Lazarovits said their research initially aimed to develop proteins that had never existed in nature. Then they aimed to design proteins with unique structures. From there, they aimed to see if those structures could do something. presented by Health Tech What’s Keeping Healthcare CIOs Up at Night: How to Improve Patient Satisfaction by Handling Calls More Efficiently Health systems have spent billions on portals while investments in modernizing the voice channel — the dominant preference of healthcare consumers — have taken a backseat. By Stephanie Baum Lazarovits entered the picture about five-and-a-half years ago bringing a background in antibody delivery. Baker gave both Ueda and Lazarovits faculty positions. Their research landed $7 million in grant funding to further develop what became the AbC platform. The scientists were able to generate preclinical data to show what problems these novel antibodies could address. This research was published in 2021 in the journal Science. Lazarovits said the research also helped the scientists understand what kind of capital would be needed to use this new antibody science to develop novel drugs. Archon was incorporated in early 2023. Archon is not yet disclosing the therapeutic indications it is researching. But Lazarovits said the programs the startup has selected address well-characterized targets that have been elusive to the pharmaceutical industry. Based on preclinical research, Archon understands the contingencies for activating and deactivating its selected targets. What that could mean for an Archon drug is similar activity compared to an already available medication but fewer side effects, increased potency, or some combination of both, Lazarovits said. He added that the company is pursuing acute indications, not chronic therapies. By focusing on well-known, sought-after targets that have remained elusive, the “check box” of data Archon needs is very standardized, Lazarovits said. The company knows the data it needs to collect and it knows what to show to demonstrate how its antibodies are differentiated. Knowing all of this at the outset means generating the data can happen quickly. The startup’s strategy resonated with investors. Archon’s seed financing was led by Madrona Ventures, a Seattle-based venture capital firm that has invested in several artificial intelligence-enabled biotech companies, such as Ozette and Nautilus Biotechnology. Other participants in the Archon financing include DUMAC Inc., Sahsen Ventures, WRF Capital, Pack Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, and Cornucopian Capital. Lazarovits said the funding gives Archon runway of about two years. More than generating data to demonstrate the science of AbCs, Archon will use its new capital to build a business case. Eventually, the startup aims to strike up partnerships with larger companies, Lazarovits said . When that happens, he wants to have enough data to know which assets to partner out and which ones to keep build value for the young company. Conversations with pharma companies and additional investors are already underway, Lazarovits said. “Because this is such an amenable technology for partnerships, we’re getting our ducks in a row,” he said. “If you try to do everything, you’re going to do everything pretty poorly.” Image: Archon Biosciences

Both VXB-241 and VXB-251 have been developed with Vicebio’s so-called “molecular clamp” tech. The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) space may have filled up over the past year, but that isn’t deterring Vicebio or its investors.The British biotech has secured $100 million in series B funds as it continues a phase 1 trial of its bivalent vaccine targeting both RSV and human metapneumovirus (hMPV). A readout for the vaccine, dubbed VXB-241, is expected next year.Further, the company will use some of the cash to push ahead with VXB-251, a trivalent vaccine targeting RSV, hMPV and parainfluenza virus 3.Both VXB-241 and VXB-251 have been developed with Vicebio’s so-called “molecular clamp” tech, which is designed to better stabilize viral proteins and thus make the biotech’s vaccines easy to administer and store. It was developed by a team led by professors Paul Young, Ph.D., Daniel Watterson, Ph.D., and Keith Chappell, Ph.D., at the University of Queensland in Australia before being licensed out to Vicebio by the university’s commercialization arm.“This innovative approach enables the production of highly effective vaccines that are easy to manufacture and will be available in ready-to-use prefilled syringes,” the biotech explained in a Sept. 24 release. The financing was led by TCGX and featured founding investor Medicxi alongside Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Avoro Ventures, venBio and UniQuest."The support from these high-calibre investors underscores the robust data package we have generated for VXB-241, highlighting the significant potential of our proprietary Molecular Clamp technology to develop next-generation vaccines against respiratory viruses,” Vicebio CEO Emmanuel Hanon, Ph.D., said in the release.Hanon joined Vicebio from GSK, which secured the first approval for an adult RSV vaccine last year in the form of Arexvy. Pfizer now has its rival Abrysvo on the market, which was joined in May by Moderna's mRESVIA. Merck & Co. is following close behind, while AstraZeneca—which manufactures the approved RSV antibody Beyfortus—threw its hat in the ring late last year by buying RSV vaccine developer Icosavax.There are currently no approved vaccines targeting both RSV and hMPV, meaning Vicebio could still carve out its own niche in an increasingly crowded arena. However, Vicebio's prospect will be going up against IVX-A12, the RSV and hMPV combo vaccine that AstraZeneca acquired as part of its Icosavax buyout. AstraZeneca was touting IVX-A12 as being “phase 3 ready” as far back as December.

None Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of significant leadership hirings, firings and retirings across the industry. Please send the good word—or the bad—from your shop to Darren Incorvaia or Gabrielle Masson and it will be featured here at the end of each week.2 Kite vets fly over to Kyverna TherapeuticsKyverna Therapeutics Warren Biddle hit the exit from his role as SVP, global head of commercial at Gilead Sciences' CAR-T unit Kite Pharma to take on the CEO gig at fellow CAR-T maker Kyverna, effective immediately. The new CEO succeeds Peter Maag, Ph.D., who resigned after two years at the helm. After starting at Kite in 2020 following a decade at Genentech, Biddle served as Kite’s interim CEO when its former head Christi Shaw, who is also joining Kyverna as a member of the board, departed in 2023. Shaw replaces Brian Kotzin, M.D., who opted to step down. ReleaseEyconis eyes Big Pharma vet as CEOEyconis Inc.Eyconis, a biotech with its sights on treating eye diseases, has secured former Amgen and Bristol Myers Squibb leader Mark Bachleda as its new CEO. Bachleda most recently served as chief commercial officer at Galera Therapeutics and before that served in top roles at BMS, Amgen and Juno Therapeutics. He started his career at other top pharmas Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. Eyconis was launched at the beginning of the year by Ascendis Pharma and Frazier Life Sciences and was previously led by co-founder Emmett Cunningham, M.D., Ph.D., as executive chairman, a position he will still hold. ReleaseStructure reinforces exec team with promotion and hireStructure TherapeuticsStructure, a biotech with an oral small molecule GLP-1 agonist set to enter a phase 2 trial later this year, is building up its leadership team in preparation. Blai Coll, M.D., Ph.D., is replacing Mark Bach, M.D., Ph.D., as chief medical officer, while Ashley Hall is the company’s first chief development officer. Coll was previously Structure’s vice president of endocrine and metabolism clinical development, while Hall is joining from Reneo Pharmaceuticals, where she served as CDO. Release> Karen Knudsen, Ph.D., will step down from her role as CEO at the American Cancer Society and the affiliated American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, leaving the organization’s board to begin a national search for a new CEO before the end of the year. Release> IMU Biosciences appointed Jason Brown, Ph.D., as CFO and Abcam vet John Baker as CEO, while current CEO Adam Laing, Ph.D., will stay on board as president and chief scientific officer. Release> Abata Therapeutics’ chief technical officer Stephen Sofen, Ph.D., is retiring and passing the torch to seasoned executive Joanne Beck, Ph.D. Release> With its lead candidate in phase 3 development, 89bio looped in Teresa Perney, Ph.D., as its new chief regulatory and quality officer. Release> Ochre Bio’s co-founder and CEO Jack O’Meara is bidding adieu to the company, leaving Eliot Forster, Ph.D., in the executive chairman role during the interim. Announcement> Nura Bio promoted chief scientific officer and founding member Shilpa Sambashivan, Ph.D., to the CEO role as it prepares to take its lead asset into a phase 1b/2 study. Release> Kentaro (Ken) Suzuki is leaving Agilent Technologies and taking his mass spectrometry expertise with him to join Nautilus Biotechnology, a company developing techniques to quantify the proteome, as chief marketing officer. Release> Precision medicine firm Entact Bio has appointed Ruben Tommasi, Ph.D., as chief scientific officer to help it in its mission of enhancing the function of beneficial proteins. Release> HotSpot Therapeutics is bringing Alison O’Neill, M.D., on board from Surface Oncology to be its new chief medical officer. Release> Investment firm Frazier Life Sciences is adding seasoned company founder Adam Simpson, whose most recent company Icosavax was acquired by AstraZeneca, to their company creation team as a venture partner. Release> John Beeler, Ph.D., is taking the leap from BMS to BPGbio, where he’ll serve as senior vice president of business development. Release