This is the hottest life science and health news in the Northwest Pacific this week.
SeaGen CEO was arrested for domestic violence and resigned: clay siegall resigned as CEO and chairman of SeaGen on charges of domestic violence, more than 24 years after he co founded the listed company with others.
Q & A with Providence’s new digital director: We interviewed Sara vaezy, who recently took over the leadership of the digital innovation group in health systems, to understand her views on the future of spin off startups and health technology.
Cautiously optimistic about biotechnology in the context of the stock market crash: listed biotechnology companies are cutting projects and layoffs as valuations decline, but some trends support a more positive outlook. Biotechnology veterinarian Hans bishop and other speakers at the life sciences innovation northwest event, as well as Ernst & young partner Richard ramko, also participated in the event.
The biotechnology Committee has always insisted on:
Zymeworks rejected a $733 million takeover offer from a technology focused investment company. The company increased its bid by setting up a proposed board of directors, which includes Pulitzer Prize winner, scientific writer and oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee.
An activist shareholder of athira Pharma suspended his participation in the board with a partner in order to replace the CEO. Shareholders made a final decision in this week’s campaign and approved the nominees for the company’s board of directors.
Clinical trials:
Neoleukin therapeutics announced that its first patient was taking nl-201, a candidate treatment for solid tumors, in combination with Merck’s keytruda. Nl-201 is a fully engineered preparation designed by Seattle company to regulate the immune system.
Seattle based Chinook therapeutics provided data on two candidate therapies for kidney disease in phase 1 / 2 and phase 2 trials. Both candidates were well tolerated and had an effect on proteinuria, with elevated blood protein levels indicating kidney damage.
Aurinia pharmaceuticals, headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia, also provided data from an ongoing trial showing the long-term safety and tolerance of its drugs used to treat renal damage in patients with lupus.
Public Health:
A recent report by the Washington State Health Alliance and the Washington global economic alliance tracked the impact of the industry on wages. 196 organizations work in the field of global health and employ more than 16000 people.
Starbucks has partnered with Amazon, Microsoft and other Seattle companies to pay travel costs for employees seeking abortion.
Path supports the 2019 coronavirus disease vaccination campaign, covering nearly 65000 people in remote areas of Bangladesh. Seattle nonprofit described this effort in a post.
Science Spotlight:
The internal work of David Baker, director of the Institute of protein design at the University of Washington, was discussed in a special report on endpoints news.
Chemical & amp; engineering news reports on the rapidly growing field of antibody drug conjugates, a class of therapies pioneered by botell, Washington – based on SeaGen. In 2021, 30 such drugs entered clinical trials.
event:
Saturday, May 21: the Wisconsin Academy of Aquatic Sciences’ open-ended event features family friendliness and hands-on practice. Learn about corals, whales, fish and “what’s at the bottom of Puget bay”
Tuesday, May 23: Life Sciences Washington hosted the first of several career development seminars aimed at preparing scientists for their careers in the industry.
Wednesday, May 25: Fred hutch hosts a noon “science talk” program focusing on precision oncology, followed by an afternoon meeting of women leaders in cancer research.