BlackBridge announced its partnership with FarmLogs, a farm management software and data-science company, to provide the U.S. with satellite imagery for crop health and field performance analysis.
Through the partnership, FarmLogs will leverage BlackBridge’sMonitoring Program for Agriculture over the U.S., with access to five-meter, multi-spectral RapidEye satellite imagery collected on a frequent basis throughout the growing season, as well as more than six years of historical imagery. FarmLogs will then extract and analyze crop-relevant information to help farmers maximize productivity and field profitability. “We’ve recently introduced FarmLogs Advantage, a new version of FarmLogs that utilizes this satellite imagery data to help our users better understand crop health and performance,” said Jesse Vollmar, CEO and co-founder of FarmLogs. “With regard to remote sensing, one of the most significant challenges in the precision agriculture industry during the last two decades has been to deliver sufficient quantities of imagery in a timely manner at a broad scale,” said Clint Graumann, director of North America, U.K. and Ireland at BlackBridge. “FarmLogs does a great job at analyzing big data and making it meaningful at the field level. With our combined capabilities, we are meeting that challenge head on.” This entry was posted in FarmLogs. Bookmark the permalink.
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Updated results from pilot Phase II trial of the BCL2 targeting DNAi® therapeutic reported at ASH 2014 –
VANCOUVER, BC and PLYMOUTH, MI, Dec. 5, 2014 /CNW/ – ProNAi Therapeutics Inc., a private hematology/oncology company dedicated to developing and commercializing a new class of therapeutics based on its proprietary DNAi® platform, today reported that a number of patients with relapsed or refractory Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma treated with its first DNAi-based therapeutic, PNT2258, achieved meaningful therapeutic outcomes and continue to exhibit durable clinical responses. The interim results from the ongoing pilot Phase II trial of PNT2258, a DNAi-based therapeutic targeting BCL2, are being reported in a poster presentation at the 56th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), being held in San Francisco. The investigators for the study concluded that:
“These results demonstrate that PNT2258 is an obviously active, well-tolerated therapeutic that warrants advanced clinical development,” said Dr. Nick Glover, President and CEO of ProNAi Therapeutics. “As such, in the coming months we will be initiating robustly designed studies of PNT2258 as a single agent in patients with refractory or relapsed DLBCL and in Richter’s transformed DLBCL, areas of high unmet medical need in which PNT2258 appears to be particularly effective. Given PNT2258’s favorable safety profile and the prospect for a BCL2-targeted agent to augment complementary mechanistic approaches, combination clinical studies with other targeted agents are also being planned.” Study Details The primary objective of the pilot Phase II open label efficacy study (PNT2258-02; NCT01733238) was to determine anti-tumor activity and collect safety data on recurrent or treatment-refractory NHL patients receiving single-agent PNT2258. Of the 13 patients treated, four were diagnosed with DLBCL; five patients were diagnosed with FL, two with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and two with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL). The median age of the patients was 63, and they had received an average of two prior systemic treatments. Nearly half (46%) of the subjects were refractory to prior treatment. Patients received 120 mg/m2 of PNT2258 intravenously on days 1-5 of a 21-day cycle for 6-8 cycles, and then continued with 100 mg/m2 on days 1-2 of a 28-day cycle, until disease progression. Efficacy Results
A poster of these data will be presented at the 56th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, being held in San Francisco. The poster (Abstract #1716) is entitled: “The BCL2 Targeted Deoxyribonucleic Acid Inhibitor (DNAi) PNT2258 Is Active in Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma”. The poster will be presented from 5:30 – 7:30 pm PT on Saturday, December 6th, 2015 at the Moscone Center, West Building, Level 1. About PNT2258 and DNAi PNT2258 is the first clinical stage DNAi-based therapeutic, and is designed to exquisitely target the regulatory region of the BCL2 gene, modulating transcription and effecting BCL2 function. PNT2258 is a proprietary liposomal formulation of PNT100, a 24-base phosphodiester DNA sequence. The liposomes are specialized anionic and pH “tunable” nanoparticles composed of four lipids. After intravenous injection, PNT2258 achieves systemic distribution, where PNT100 enters into nuclei to target the non-coding, non-transcribed regulatory region of the BCL2 gene upstream of the promoter start site resulting in an anti-proliferative and apoptotic effect. ProNAi’s proprietary DNAi® (DNA interference) therapeutic platform delivers rationally-designed DNA oligonucleotides into cells in order to target sequences residing within 5′-non-coding regions of the genome. These regulatory regions are susceptible to DNAi hybridization during transcription, cell cycling and gene up-regulation. The specific hybridization of the DNAi oligonucleotides with the targeted complementary strand of genomic DNA modulates transcription, affecting the function of the target gene. About ProNAi Therapeutics ProNAi Therapeutics is a private company dedicated to developing and commercializing a new class of therapies based on its proprietary DNAi®platform for patients with cancer and hematological diseases. ProNAi’s lead DNAi drug PNT2258 is specifically designed to treat cancers that overexpress BCL2. To date, 35 patients have been treated with PNT2258 in a Phase I and a pilot Phase II trial, with compelling efficacy and safety results reported. In May 2014, ProNAi raised approximately $60M from leading healthcare investors. For more information, please visit www.pronai.com. SOURCE ProNAi Therapeutics Inc. Ambiq Micro Inc., a microcontroller developer, has reported completing a $15.6 million financing.
The West Lake Hills-based company collected the capital from 27 investors,according to a Friday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. CEO Mark Foley couldn’t be reached for comment Friday afternoon. Vice President of Marketing Mike Salas declined to comment except to say the financing includes a new investor. More details are scheduled to be released on Monday, he said. Ambiq Micro, founded in 2010 as Cubiq Microchip Inc., develops energy-efficient microcontrollers. It reportedly employed 11 workers last year. In August 2013, Ambiq Micro completed a $10 million Series B round of funding involving 30 investors. Investors includedAustin Ventures LP, the Houston-based Mercury Fund and Michigan-based Huron River Ventures, according to a company news release and an SEC filing. Foley was previously the CEO of California-based Amalfi SemiconductorInc., a power amplifier company that was acquired in 2012 by RF Micro Devices Inc. for $47.5 million. Before that, he was CEO of NuTune Singapore Pte. Ltd., a developer of TV and set-top box tuners, according to Ambiq Micro’s website. Vestaron Corp. has received an additional $4 million from Anterra Capital in its Series C round, raising the total funding to $14 million. Other investors in the Series C round included Cultivian Sandbox Ventures, Southwest Michigan First Life Science Venture Fund, Open Prairie Ventures, Pangaea Ventures and Michigan Accelerator Fund. Based in Kalamazoo, Mich., Vestaron is a producer of pesticides.
PRESS RELEASE KALAMAZOO, MI–(Marketwired – Oct 28, 2014) – Vestaron Corporation, a company that designs environmentally friendly insecticides, announced today the final close of its Series C Financing. Anterra Capital, based in the Netherlands, added $4M to the $10M previously announced to bring total funding to $14M. Anterra Capital is jointly funded by Moonray Investors, the proprietary investment arm of FIL Limited, the parent company of Fidelity Worldwide Investment, and Rabo Private Equity, the proprietary private equity arm of Rabobank. The round also included Cultivian Sandbox Ventures, Southwest Michigan First Life Science Venture Fund, Open Prairie Ventures, Pangaea Ventures, Michigan Accelerator Fund and others. “I’m very pleased to welcome Anterra to the Vestaron team. Their perspectives will be greatly valued on the Board of Directors, and their experience in food and agriculture will be invaluable to us going forward,” said John Sorenson, CEO of Vestaron. “We’re overwhelmed to have attracted so much interest from the international venture capital community.” Philip Austin, a Partner in Anterra Capital, said, “We’re delighted to be supporting Vestaron. We’ve been watching the Company for several years now, and we feel the time is right to make an investment in this groundbreaking company. The commercialization of their first product is proving that natural peptides can be a valuable source of novel insecticides providing farmers with a crop protection tool that has the power of chemicals with the safety profile of biologicals.” Vestaron exploits the natural insecticidal properties of a class of peptides which have potent insect killing potential, but which are safe to humans, birds, fish, and the environment, including honeybees. These peptides utilize new modes of action that have never before been used for insect control, and therefore do not suffer from insect resistance. In addition to the bioinsecticides, the Company is putting the genes for the peptides into crop plants, and is modeling the active sites of the peptides to identify synthetic mimics that also have a favorable safety spectrum. ProNAi Therapeutics, a developer of nucleic acid therapeutics, has expanded its senior management team with five additions. Joining the firm are Dr. Angie You as chief business and strategy officer and head of commercial; Wendy Chapman as senior vice president of clinical operations; Chandra Lovejoy as senior vice president of global regulatory affairs and quality; Emma McCann as vice president of program management; and James Smith as vice president of corporate affairs. ProNAi’s backers include Vivo Capital, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, OrbiMed Advisors, Adams Street Partners, RA Capital Management, Caxton Alternative Management, Hopen Life Science Ventures, Sectoral Asset Management and Janus Capital Management.
PRESS RELEASE VANCOUVER, BC and PLYMOUTH, MI, Oct. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ – ProNAi Therapeutics Inc., a private company dedicated to developing and commercializing a new class of therapies based on its proprietary DNAi® platform, today announced that it has added five seasoned executives to its senior management team. Dr. Angie You, Chief Business & Strategy Officer & Head of Commercial Wendy Chapman, Senior Vice President, Clinical Operations Chandra Lovejoy, Senior Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs & Quality Emma McCann, Vice President, Program Management James Smith, Vice President, Corporate Affairs “We are rapidly building a professional leadership team to ensure our lead oncology drug, PNT2258, has the best prospects for clinical and commercial success, while also focusing on advancing a broad oncology pipeline built upon our novel and proprietary DNAi platform,” said Dr. Nick Glover, President & CEO of ProNAi Therapeutics. “These executives add deep experience in clinical trial execution, regulatory negotiation and capital markets access, and are essential to the further growth of our company. In addition, Dr. Angie You, our Chief Business & Strategy Officer and Head of Commercial has an outstanding track record in the biotech industry and will be responsible for leading the development and operationalization of our growth-oriented strategic plan, including the anticipated North American commercialization of our oncology products.” Dr. Angie You, Chief Business & Strategy Officer and Head of Commercial Dr. You heads the newly created position of Chief Business & Strategy Officer & Head of Commercial, and will lead the Company’s strategic and transactional business and commercial efforts. Prior to joining ProNAi, Dr. You served as the Chief Business Officer of Aragon Pharmaceuticals, a private oncology drug discovery and development company, where she was responsible for finance, operations, HR and business development. During her tenure, she helped raise $90M in two successful rounds of financing for the company, and led the business development process resulting in the $1B acquisition of Aragon Pharmaceuticals by Johnson & Johnson for an upfront payment of $650M and $350M in contingent milestones. Prior to Aragon, Angie served as Chief Business Officer at a number of companies including Synosia Therapeutics and Ren Pharmaceuticals. She also worked at Venrock Ventures, focused on new company formation, and ran the BD process for Anacor Pharmaceuticals, a Venrock portfolio company, resulting in an early Phase 2a licensing agreement with Schering Plough providing an initial $50M upfront and up to $575 million in milestones. After completing her undergraduate degree in Chemistry at Harvard College, and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Harvard University, Angie started her biotech career at McKinsey Consulting, focusing mainly on strategy, marketing and innovation-focused projects with biotech clients. Wendy Chapman, Senior Vice President, Clinical Operations Ms. Chapman heads the newly created position of Senior Vice President, Clinical Operations, with corporate accountability for the overall operational deployment of clinical studies. Prior to joining ProNAi, Wendy was the Portfolio Director at PAREXEL International where she was the senior point of contact for all issues related to the financial and operational execution of Phase II-IV global clinical trials for one of PAREXEL’s largest Strategic Alliance Partners. Previously, Ms. Chapman was the Vice President of Clinical Operations at YM Biosciences Inc., where she was responsible for the development and management of Clinical Operations which included Project Management, Clinical Monitoring, Clinical Supply Management and Data Management of Phase I-III clinical trials in myelofibrosis and various solid tumor indications. Wendy has more than 25 years of experience in clinical drug development at several pharmaceutical and contract research organizations in Canada and the U.S., including Viventia Biotech, AAI Pharma, Bayer Inc., AstraZeneca and MDS. Chandra Lovejoy, Senior Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs and Head of Quality Ms. Lovejoy heads the newly created position of Senior Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs and Head of Quality, with more than 15 years of progressive experience in global regulatory affairs and drug development in large and small companies overseeing pre-clinical through post-marketing phases. Most recently, Chandra was the Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs at Endocyte, and prior to that she held a leadership role in Regulatory Affairs at Genentech, primarily on the Avastin program. Chandra brings experience driving cutting-edge global regulatory strategy and leading cross-functional team activities including new IND submissions, implementation and conduct of global clinical trials, successful negotiations with both FDA and European health authorities regarding complex pivotal trials, and the submission and review of marketing applications. Emma McCann, Vice President, Program Management Ms. McCann heads the newly created position of Vice President, Program Management and joins ProNAi with more than 14 years of progressive experience in clinical research and program management. Emma was formerly Sr. Director, Program Management at YM BioSciences Inc., where she had a critical role within the organization focused on the progression of the company’s lead drug through a myelofibrosis clinical development program. Following the acquisition of YM by Gilead Sciences, Inc., her leadership of transitional activities led to a seamless transfer of key corporate assets allowing for execution of ongoing development plans with minimal overall timeline impact. Emma holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Bio-Medical Science from The University of Guelph, Ontario. James Smith, Vice President, Corporate Affairs Mr. Smith heads the newly created position of Vice President, Corporate Affairs, primarily responsible for the Company’s strategic investor relations and corporate communications activities. James was formerly Vice President, Corporate Development at SQI Diagnostics, a public multiplex protein assay company serving global pharmaceutical companies. Prior to this, he was Vice President, Corporate Affairs at YM BioSciences Inc., a public drug development company acquired by Gilead Sciences Inc. for $510 million. During his tenure at YM, he helped raise more than $140M in two successful rounds of financing for the company. Prior to YM, he led the Healthcare practice at TMX Equicom, a leading strategic investor relations consulting firm he joined in 2001, acquired by the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2007. He gained his initial capital markets experience as a biotechnology analyst at a venture capital firm. He also conducted research for eight years primarily focused on animal cell culture. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering Chemistry and a Master’s degree in Biochemical Engineering from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. About ProNAi Therapeutics ProNAi Therapeutics is a private company dedicated to developing and commercializing a new class of therapies based on its proprietary DNAi platform, for patients with cancer and other diseases. ProNAi’s lead DNAi drug is PNT2258, which is specifically designed to treat cancers that overexpress BCL2. To date, 35 patients have been treated with PNT2258 in a Phase I and a pilot Phase II trial, with compelling efficacy and safety results. In May 2014, ProNAi raised approximately $60M from leading healthcare investors. For more information, please visit www.pronai.com. |
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