Rutgers State University of New Jersey

NEW YORK, Oct. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Shridar Ganesan, MD, PhD, a physician–scientist with a background in cancer biology and DNA repair, has been named director of the new Center for Molecular Oncology at NYU Langone Health's Perlmutter Cancer Center. Continue Reading Shridar Ganesan, MD, PhD The Center for Molecular Oncology will assess people diagnosed with cancer with the most advanced molecular diagnostics available and match them with the most effective therapies. Dr. Ganesan will be building up and leading the center by collaborating with molecular pathologists, clinician researchers, and others across the institution to integrate the analysis of genomic sequencing and other molecular assays to develop personalized care plans. A medical oncologist with a focus on breast cancer and rare cancers, Dr. Ganesan brings extensive knowledge of treating patients in addition to his administrative duties. He comes to NYU Langone from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, where he served as the chief of molecular oncology and associate director for translational research. Dr. Ganesan's research includes investigating genetic instability and epigenetic instability, which is a characteristic of most cancer cells, with a focus on the biology of the genes that suppress tumors caused by breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. His laboratory also has expertise in translational cancer genomics and the biology of rare cancers, with a focus on identifying new cancer genes and understanding the mechanisms of response and resistance to targeted therapy and immunotherapy. Molecular Oncology Molecular oncology is an interdisciplinary specialty that focuses on the cancer biology and the genomic alterations that underlie most solid tumors and blood cancers. Researchers and clinicians use liquid biopsy to identify the genes and mutations involved in the development of individual cancers quickly and accurately. The Center for Molecular Oncology will manage an institution-wide care model in which all patients diagnosed with cancer will receive up-front molecular analysis of their cancer, followed by serial liquid biopsies—sequencing for tumor DNA in the blood—as needed. This approach offers rapid diagnostic capabilities and can provide a detailed picture of each patient's individual cancer and how it may evolve over time during treatment. Ultimately, this will drive development of new and more effective treatment approaches. "The aim of this center is to bring the advances that are happening in molecular analysis of cancers and the application of targeted therapies to every patient diagnosed with cancer at any of our locations," says Dr. Ganesan. "We want to use that to inform our standard approach to treatment across our entire network. This will help us treat individuals better and help us classify and organize diseases to advance our understanding of cancer in general and develop novel treatments." Armed with this knowledge, care teams can more accurately assign patients to individualized clinical trials and therapies, avoid over- or undertreating, and potentially minimize side effects. Right now, genomic analyses and liquid biopsies are used for patients already diagnosed with cancer, but in the future, it may be used for early detection, revealing cancer far earlier than traditional methods. "At Perlmutter Cancer Center, we are uniquely positioned to build this program on a large scale, given our integrated system," says Alec Kimmelman, MD, PhD, the Anita Steckler and Joseph Steckler Professor and Chair of Radiation Oncology, and the director of Perlmutter Cancer Center. "With Dr. Ganesan and the team, we are going to set the new standard of care and ensure all of our patients have access to it wherever they live." About Dr. Ganesan Dr. Ganesan received his MD and PhD in cell biology at Yale University before going on to complete his postgraduate training at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He later held academic titles at several institutions, including Harvard Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. At Rutgers, he held multiple leadership positions, including the Omar Boraie Chair in Genomic Science, associate director of translational science, chief of the section of molecular oncology, and co-leader of the Clinical Investigations and Precision Therapeutics Program. His extensive experience in basic, translational, and clinical research has resulted in more than 140 peer-reviewed papers in high-impact journals, including Nature, Cell, Cancer Discovery, JCI, and JCO Precision Oncology. He also has dedicated his time to mentoring graduate students, residents, and postdoctoral research fellows, serving the future of the medical community. He developed, organized, and now runs a molecular tumor board, which is a hub for clinical, research, and educational activities. Media Contact Ryan Dziuba Media Relations Manager Phone: 212-404-4131 [email protected] SOURCE NYU Langone Health WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED

FRIDAY, Sept. 27, 2024 -- Grandma's pill organizer. Fido's pain medication. A tossed-away tissue. All are potential sources of opioid poisoning for young children, researchers at the New Jersey Poison Control Center report. Their five-year look at 230 cases of opioid exposure in children between 1 month and 6 years of age shows how easily they get their hands on dangerous drugs. "I've seen too many kids in my practice at University Hospital who have gotten severely poisoned because they got opioids in their house," said senior study author Dr. Diane Calello , medical director at the Rutgers University-based poison center. Almost all of the exposures -- 97% -- were accidental. In all, 91% took place in the child's home and more than 84% of those kids wound up in a hospital. Many times, kids found a parent's meds. But 17.4% of cases involved grandparents' medications, underscoring a risk factor some might overlook. Older adults may not be as careful as Mom and Dad about securing their meds. Pet medications were involved in 4.3% of cases -- sometimes directly and sometimes from injesting meds that had been mixed with food like peanut butter and left out for the pet. Eight in 10 cases involved kids age 2 and under. The data came from reports to New Jersey Poison Control made between January 2018 and December 2022. Prescription opioid pills were the No. 1 source of danger -- but not the only one. Kids got access to used fentanyl patches, illicit drug paraphernalia and even traces of opioids left on discarded tissues and cotton balls. "One opioid pill could actually kill a 2-year-old," Calello said in a Rutgers news release. "And yet, a parent who may take that opioid pill every day may not realize that even though it's very familiar to them, it is deadly." Researchers called for broader education about the dangers of opioids in the home and said that should include anyone who might have meds in a home where kids are present. Calello said one potential solution is increasing access for parents and caregivers to naloxone, a medication that can reverse opioid overdoses. "I've seen several cases of young children where I thought that if this mom or dad had naloxone with them, they could have given it, and this child may have had a better outcome," she said. She said she hopes to study the effects of distributing naloxone to parents more widely. The findings appear in the December issue of The Journal of Pediatrics . Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.

In H1 2024, Molecure focused on the development of two key molecules: OATD-01 and OATD-02, as well as expanding research activities based on, among other things, advanced artificial intelligence technologies In May, Molecure received approval to initiate a Phase II clinical trial (KITE) for clinical candidate OATD-01 for the treatment of pulmonary sarcoidosis in the European Union and Norway. Earlier, Molecure received approval from the U.S. FDA and the U.K. MHRA In the OATD-01 clinical trial, the Company currently has 13 sites activated in the US, the European Union, the UK and Norway. More will be activated by mid-November this year. Progress in the Phase I clinical trial of OATD-02, the first-in-class dual arginase inhibitor being developed for the treatment of cancer. Following analysis of clinical and pharmacokinetic data and Safety Review Committee (SRC) recommendations, recruitment continues with the addition of 3 additional patients in the fourth cohort at the 20 mg dose level, with the goal of expanding the amount and scope of data to inform decisions on further dose escalation Molecure has confirmed in in vitro tests the ability of the second molecule already being developed within the mRNA platform to effectively bind to the presumed mRNA fragment and block the translation process of the pathogenic protein. Reaching the PoC (in vitro proof-of-concept) stage for yet another molecule being developed in the mRNA platform is evidence of the effectiveness of Molecure’s strategy to identify mRNA-binding compounds with therapeutic potential. In July, Molecure and Avicenna Biosciences entered into a strategic research collaboration agreement to optimize USP7’s small-molecule drug discovery and development processes. The collaboration will combine Molecure’s extensive drug discovery and USP7 biology expertise with Avicenna’s machine learning-based medicinal chemistry platform to identify new drug candidates with superior pharmaceutical properties. In August, Dr Piotr Iwanowski, M.D., was appointed Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Member of the Management Board of Molecure S.A., he will assume the above functions on September 30th this year. Warsaw, 27 September 2024 – Molecure S.A. (“Molecure”, WSE ticker: MOC), a biotechnology company that discovers and develops drugs to the clinical stage and leverages its globally unique expertise in medicinal chemistry and biology to explore and develop first-in-class small-molecule drugs that directly modulate protein activity and mRNA function to treat a wide range of incurable diseases, has released its report for the first half of 2024. The report is available at: https://molecure.com/pl/informacje-dla-inwestorow/ Marcin Szumowski, CEO Molecure S.A. „In the past six months, our main focus has been on the continued clinical development of OATD-01 and OATD-02. We continued to recruit to clinical trial of OATD-01, a first-in-class chitotriosidase 1 (CHIT1) inhibitor, in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis on both continents. A positive decision by regulatory authorities from European countries, following earlier approval in the US and UK, has given us the “green light” to conduct Phase II trials of OATD-01 also in Denmark, France, Greece, Germany and Norway. We still hope that we will be able to involve Polish centers and Polish patients in this study. We are planning the first readouts of intermediate signals of therapeutic efficacy and safety in patients with sarcoidosis at the first half of 2025. However, due to the double-blinding requirement of the study, the publication of the final results will occur after the completion of the study and is scheduled for 2026. Our attention in the OATD-01 program is increasingly focused on the area of metabolic diseases, particularly MASH (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis). We have very good preclinical results and there are a growing number of scientific publications from genetic studies and based on samples from MASH patients highlighting the key role of CHIT1 in disease escalation. The MASH market is projected to grow at more than 40% CAGR annually to a size of more than $25 billion in 2032. Molecure aims to play a significant role in treatment in MASH in partnership with a major company in the area of progressive metabolic liver disease. Scientific data and market projections support our assumptions about the therapeutic potential of blocking chitinases in multi-organ diseases. In the Phase I clinical trial of OATD-02, an innovative arginase inhibitor, we are continuing to recruit and add 3 more patients to this cohort after analyzing data from the fourth cohort at the 20 mg daily dose level and the Safety Review Committee’s recommendation. As recommended by the SRC, we want to collect more extensive pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics data at this stage in order to decide whether to further increase the dose. We are confident that this next phase will bring us significantly closer to bringing breakthrough therapies to market that can change the lives of patients around the world. We see great potential for a platform of small-molecule drug discovery that modulates mRNA function. In December 2023, we obtained positive in vitro results for the first of our molecules, and just a few months later we confirmed translation inhibition for another molecule targeting a different mRNA target. At the BIO International Convention in San Diego in early June, we had many meetings with representatives of Big Pharma companies interested in collaborating on the mRNA platform. In small molecule technology targeting mRNA, we are at the European and even global forefront, so we assume that establishing a commercially attractive collaboration with a large industry partner is likely within the next year. Also noteworthy is the establishment of a strategic collaboration with Avicenna Biosciences to support the discovery and development of new small-molecule drugs targeting ubiquitin-specific protease 7 (USP7), a deubiquitinating enzyme that promotes oncogenesis and whose high expression is observed in a number of cancers. By combining Molecure’s expertise on this attractive, in vivo validated target with Avicenna’s machine learning-driven medicinal chemistry platform, we intend to generate better drug candidates with optimal pharmacological profiles for further preclinical and clinical development.” Webinar with Molecure’s Management Board A meeting will be held on October 1, 2024 at 2:00 pm to discuss the Company’s operational and financial situation for 1H 2024, including the presentation of progress in ongoing research programs, as well as development plans for the coming quarters. The meeting will be held in online format, at the link: Original path – Polish:https://livingmedia.com.pl/live/molecure/1H2024-pl English: https://livingmedia.com.pl/live/molecure/1H2024-en Business Development activities In the first half of 2024, representatives of the Company participated in two important industry conferences: BIO Europe Spring in Barcelona, where they held 38 meetings with biotech and pharmaceutical industry representatives, mainly potential partners, investors and global pharmaceutical companies. The key topics of discussion were OATD-01 (more than 50% of the meetings), OATD-02 and the RNA platform, BIO International Convention in San Diego, where they held a total of a record 42 meetings, of which as many as 28 were related to OATD-01, demonstrating the growing and increasingly concrete interest in the results of preclinical and clinical research in lung diseases and also in metabolic diseases such as MASH. In addition, representatives of the Company participated in conferences: “Immunometabolism in Health and Disease” organized by Gordon Research Conferences at the American Bryant University in Smithfield, congress The European Congress of Life Sciences EUROBIOTECH in Krakow, Poland, International Conference on Medicinal Chemistry in Bordeaux, France, PHASE2024 in Warsaw, Americas Association of Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous Disorders (AASOG) in Baltimore, USA, IPF Summit in Boston, USA, and many others.. The company will participate in more industry conferences this year, including but not limited to major global events i.e. Bio Europe in Stockholm, as well as WASOG in India. Summary of financial data in 1H 2024* Operating income of PLN 0.4 million, up from PLN 1.8 million in 1H 2023. Operating expenses amounted to PLN 15.6 million, compared to PLN 17.2 million in 1Q 2023. 1H 2024 saw a decrease of PLN 1.6 million in operating expenses compared to 1H 2023. The main factor for the change was a decrease of PLN 0.5 million in program expenses, which, in accordance with the new accounting policy, are no longer capitalized under uncompleted development work. In addition, costs of legal and consulting services decreased by about PLN 0.9 million in 2024 compared to 2023. Net loss amounted to PLN 14.6 million compared to PLN 12.9 million in the same period in 2023. As of June 30, 2024, Molecure had cash of more than PLN 38 million, and the end of September this year. PLN 27 million. In addition, contracted grant funding for the coming years amounts to PLN 32.5 million. The company plans to raise further project grants as part of its expanding pipeline of clinical and preclinical projects. * Comparative figures for the first half of 2024 have been restated for comparability due to a change in accounting policy. *** About Molecure S.A. Molecure S.A. is a biotechnology company that discovers and develops drugs to the clinical stage, leveraging its own unique expertise in medicinal chemistry and biology to explore and develop first-in-class small-molecule drugs that, through direct modulation of previously unexplored protein and RNA targets, could provide therapies for many incurable diseases. Molecure has generated a diverse portfolio of seven distinct programs with the support of leading academic research institutions around the world, including Yale University, Rutgers University, the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) in Ghent, the University of Michigan and the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw, Poland (MIBMiK). The most advanced drug candidate developed by Molecure is OATD-01, a first-in-class CHIT1 inhibitor for the treatment of interstitial lung diseases such as sarcoidosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and MASH, which is in phase II clinical trials. The second drug candidate is OATD-02, an oral, selective, first-in-class, dual arginase inhibitor (ARG1 and ARG2) for the treatment of cancer, whose Phase I clinical trial has begun with first patient administration in Q1 2023. Molecure’s headquarters and laboratories are located in Warsaw and Lodz. The company is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (ticker: MOC). For more detailed information, please visit: https://molecure.com/pl/ LinkedIn: Molecure | Twitter: @molecure_sa | YouTube: Molecure SA