The Wellcome Trust Ltd.

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 20, 2024 -- Scientists from around the world are making headway in compiling a Human Cell Atlas -- a deep dive into the myriad types of cells in the body and their disparate roles in health and disease. The atlas is not yet complete, but 40 different scientific papers on cell research, published Nov. 20 in the journal Nature , brings the goal much closer. "This landmark collection of papers from the international Human Cell Atlas community underscores the tremendous progress toward mapping every single kind of human cell and how they change as we grow up and age," explained Dr. Jeremy Farrar , chief scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO). "The insights emerging from these discoveries are already reshaping our understanding of health and disease, paving the way for transformative health benefits that will impact lives worldwide." There are many individual types of cells that work in partnerships to spur human development and health and, sometimes, disease. The Human Cell Atlas (HCA) seeks to better understand these cells and their relationships. Over 3,600 scientists from 100 countries worldwide have been working together to catalog more than 100 million cells obtained from a diverse group of more than 10,000 people. Any first draft of the HCA will contain data on billions of cells from all organs and tissues. This new batch of HCA-related research papers focuses on three key aspects of the research: According to a news release from Britain's Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the new papers are already providing insight into "how the placenta and skeleton form, changes during brain maturation, new gut and vascular cell states, lung responses to COVID-19, [and] investigating how genetic variation impacts on disease." A partial list of some of these discoveries includes: The HCA papers also include research into making sure a diverse range of human subjects are included in the groundbreaking effort. "A key priority for HCA is to ensure a representation of the vast range of human diversity; genetic, cultural and geographical," said Partha Majumder of the John C. Martin Centre for Liver Research and Innovation, in India. Tissue and organ samples obtained from people worldwide, including Asia and Africa, "demonstrate the remarkable power of large-scale international scientific collaboration," said Majumber, who is co-chair of the HCA Equity Working Group. "The Human Cell Atlas is a global initiative that is already transforming our understanding of human health," said Sarah Teichmann , a founding co-chair of the Human Cell Atlas who is now at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute in the U.K. "By creating a comprehensive reference map of the healthy human body -- a kind of ‘Google Maps’ for cell biology -- it establishes a benchmark for detecting and understanding the changes that underlie health and disease. This new level of insight into the specific genes, mechanisms and cell types within tissues is laying the groundwork for more precise diagnostics, innovative drug discovery and advanced regenerative medicine approaches." The HCA is funded, in part, by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Wellcome Trust, U.S. National Institutes of Health and the National Key R&D Program of China. Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.

SAN DIEGO--( BUSINESS WIRE )--In an exciting moment for genomics research, Scale Biosciences (Scale Bio) announced today the winning projects of the 100 Million Cell Challenge representing more than a dozen projects addressing critical challenges in global health — from childhood respiratory diseases to cancer disparities. These projects, chosen from 147 proposals submitted across 27 countries, represent a total of 50 million cells and will be fully subsidized by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI). The selected projects span a remarkable range of applications, from expanding the first global atlas of pediatric health to investigating population-specific differences in cancer outcomes. Collectively, they demonstrate how increased scale in single cell analysis can transform our understanding of human biology and disease. The overwhelming response from the scientific community—with submitted projects totaling nearly one billion cells—demonstrates the tremendous demand for accessible, large-scale single cell analysis. In recognition of this unprecedented interest and the high quality of submissions, Scale Bio will expand the program to enable support for all eligible researchers, representing more than 600 million cells of submitted projects. The 100 Million Cell Challenge reflected unprecedented industry collaboration between Scale Bio, CZI, Ultima Genomics, NVIDIA and BioTuring, a new partner. To support this ambitious initiative, BioTuring will offer all participating researchers complimentary access to their advanced analysis platform, BBrowserX, empowering the researchers with cutting-edge tools and accelerating their path to scientific insights. "The overwhelming success of this program in attracting a diverse array of projects totaling nearly a billion cells is a testament to the pent-up demand for single cell omics solutions, and the opportunity to unlock new insights when technical and cost barriers are removed," said Giovanna Prout, President and CEO of Scale Bio. "When researchers can analyze millions of cells instead of thousands, we unlock entirely new possibilities for understanding human health and disease. With Scale Bio’s innovative QuantumScale workflow and ScalePlex multiplexing technology, we are enabling many more researchers to tackle single cell omics research projects at unprecedented scale.” The 100 Million Cell Challenge is possible due to Scale Bio’s dual innovations: QuantumScale, a single cell RNA sequencing technology, and ScalePlex, a novel multiplexing technology that enables seamless sample pooling. Together, these technologies enable researchers to multiplex samples and prepare up to 2 million cells in parallel at a breakthrough price point of 1 cent per cell. The purpose-built innovations are designed for simplicity, flexibility and quality, with a clear multiplexing and single cell protocol that can be done with standard laboratory equipment and limited technician training. "The scale of these single cell omics projects will enhance Chan Zuckerberg CELL by GENE Discover – a platform CZI built where scientists can explore curated cellular data and discover new information – making it an even more powerful resource for the global research community," said Jonah Cool, Cell Science Senior Program Officer at CZI. "Each cell analyzed brings us closer to understanding diverse populations, complex diseases and how to develop more effective treatments." Data from the winning projects will be made openly available on CZ CELLxGENE Discover and will accelerate modeling efforts including CZI’s commitment to build AI-powered virtual cell models , capable of predicting the behavior of healthy and diseased cells. "It's inspiring to see the science that can be enabled by pushing the scale of single cell studies to many millions of cells," said Gilad Almogy, CEO of Ultima Genomics. "We are excited to continue to support the 100 Million Cell Challenge as it expands to enable even more researchers across the globe." "The ability to extract information for projects of this size requires computational resources that scale efficiently," noted George Vacek, Global Head of Genomics Alliances at NVIDIA. "Analysis at scale powered by NVIDIA technology will help transform this incredible data into actionable scientific insights." Winning projects were selected to reflect four key priorities in biomedical research: Global Health Equity: Studies spanning multiple continents and diverse populations across age and ancestry Disease Characterization: Looking at many patients and tissues temporally to fully understand disease-specific mechanisms Cancer Biology: New approaches to understanding treatment responses Therapeutic Innovation: Novel platforms for disease perturbations and drug development The projects selected for full subsidy include: Federico Gaiti, University Health Network, Elucidating molecular dependencies of glioblastoma cells engaged in neuronal crosstalk Caleb Webber, UK Dementia Research Institute, Zebrafish whole brain disease modeling Sophia George, University of Miami, African Caribbean Single Cell Network Kevin Matthew Byrd, Virginia Commonwealth University, Mapping the pediatric inhalation interface at single cell resolution David van Heel, Genes & Health / Queen Mary University of London, Genes & Health, multiomics Tom Taghon, Department of Diagnostic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Molecular drivers of human T cell development Drew Neavin, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Identifying patients at risk of drug-induced cardiotoxicity Luis Barreiro, University of Chicago, Unveiling immune variation across diverse human populations Barbara Treutlein, ETH Zurich, Predictive modeling of cell state-specific responses to small molecule perturbations in human organoids Zack Lewis, Allen Institute for Brain Science, Sympathetic nervous system atlas John Tsang, Yale University/Chan Zuckerberg Biohub New York, Deciphering the immune health of global populations Constantine Tzouanas, MIT, Protein platform perturbing human PBMCs with transcriptomic readout Christine Disteche, University of Washington, Single cell transcriptome analyses of sex differences in normal human development and in genetic conditions with an abnormal number of sex chromosomes April Foster, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Signalling perturbations to understand human development Project details and updates will be available at scale.bio/100MillionCells . About Scale Biosciences At Scale Bio, we are committed to accelerating scientific breakthroughs by providing innovative single cell omics solutions that redefine accessibility, flexibility, and scalability, empowering researchers to unlock the full potential of single cell omics. Leveraging our core massively parallelized single cell barcoding technology, we offer a range of advanced workflow solutions that maximize insights delivered with every experiment and sample type, allowing scientists to generate more data, analyze more samples, and explore more omics, cost efficiently and with unprecedented ease. Founded by scientists and technologists with experience across a range of multiomics disciplines, Scale Bio has attracted financing from leading life sciences tools investors including ARCH Venture Partners, BNG01, and Tao Capital. Scale Bio is headquartered in San Diego, Calif. Visit scale.bio to learn more. About Ultima Genomics Ultima Genomics is unleashing the power of genomics at scale. The Company's mission is to continuously drive the scale of genomic information to enable unprecedented advances in biology and improvements in human health. With humanity on the cusp of a biological revolution, there is a virtually endless need for more genomic information to address biology's complexity and dynamic change—and a further need to challenge conventional next-generation sequencing technologies. Ultima's revolutionary new sequencing architecture drives down the costs of sequencing to help overcome the tradeoffs that scientists and clinicians are forced to make between the breadth, depth and frequency with which they use genomic information. The new sequencing architecture was designed to scale far beyond conventional sequencing technologies, lower the cost of genomic information and catalyze the next phase of genomics in the 21st century. To learn more, visit www.ultimagenomics.com/ About the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was founded in 2015 to help solve some of society’s toughest challenges — from eradicating disease and improving education, to addressing the needs of our local communities. Our mission is to build a more inclusive, just, and healthy future for everyone. For more information, please visit chanzuckerberg.com . About BioTuring BioTuring’s cloud-based platform enables rapid, large - scale single cell analysis, empowering researchers to seamlessly upload, visualize, analyze, and share complex datasets in real time. With advanced tools like BBrowserX, BioTuring offers intuitive tools to support analysis of million-cell datasets, allowing researchers to extract deeper insights from their data and accelerate breakthroughs in biology. This powerful platform provides comprehensive insights across diverse sample types, supporting innovation in life sciences- no coding experience required.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Nov. 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALGS, “Aligos”), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on improving patient outcomes through best-in-class therapies for liver and viral diseases, today reported recent business progress and financial results for the third quarter 2024. “This quarter we reached a key milestone when we announced the positive topline HERALD data in MASH subjects,” stated Lawrence Blatt, Ph.D., MBA, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Aligos Therapeutics. “With placebo-adjusted median relative reductions in liver fat of up to 46.2%, we continue to believe ALG-055009 has best-in-class potential. We are completing Phase 2b enabling studies and evaluating a variety of options to fund continued development, including potential partnering where discussions are underway. In addition, we are progressing ALG-000184 for CHB towards a Phase 2 study next year. Lastly, we expect to begin externally funded clinical studies for ALG-097558 later this year in COVID subjects. 2024 has been an exciting year for the company, and we believe we are laying the groundwork for important future successes in 2025 and beyond.” Recent Business Progress Aligos Portfolio of Drug Candidates ALG-000184: Potential first-/best-in-class small molecule CAM-E for CHB Dosing continues in this ongoing Phase 1a/1b study, with subjects expected to dose for up to 96 weeks. Additional interim data readouts are planned to be presented this year at the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease’s (AASLD) The Liver Meeting (TLM) 2024Received positive feedback from the FDA and the National Medical Products Administration in China to move forward with sustained HBV DNA suppression as the primary efficacy endpoint for future studies designed to support the potential registration of ALG-000184 for the treatment of hepatitis B infectionAnnounced a clinical collaboration with Xiamen Amoytop Biotech Co., Ltd. Amoytop agreed to sponsor and perform a Phase 1b exploratory clinical study evaluating the efficacy and safety of ALG-000184 in combination with PEGBING® (mipeginterferon alfa-2b) in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients in China Phase 2 enabling activities are underway, including drug supply manufacturing ALG-055009: Potential best-in-class small molecule THR-β agonist for MASH Topline HERALD data were presented in September 2024, demonstrating that ALG-055009 dose groups met the primary endpoint with statistically significant reductions in liver fat at Week 12 as measured by MRI-PDFF Doses of 0.5 mg to 0.9 mg ALG-055009 demonstrated statistically significant reductions in liver fat at Week 12, with placebo-adjusted median relative reductions up to 46.2% as measured by MRI-PDFF. Up to 70% of subjects achieved ≥30% relative reduction in liver fat compared to baselineALG-055009 demonstrated a favorable tolerability profile with no clinical hyper/hypothyroidism. Incidence of gastrointestinal-related treatment emergent adverse events were similar in ALG-055009 dose groups compared to placebo. Specifically, a non-dose-related, lower incidence of diarrhea was observed in ALG-055009 dose groups compared to placeboTreatment with ALG-055009 resulted in significant reductions in atherogenic lipids, including LDL-C, lipoprotein (a) (LpA), and apolipoprotein B (ApoB). In addition, dose dependent increases in sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), a marker of THR-β target engagement in the liver, were observed Additional data readouts are planned to be presented this year at AASLD’s The Liver Meeting (TLM) 2024 ALG-097558: Potential best-in-class small molecule pan-coronavirus protease inhibitor Three additional clinical studies are expected to begin in 2024 AGILE University of Liverpool, a UK-government supported platform trial (with MRC and Wellcome Trust funding), has agreed to sponsor and perform a study in high-risk COVID patients evaluating ALG-097558 as monotherapy or in combination with remdesivirThe NIAID has agreed to sponsor clinical studies evaluating pharmacokinetic (PK) differences in special populations (renal/hepatic impairment subjects) Phase 2 enabling activities, including nonclinical and clinical studies, are underway with financial support from the NIH Financial Results for the Third Quarter 2024 Cash, cash equivalents and investments totaled $74.9 million as of September 30, 2024, compared with $135.7 million as of December 31, 2023. We continue to believe our cash balance provides sufficient cash to fund planned operations through the end of 2025. Net loss for the three months ended September 30, 2024 were $19.3 million or basic and diluted net loss per common share of $(3.07), compared to net losses of $18.0 million or basic and diluted net loss per common share of $(10.37) for the three months ended September 30, 2023. Research and development (R&D) expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2024 were $16.8 million, compared with $15.9 million for the same period of 2023. The increase was primarily due to an increase in third party expenses for the clinical trials. Total R&D stock-based compensation expense incurred for the three months ended September 30, 2024 was $1.2 million, compared with $1.6 million for the same period of 2023. General and administrative (G&A) expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2024 were $4.6 million, compared with $6.4 million for the same period of 2023. The decrease in G&A expenses for this comparative period is primarily due to a decrease in third party expenses including legal expenses. Total G&A stock-based compensation expense incurred for the three months ended September 30, 2024 was $0.9 million, compared with $1.6 million for the same period of 2023. Interest and other income, net, for the three months ended September 30, 2024 was income of $1.0 million compared with income of $1.1 million for the same period of 2023. About Aligos Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGS) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company founded with the mission to improve patient outcomes by developing best-in-class therapies for the treatment of liver and viral diseases. Aligos applies its science driven approach and deep R&D expertise to advance its purpose-built pipeline of therapeutics for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and viruses with high unmet medical need such as hepatitis B and coronaviruses. For more information, please visit www.aligos.com or follow us on LinkedIn or X. Forward-Looking Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements in this press release that are not historical facts may be considered “forward-looking statements,” including without limitation, statements with respect to Aligos being positioned for success; the potential of the company’s three clinical programs, Phase 2 enabling activities, and financial support from the NIH for ALG-097558; the collaboration with Xiamen Amoytop; studies to support potential registration, and Phase 2 enabling activities for ALG-000184; the planned readouts for ALG-055009 at this year’s AASLD; the continuation of dosing in the ongoing Phase 1a/1b study for ALG-000184 with subjects planning to dose for up to 96 weeks; the planned presentation of additional interim data readouts at this year’s AASLD; and the company’s continued belief its cash balance provides sufficient cash to fund planned operations through the end of 2025. Forward-looking statements are typically, but not always, identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,” “would,” “believe,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” and other similar terminology indicating future results. Such forward looking statements are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause our development programs, future results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties inherent in the drug development process, including Aligos’ clinical-stage of development, the process of designing and conducting clinical trials, the regulatory approval processes, the timing of regulatory filings, the challenges associated with manufacturing drug products, Aligos’ ability to successfully establish, protect and defend its intellectual property, other matters that could affect the sufficiency of Aligos’ capital resources to fund operations, reliance on third parties for manufacturing and development efforts, changes in the competitive landscape and the impact of global events and other macroeconomic conditions on the Aligos’ business. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Aligos in general, see Aligos’ Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 6, 2024 and its future periodic reports to be filed or submitted with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, Aligos undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Aligos Therapeutics, Inc Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (In thousands, except share and per share amounts) (Unaudited) Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended September 30, September 30, 2024 2023 2024 2023 Revenue from Collaborations19 2,154 311 7,329 Revenue from Customers1,250 1,085 3,005 5,519 Operating Expenses: Research and development16,774 15,867 54,238 50,783 General and administrative4,626 6,443 17,669 24,195 Total operating expenses21,400 22,310 71,907 74,978 Loss from operations(20,131) (19,071) (68,591) (62,130) Interest and other income, net963 1,059 19,834 3,168 Loss before income tax expense(19,168) (18,012) (48,757) (58,962) Income tax expense(91) (29) (304) (825)Net loss(19,259) (18,041) (49,061) (59,787)Basic and diluted net loss per common share(3.07) (10.37) (7.84) (34.59)Weighted-average shares common stock, basic and diluted6,272,291 1,739,847 6,258,706 1,728,282 Aligos Therapeutics, Inc.Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets(In thousands) September 30, 2024 December 31, 2023 (Unaudited) (audited) (1)Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents$35,331 $135,704Short-term investments 39,591 -Prepaid expenses and other current assets 4,900 5,380Total current assets 79,822 141,084Other assets 8,604 10,443Total assets$88,426 $151,527 Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity Current liabilities$20,956 $23,906Other liabilities, noncurrent 17,374 35,541Total liabilities 38,330 59,447Total stockholders’ equity 50,096 92,080Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity$88,426 $151,527 _____________________________________________ (1) The balance sheet as of December 31, 2023 has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements at that date included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. Investor ContactJordyn TaraziVice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications+1 (650) 910-0427jtarazi@aligos.com