Former Takeda vaccine chief to lead new COVID antiviral venture Aerium
By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Aerium Therapeutics, a venture-backed startup, on Tuesday introduced trade veteran Rajeev Venkayya will lead the corporate and launched knowledge that confirmed its two experimental monoclonal antibodies neutralized coronavirus variants, together with Omicron and its fast-spreading subvariant BA.2, in lab research.
Venkayya brings on the spot credibility to the brand new enterprise. He left Tokyo-based Takeda Pharmaceutical Co final month after serving as president of its world vaccine enterprise.
Takeda has vaccines towards dengue and Zika within the works, and has been making and distributing COVID-19 photographs for Moderna and Novavax in Japan throughout the pandemic.
Aerium, which raised an undisclosed sum in Collection A financing via Omega Funds and F-Prime Capital, can be primarily based in Boston with analysis and growth operations in Lausanne, Switzerland.
In an interview, Venkayya mentioned he stayed at Takeda for 10 years – longer than he anticipated – including that with the dengue vaccine anticipated to launch someday this 12 months, the time for a transfer was proper.
The corporate plans to develop its two monoclonal antibodies to be used together to forestall coronavirus an infection in people who find themselves immunocompromised and don’t make a powerful antibody response to vaccines.
“I believe these antibodies could make an enormous distinction in the event that they’re efficiently developed for that inhabitants,” Venkayya mentioned. Past COVID, he mentioned the corporate’s antibody platform might have makes use of for different viral ailments as nicely.
The antibodies P2G3/P5C3 have been examined within the laboratory and in animal research towards types of the virus which have been proven to flee vaccine immunity together with Delta and Omicron variants BA.1, BA.1.1 and BA.2.
The analysis was revealed on Tuesday on the preprint server BioRXiv and the corporate plans to submit the paper for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
“We expect it is going to be very onerous for the virus to mutate round this mix,” Venkayya mentioned.
He mentioned the medication, that are at the moment designed to be delivered by way of infusion, would ultimately be modified to be given as an injection in a physician’s workplace each three-to-six months.
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Modifying by Invoice Berkrot)
