#19 - Founder U-turns & hush-hush deals

The coffee break biotech roundup, by SomX.

Psst...over here my biotech insiders,

This week’s edition is filled with intrigue: BenevolentAI’s CEO steps down, and its founders sneak back in; Treeline Biosciences quietly nabs one of the year’s biggest funding haul; Roche’s latest trial vanishes without a trace; Ontario is betting big on life sciences; and researchers have uncovered a secret weapon in JAK inhibitors for severe skin disease treatment.

It’s all hush-hush for now, but we’re here to lift the lid.

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Discover 🔍

👣 BenevolentAI CEO steps down as founders make a comeback (pharmaphorum): In an eyebrow-raising move, Jörg Möller has bowed out after a brief 9-month stint as Benevolent CEO, with co-founder Ken Mulvany swooping back in to take charge. Mulvany – who left the company when it went public on the Amsterdam stock exchange in 2022 – is bringing back his old pal Michael Brennan as chief strategy and financial officer. Together, the two co-founders are hoping to sharpen Benevolent’s strategic focus, in a bid to boost shareholder returns.

Our take: It’s been a veritable game of musical chairs over at BenevolentAI, with a raft of leadership changes and cost-saving measures, following a 90% drop in share price. With Mulvany raising concerns over management in April of this year, shareholders will be hoping that his reinstatement as CEO will usher in a period of stability for the AI drug discovery company, and drive forward its drug candidate pipeline, which already boasts an FDA-approved breakthrough.

👻 Another Roche MAGE-A4 trial disappears, withdrawn without enrolling after strategic review (Fierce Biotech): Alas, another one bites the dust. Roche’s melanoma-associated antigen trial, MAGE-A4, has been shelved before a single patient was dosed. Initially slated for summer enrolment, the trial faced multiple delays, though Roche insists there were no preclinical red flags. It seems that Immunocore, who licensed the candidate to Roche, saw the writing on the wall and exited long before Roche pulled the plug.

Our take: This isn’t Roche’s first MAGE-A4 stumble: earlier this year, a similar program for ovarian cancer fell by the wayside after disappointing phase 1 results. These failures beg the question, is MAGE-A4 simply not the golden ticket it’s cracked up to be? Other therapy developers will be hoping that this is not the case, and that Roche’s retreat means they can reap the rewards of a more open playing field.

💰Ontario invests $146M in hopes of becoming life sciences hub (CBC): Ontario is betting big on life sciences, and flexing its muscles as a biomanufacturing heavyweight. With $46M earmarked for research infrastructure, $5M to fast-track clinical trials, and $36M for startups, this investment will pump up Ontario-made innovations in the clinical arena. Throw in some venture capital and an “all-of-government approach", and Ontario is primed to become a premier destination for life sciences investment and development.

Our take: Ontario’s bold life sciences push is aggressive, forward-looking, and potentially transformative. With a steady stream of STEM talent graduating annually, robust R&D ecosystem, and track history of life sciences investment, Ontario might just become the place for next-gen ideas to take root and thrive.

🔬Researchers uncover the potential of JAK inhibitors to treat life-threatening skin disease (News Medical): In a rather nifty use of spatial proteomics, scientists have honed in on the JAK/STAT pathway as a key treatment target for toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) – a life-threatening skin condition triggered by adverse drug reactions. What’s more, they’ve shown that Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi) reduced disease severity and promoted recovery in both mouse models and human patients. 

Our take: This study may have been all about TEN, but the real intrigue lies in how these JAK inhibitors could broaden the therapeutic stage. By homing in on molecular signatures at the single-cell level, spatial proteomics – the art of pinpointing proteins and how they behave in cells – offers a precision toolkit not just for skin diseases but for a whole range of inflammatory and cancer-related conditions. Precision, it seems, is the name of the game.

And finally…

🤫 Secretive Treeline Biosciences discloses $421M financing in filing (Endpoints): According to a fresh SEC filing, Treeline Biosciences has quietly snagged one of biotech’s biggest funding hauls of the year. With little more than a cryptic promise of “transformative precision medicines” and a focus on oncology (after all, the co-founders are Josh Bilenker, who sold his oncology startup to Eli Lilly, and Jeff Engelman, former Global Head of Oncology at Novartis) their mystery and achievements haven’t gone under the radar…

Our take: Treeline’s knack for secrecy is almost as impressive as the funding it’s managed to rake in the last 2 years – $900 million and counting. It’s a bold game: keep everyone guessing, while quietly working away behind the scenes. But with backers like ARCH, KKR, and OrbiMed on board, it’s clear they’re not just spinning wheels. A risky move, perhaps, but it certainly keeps the intrigue alive – and we’ll all be watching when the company finally unveils its plans.

Tune in 🎧

💬 Tips for Effective Communication in Biotech
Carolyn Scofield, Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications at Tulane Medicine, discusses how to support business growth and the intricate link between communication and biotech success.

👓 Replacing Cells, Restoring Sight…
Brian Culley, CEO of Lineage Cell Therapeutics, discusses a new approach to treating age-related macular degeneration using ‘whole-cell replacement therapy’.

🔮 The future of gene therapy

Michael Parini, CEO of Spur Therapeutics, discusses next-gen gene therapies, Gaucher disease treatment, and the evolving landscape of gene therapy advancements.

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19.11 | BioCentury & BIA’s 2nd CEO & Investor Dialogue: Biotech's Next Challenge | London, UK: Join CEOs, boards, and investors as they tackle the big questions in biotech – from advancing pipelines to leveraging AI in drug development.

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