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BEVERLY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Akston Biosciences, dedicated to accelerating the next revolution in Animal Health, announced the publication in Frontiers in Immunology of a study on AKS-107, an innovative antigen-specific immunotherapy based on Akston's Ambifect® Fc-fusion protein platform. The study demonstrated AKS-107's potential to target and delete insulin-specific B cells, which are implicated in the development of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). Fc-fusion proteins based on this platform can be designed to interact only with parts of the immune system related to the target disease while minimizing off-target effects. AKS-107 is a human IgG1 Fc-fusion protein engineered to retain conformational insulin epitopes that bind to B cell receptors while preventing binding to the insulin metabolic receptor. The study conducted in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice and insulin-reactive B cell receptor transgenic mouse strains showed that AKS-107 can safely prevent spontaneous diabetes, demonstrating durable immune tolerance. Studies have shown that AKS-107 has a protracted pharmacokinetic pro was well-tolerated in both mice and non-human primates, making it a promising candidate for clinical development in T1D prevention settings. "Akston has confirmed the versatility of the Ambifect® platform across diverse treatment areas, including extended duration insulin therapies, infectious disease vaccines, and, with AKS-107, interrupting an autoimmune cascade," said Todd Zion, Ph.D., President & CEO of Akston Biosciences. “We are now exploring its application to therapeutic vaccination, where the immune system is recruited to target proteins involved in non-communicable diseases," he added. “Using a common platform allows Akston to reduce development time and manufacturing costs across its entire pipeline.” As part of its renewed focus on Animal Health, Akston recently spun out all applications for human T1D prevention and treatment, including AKS-107 for disease prevention and AKS-440, its once-a-week basal insulin therapy. Akston also spun out all human clinical vaccine applications with lead candidates targeting misfolded proteins involved in neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s and infectious diseases including Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Dengue fever. Regarding its Animal Health applications, Akston is partnered with Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC to commercialize canine and feline ultra-long insulins. The company is also advancing lead therapeutic vaccines against nerve growth factor for chronic pain and IL-31 for atopic dermatitis. About Akston Biosciences: Akston Biosciences Corporation is dedicated to accelerating the next revolution in Animal Health by inventing, developing, and manufacturing breakthrough protein therapeutics for veterinary use. Its vertically integrated capabilities, including a kilogram-scale cGMP manufacturing facility dedicated to Animal Health, can significantly reduce the time and cost from discovery to commercial introduction. Akston leverages its Ambifect® Fc-fusion protein platform to create innovative, extended-duration biologics and therapeutic vaccines. Its facilities are located in Beverly, Mass. Additional information is available at akstonbio.com.

Nurix and Seagen to develop a portfolio of Degrader-Antibody Conjugates (DACs): antibodies that deliver a targeted protein degrader payload to selectively kill cancer cells Nurix to receive a $60 million upfront payment, in addition to the potential for approximately $3.4 billion in milestone payments plus future royalties Nurix retains an option for U.S. profit sharing and co-promotion on two products arising from the collaboration Nurix to host a conference call today, September 7 at 8:30 a.m. ET Nurix Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: NRIX), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted protein modulation drugs designed to treat patients with hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, today announced that it has entered into a multi-year, multi-target strategic collaboration agreement with Seagen Inc. to advance a new class of medicines called Degrader-Antibody Conjugates (DACs) for use in cancer. The collaboration between the two companies will focus on an innovative approach to combine two powerful technologies to target cancer—antibody-drug conjugation (ADC) and targeted protein degradation (TPD)—with the goal of creating drugs with new mechanisms of action as well as improved specificity and anti-cancer activity. “By combining the tissue and tumor specificity of antibodies with highly potent and catalytic targeted degradation of cancer driver proteins, we believe that DACs may represent a next generation of cancer medicine for a wide range of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies,” said Arthur T. Sands, M.D., Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Nurix. “With Seagen, our strategic goal is to advance ADC technology to the next level to provide patients with new DAC drugs that deliver greater anti-tumor efficacy and safety compared to currently available agents.” “The targeted protein degrader modality provides unique advantages over payloads currently employed across the ADC field,” said Gwenn M. Hansen, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of Nurix. “This collaboration is a new application of our DELigase technology, and we are delighted to work with Seagen, a pioneer in the development and commercialization of ADC therapeutics, to create a new generation of drugs to fight cancer.” Under the terms of the agreement, Nurix will receive an upfront payment of $60 million and has the potential to receive up to approximately $3.4 billion in research, development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments across multiple programs. In addition, Nurix will be eligible for mid-single to low double digit tiered royalties on future sales, and Nurix retains an option for U.S. profit sharing and co-promotion on two products arising from the collaboration. As part of the multi-year collaboration, Nurix will use its proprietary DELigase platform to develop a suite of targeted protein degraders against multiple targets nominated by Seagen that are suitable for antibody conjugation. Seagen will be responsible for conjugating these degraders to antibodies to make DACs and advancing these DAC drug candidates through preclinical and clinical development and commercialization. Given the potential to conjugate multiple antibodies to unique degraders, several DAC drugs may be developed and commercialized within this collaboration. With the receipt of the $60 million upfront payment, Nurix expects that its existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, excluding any future potential milestones from collaborations, will be sufficient to fund its operating activities into the second quarter of 2025. About Nurix Therapeutics, Inc. Nurix Therapeutics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative medicines based on the modulation of cellular protein levels as a novel treatment approach for cancer and other challenging diseases. Leveraging extensive expertise in E3 ligases together with proprietary DNA-encoded libraries, Nurix has built DELigase, an integrated discovery platform, to identify and advance novel drug candidates targeting E3 ligases, a broad class of enzymes that can modulate proteins within the cell. Nurix’s drug discovery approach is to either harness or inhibit the natural function of E3 ligases within the ubiquitin-proteasome system to selectively decrease or increase cellular protein levels. Nurix’s wholly owned, clinical stage pipeline includes targeted protein degraders of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase, a B-cell signaling protein, and inhibitors of Casitas B-lineage lymphoma proto-oncogene B, an E3 ligase that regulates activation of multiple immune cell types including T cell and NK cells. Nurix is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For additional information visit http://www.nurixtx.com. The content above comes from the network. if any infringement, please contact us to modify.

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 31, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nurix Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: NRIX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted protein modulation drugs designed to treat patients with hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, today announced that Arthur T. Sands, M.D., Ph.D., Nurix’s president and chief executive officer will participate in the following conferences in September: Wells Fargo Healthcare ConferenceFireside chat: Thursday, September 7, 3:00 – 3:45 p.m. ET Baird Global Healthcare ConferenceFireside chat: Tuesday, September 12, 12:15 – 12:45 p.m. ET The events will be webcast live and may be accessed via a link in the Investors section of the Nurix website under Events and Presentations. Archived copies of the webcasts will be available on the Nurix website for approximately 30 days after the event. About Nurix Therapeutics, Inc. Nurix Therapeutics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines based on the modulation of cellular protein levels as a novel treatment approach for cancer and other challenging diseases. Leveraging extensive expertise in E3 ligases together with proprietary DNA-encoded libraries, Nurix has built DELigase, an integrated discovery platform, to identify and advance novel drug candidates targeting E3 ligases, a broad class of enzymes that can modulate proteins within the cell. Nurix’s drug discovery approach is to either harness or inhibit the natural function of E3 ligases within the ubiquitin-proteasome system to selectively decrease or increase cellular protein levels. Nurix’s wholly owned, clinical stage pipeline includes targeted protein degraders of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase, a B-cell signaling protein, and inhibitors of Casitas B-lineage lymphoma proto-oncogene B, an E3 ligase that regulates activation of multiple immune cell types including T cell and NK cells. Nurix is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For additional information visit http://www.nurixtx.com. Contacts: InvestorsSilinda NeouNurix Therapeuticsir@nurixtx.com Elizabeth Wolffe, Ph.D.Wheelhouse Life Science Advisorslwolffe@wheelhouselsa.com MediaAljanae ReynoldsWheelhouse Life Science Advisorsareynolds@wheelhouselsa.com