SD Biotech Roundup: Elevation Pharmaceuticals, BioSurplus, and More

We’re anticipating a lot of news out of a big cancer conference that begins next week in Chicago. Here is your head start.

—Cancer researchers have talked for decades about finding the silver bullet that could kill cancer cells without harming the healthy cells nearby. These days, the industry is focusing on the development of “empowered” or “armed” antibodies, or antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Luke put together a list of venture-backed life sciences companies that are focusing on ADCs. His list includes San Diego’s AnaptysBio, Fabrus, and Ambrx.

—San Diego’s Elevation Pharmaceuticals said a mid-stage dosing trial of its lead drug candidate, an aerosol dubbed EP-101, generated positive results among patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The company said it tested four doses of EP-101, with all four doses showing EP-101 was safe and effective in helping COPD patients breathe easier. Elevation raised $30 million in a Series B round five months ago that should enable the company to complete a follow-up round of testing this year.

—With the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting set to begin next week in Chicago, Luke used his BioBeat column to provide a rundown on eight cancer drugs to watch from biotech companies throughout the U.S. He picked them because they are either on the cusp of reaching the market, or just beginning to show their potential.

—BioSurplus, a San Diego company that provides pre-owned lab instruments to the life sciences industry, said it raised $1.5M to fund its expansion into Boston. The company recently opened similar equipment showrooms in the San Francisco Bay Area and Korea. BioSurplus said most of the funding for the move came from San Diego-based KI Investment Holdings.

—Good News for Xconomy: Our national biotech editor, Luke Timmerman, is one of four finalists in the blogging category of this year’s Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism. Whatever happens, he’s put Xconomy in good company. The other blogging finalists work for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Reuters. Winners will be announced June 26.

Author: Bruce V. Bigelow

In Memoriam: Our dear friend Bruce V. Bigelow passed away on June 29, 2018. He was the editor of Xconomy San Diego from 2008 to 2018. Read more about his life and work here. Bruce Bigelow joined Xconomy from the business desk of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was a member of the team of reporters who were awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting for uncovering bribes paid to San Diego Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham in exchange for special legislation earmarks. He also shared a 2006 award for enterprise reporting from the Society of Business Editors and Writers for “In Harm’s Way,” an article about the extraordinary casualty rate among employees working in Iraq for San Diego’s Titan Corp. He has written extensively about the 2002 corporate accounting scandal at software goliath Peregrine Systems. He also was a Gerald Loeb Award finalist and National Headline Award winner for “The Toymaker,” a 14-part chronicle of a San Diego start-up company. He takes special satisfaction, though, that the series was included in the library for nonfiction narrative journalism at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Bigelow graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1977 with a degree in English Literature and from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1979. Before joining the Union-Tribune in 1990, he worked for the Associated Press in Los Angeles and The Kansas City Times.