Uniwersytet Jagiellonski

KRAKOW, Poland, Oct. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ryvu Therapeutics and nCage Therapeutics are pleased to announce that they have entered a research collaboration to develop a next-generation antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) platform. nCage has developed a TRAP cage platform where the protein cages are synthetic virus-like particles (VLPs) that can be used to display biological material on their surface or transport molecules such as nucleic acids or proteins into the interior of a target cell. This collaboration is focusing on the latter where a TRAP cage can be utilized as a novel drug delivery system (DDS) that could improve the efficacy and safety of current ADCs. The partners are encouraged by the potential of nCage's TRAP cage platform to improve the antibody-to-drug ratio (DAR) compared to currently approved ADCs. An improved DAR could result in greater efficacy and safety for novel ADCs. ADCs are a growing drug class that has achieved excellent results in clinical trials. However, over 40% of patients experience severe side effects. Improving the DAR will allow for less toxic drug payloads and should expand the applicable patient population. Ryvu and nCage foresee a long-term partnership that will significantly enhance the TRAP cage for drug delivery, potentially leading to breakthrough oncology therapies. nCage CEO, John Bason, stated: Our promising vaccine data suggests that we can develop best-in-class products for numerous viral targets. We are excited about the potential for this partnership with Ryvu to help us develop a second arm of the company, further driving the development of the company. Ryvu Chief Scientific Officer, Krzysztof Brzózka notes: This collaboration is an exciting opportunity to combine our small molecule expertise and experience with novel ADC payloads with the strong team at nCage, who are working on a truly novel delivery platform. We are encouraged by the growing field of next-generation ADCs and the potential for this collaboration to generate more effective and safer therapies. Ryvu and nCage will each support their own costs in executing this collaboration, and all data generated through the collaboration will be jointly owned. Ryvu and nCage look forward to sharing more about the collaboration as the work progresses. About Ryvu Therapeutics Ryvu Therapeutics is a clinical-stage drug discovery and development company focused on novel small-molecule therapies that address emerging targets in oncology. Internally discovered pipeline candidates at Ryvu use diverse therapeutic mechanisms driven by emerging knowledge of cancer biology, including small molecules directed at kinases, synthetic lethality, and immuno-oncology targets. Ryvu's most advanced program is RVU120, a selective CDK8/CDK19 kinase inhibitor with the potential to treat hematological malignancies and solid tumors. RVU120 is currently in Phase II development (i) as a monotherapy for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (r/r AML) and high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (HR-MDS) – the RIVER-52 study, (ii) in combination with venetoclax for the treatment of patients with r/r AML – the RIVER-81 study, and (iii) as a monotherapy for the treatment of patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (LR-MDS) – the REMARK study. MEN1703 (SEL24) is a dual PIM/FLT3 kinase inhibitor licensed to the Menarini Group that is expected to start a Phase II study in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in Q4 2024. RVU305, a potentially best-in-class PRMT5 inhibitor aiming to treat multiple solid tumors, is currently undergoing IND/CTA-enabling studies. Ryvu Therapeutics has signed 11 partnering and licensing deals with global companies, including BioNTech and Exelixis. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Kraków, Poland. Ryvu is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and is a component of the mWIG40 index. For more information, please see . About nCage Therapeutics nCage Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing its innovative synthetic VLP platform technology to develop vaccines against infectious diseases and second-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). nCage's VLP platform utilizes a universal hook system to display antigens or biological targeting moieties on the exterior of a protein scaffold and load a peptide antigen or a drug payload on the interior of the VLP. Vaccines developed using the platform induce broad, robust, and durable protection against the specific viruses targeted. Drug delivery system is characterized by a controlled release of cytotoxic payload and should have a superior safety and toxicity profile to ADCs that are currently on the market. nCage's lead program is a combination vaccine candidate targeting respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other respiratory viruses. Its pipeline includes additional combination and respiratory vaccine candidates, including influenza and SARS-CoV-2. nCage Therapeutics was founded in 2019 to advance the breakthrough synthetic VLP technology developed in the Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology (MCB) of Jagiellonian University in Krakow. nCage is located in Krakow. For more information, please see . SOURCE Ryvu Therapeutics WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED

OXFORD, United Kingdom, Oct. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MitoRx Therapeutics (MitoRx), a platform biotechnology company developing novel mitochondrial-targeted sulfide-donor therapeutics (mtH2SD) in obesity-related disorders and myopathies announces a publication in Elsevier’s prestigious biomedical sciences journal Pharmacological Research. The work led by collaborators at Jagiellonian University Medical College showed that in a preclinical mouse study involving high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity, the company’s mtH2SD compound AP39, significantly slowed the rate of gain in weight. This is the first comprehensive study designed to test whether mitochondrial sulfide donors could address weight gain and fatty liver (steatosis). Mounting evidence suggests that hydrogen sulfide is an important signalling molecule in the liver, regulating lipid metabolism and mitochondrial function, but its direct delivery to mitochondria had not been investigated as a therapeutic strategy in obesity-related metabolic disorders. This is what the Pharmacological Research paper examined. MitoRx’s CSO, Prof Matt Whiteman, and their Senior Discovery Chemist, Dr. Roberta Torregrossa, with co-inventor Dr. Mark Wood at the University of Exeter are co-authors on the paper. It showed that treatment with AP39 reduced weight gain in animals fed HFD by 32% at the end of the research. (1) AP39 is a versatile mtH2SD tool compound that mediates very large and statistically significant reductions in liver steatosis, large and significant reductions in triglycerides, reductions in de novo lipogenesis, reductions in inflammatory markers, and significant downregulation of known liver proteomic markers of weight gain and the development of obesity, indicating mtH2SD-mediated downregulation mTOR/SREBP-1/SCD1 pathway alleviates obesity. MitoRx is developing undisclosed next-generation mtH2SDs to take to the clinic. Importantly, this modality is both muscle protective including in a severe fibrotic muscle atrophy model and is also anti-obesogenic. With this double therapeutic benefit, MitoRx’s next-gen mtH2SDs could potentially address the loss of lean muscle mass which is a serious side effect of marketed GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs in general, especially with age. This approach could be applicable in sarcopenic (age-related muscle mass and strength loss) obesity while also addressing muscle wasting in obese patients in general. Dr. Jon Rees, Chief Executive Officer of MitoRx, said: “MitoRx is advancing its first-in-class mitochondriotropic platform initially focused on myopathies and is now applying it to obesity offering a small molecule anti-obesogenic which is also muscle protective. This latest publication provides solid pre-clinical evidence that AP39 substantially suppressed the gain of weight in HFD-fed animals, suggesting a new pathway to alleviate obesity, whilst avoiding the muscle wasting side-effects that blight GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs. Powerful international research collaborations like this, with the talented team at Jagiellonian University’s Faculty of Medicine, help speed therapeutic advances to patients.” Dr. Aneta Stachowicz, Department of Pharmacology at the Faculty of Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Poland, and lead author of the Pharmacological Research paper, said: “Having comprehensively demonstrated that mitochondrial-targeted sulfide donors alleviate weight gain and significantly reduce multiple markers of obesity, we mark the beginning of a new era in the development of an innovative therapeutic approach for metabolic disease through the modulation of mitochondrial sulfide-signalling.” Matt Whiteman, Professor of Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Exeter Medical School, UK, and co-author of the study added: We discovered impaired sulfide metabolism in overweight patients with type 2 diabetes in 2010 (2) and we noticed that this impairment was driven by the amount of fat tissue these individuals were carrying; an observation since confirmed by many others. These findings suggested that treating this impairment with mtH2SD could potentially treat diabetes, obesity and complications arising from having too much fat in the body. It is gratifying to now translate those observations toward clinically viable drugs with MitoRx References: (1): Mitochondria-targeted hydrogen sulfide donor reduces fatty liver and obesity in mice fed a high fat diet by inhibiting de novo lipogenesis and inflammation via mTOR/SREBP-1 and NF-Kappa-B signaling pathways. Pharmacological Research 209 (2024):107428https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phrs.2024.107428 (2): Adiposity is a major determinant of plasma levels of the novel vasodilator hydrogen sulphide. Diabetologia 53(8):1722-6 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-010-1761-5 Company Contact (MitoRx) Jon Rees, CEOEmail: jon.rees@mitorxtherapeutics.com Phone: +44(0)7826 556622 Media Contact (Scius Communications for MitoRx) Katja Stout, Managing PartnerEmail: katja@sciuscommunications.com Phone: +44(0)7789 435990 University of Exeter Press Office  +44 (0)1392 722405 or 722062pressoffice@exeter.ac.uk Jagiellonian University Marcin Kubatrzecznik@uj.edu.pl About MitoRx TherapeuticsAt MitoRx our mission is to become the leading global developer of medicines arresting the progression of degenerative diseases driven by mitochondrial dysfunction. We are a preclinical stage biotechnology company developing our first-in-class first-in-target, mitochondriotropic therapeutics in obesity-related indications and myopathies. Located in Harwell, Oxford, we have raised £5.4m seed financing from investors including the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund, the Fink Family Office, Oxford Technology Management, Empirical Ventures, Wren Capital and Longevitytech.fund, as well as angel investors. For more information visit our website at www.mitorxtherapeutics.com and follow us on LinkedIn. About the University of ExeterThe University of Exeter is a Russell Group university that combines world-class research with high levels of student satisfaction. Exeter has over 30,000 students and sits within the Top 15 universities in The Complete University Guide 2025, and tenth in the world in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), more than 99% of our research were rated as being of international quality, and our world-leading research impact has grown by 72% since 2014, more than any other Russell Group university.https://www.exeter.ac.uk/ About Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University is the oldest higher education institution in Poland and one of the oldest in Europe. It was founded on 12 May 1364 by the Polish king Casimir the Great. The Jubilee year 2014 marked the 650th anniversary of this remarkable event. Since its very beginning, the Jagiellonian University has been an international institution. Today, the Jagiellonian University comprises 16 Faculties, where nearly 4 thousand academic staff conduct research and provide education to over 40 thousand students, within the framework of more than 80 different fields of study. The eminent researchers and state-of-the-art infrastructure make the JU one of the leading Polish scientific institutions, collaborating with major academic centres from all over the world. The Jagiellonian University is also home to about 150 student societies, where young researchers pursue their academic interests and develop friendships with people who share their passion. For more information visit our website at https://en.uj.edu.pl/en.

Research finds a nearly 40% decline in the annual average concentration of respirable particulate matter (PM2.5) in Krakow, Poland, between 2010 and 2019 following the implementation of clean air policies. Air quality improvements translated to substantial benefits for children's outcomes, including fewer cases of asthma and better birth outcomes. Residential heating by coal has for decades been the major contributor to the high levels of air pollution in Kraków, Poland. New research finds a nearly 40 percent decline in the annual average concentration of respirable particulate matter (PM2.5) in Kraków, Poland, between 2010 and 2019 following the implementation of policies targeting emissions from the burning of coal and other solid fuels. Researchers show the improvement in air quality translated to substantial benefits for children's outcomes, including fewer cases of asthma and better birth outcomes. The findings by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Jagiellonian University Medical College in Krakow appear in the journal Environmental Research Letters. The researchers modeled health gains that would have occurred in 2010 if PM2.5 had been at the lower level achieved in 2019 through policy changes The benefits included 505 fewer new cases of asthma in the 1-14 age group (a 35.7% decline), 81 fewer preterm births (16.8% decrease), and 52 fewer cases of low birth weight (12.3% decrease). They also modeled gains based on a second hypothetical, which assumed that city had adhered to the WHO's 2005 guidelines on PM2.5. They found this scenario of a 74% reduction in PM2.5 would have avoided 780 new asthma cases in the 1-14 age group (54.5% decrease), 138 preterm births (28.3% decrease), and 90 cases of low birth weight (21.2% decrease). In 2021, Krakow was ranked 28th out of 858 European studies in air pollution related-mortality in the ISGlobal-Ranking of Cities survey. These high levels of pollution have been attributed largely to the use of coal-burning ovens in residential spaces, and to a lesser extent transportation and power plant emissions. Government interventions, including a co-financing program to replace coal-burning stoves in the 1990s, markedly improved the city's air quality, positively impacting children's health outcomes. However, according to researchers, levels of human-derived air pollution, such as emissions from motor vehicles, is still a concern. "Fetuses, infants, and children are uniquely vulnerable to air pollution," explains study senior author Frederica Perera, PhD, DrPH, professor of environmental health sciences and director of translational research at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health at Columbia Mailman, "Our results show very large benefits can be achieved for children's health by curbing fossil fuel emissions." "This is one of the first studies describing the impact of pollution on the Polish pediatric population," noted study first author Agnieszka Pac, MSc., PhD, chair of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland. "New policies must take into account children's health, especially given that children often engage in vigorous outdoor activities, making them vulnerable to higher doses of pollutants." In earlier studies, the researchers reported a significant improvement in air quality based on personal air monitoring in our Kraków cohort study of pregnant women and their children based on personal air monitoring. They also identified links between air pollution exposure and birth outcomes, growth trajectories, lung function, developmental delays, behavioral problems, and cancer risk. Additional authors of the new study include Renata Majewska, Natalia Nidecka, and Elzbieta Sochacka-Tatara from Jagiellonian University Medical College. This study was supported by a grant from an anonymous foundation.