Imagine Biotech

Imagine Biotech Founder Spotlight 🚀 : Dr. Nowoslawski, Co-founder and COO of Imagine Biotech, boasts extensive biotech investment experience (+30 years). A seasoned venture capital investor deeply engaged in Utah's startup scene, supporting biotech ventures and actively contributes to Salt Lake City's philanthropic efforts. #biotech #venturecapital #biotechventurecapital

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐮𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭: 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 6 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 🚀 Embrace a novel perspective, tailored towards scientists, investors and biotech enthusiasts. Join our ever growing community of industry experts, by signing up to our news letter to learn the latest Insights into specific topics in and around the biotech industry.

Imagine Biotech supporting local professional soccer in MLS NEXT Pro 🇺🇸

⚕️𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐤 𝐏𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐏𝐥𝐮𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐞𝐲𝐕𝐢𝐛𝐞-𝟎𝟎𝟖 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞-𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 💊 On August 8th, Merck notified study investigators of the Phase 3 KeyVibe-008 Trial that "patients should stop ongoing treatment" with the experimental drug and should instead be offered an alternative treatment option citing adverse effects. Read more specifics about Merck’s KeyVibe-008 trial in the latest edition of Imagine Biotech’s Due Diligence Digest (link in comments). Despite effectiveness in regard to overall survival rates of individuals within the trial, a high rate of adverse events and immune related adverse events caused the trial to stop. While data from the trial is still being analyzed, one thing is evident: Unmanageable toxicity will always lead to clinical failure. 30% of clinical drug developments fail due to unmanageable toxicity. (Sun, 2022) With an average cost of $2.3 billion to take a drug from discovery to market, it is quickly apparent that extensive due diligence must be done in order to decrease the likelihood of a drug failing in clinical trials due to unmanageable toxicity. At Imagine Biotech, we have a wide array of resources that we can call upon to detect early signs of potential toxicity in a drug before you invest. Through ADMET and PK modeling, our team of Pharmacologists, Ph.Ds., and Physicians are able to provide you with comprehensive pre-clinical analyses of potential drug candidates ensuring that your capital is well allocated. Subscribe to our newsletter, The Due Diligence Digest (link in comments below) for weekly updates on the latest in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry.

Interested in reducing the reliance on Animal Testing? Subscribe to learn more... Link in Comments Section*

The FDA Modernization Act 2.0 opened up the gates for advanced toxicity and efficacy screening technology to be used as an alternative for animal testing in preclinical studies. Animal testing, while ethically questionable, is also extremely expensive and time consuming-- not good news for the investor. With this recent legislative change in mind, Imagine Biotech offers scientific due diligence services, including advanced toxicity and efficacy screening, to investors in order to de-risk biotech investment portfolios.

𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐕𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨: In vivo studies have traditionally been the gold standard in drug development. However, the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 highlights and elevates other options, like in vitro systems and sophisticated SOTA in silico innovations. By doing so, we can better balance and utilize all available tools during the transition from discovery to the non-clinical phase. Michael V Templin captures this so well on the Vital Science Podcast Charles River Laboratories (Full version below in comments

𝐈𝐧 2021, 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐆𝐒𝐊 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐤 𝐊𝐆𝐚𝐀 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚l with the potential to reach $4.2 billion for Bintrafusp Alfa, a bifunctional fusion protein aimed at treating certain types of lung cancers. Two years later, with clinical trial results in hand, the drug and the invested capital did not reach the anticipated heights. Compared to Keytruda—a drug with strong efficacy in the treatment of late-stage lung cancer—Bintrafusp Alfa did not perform nearly well enough to achieve its own goals, let alone challenge Keytruda's dominance as the leading treatment for late-stage lung cancer. The phase 3 trial (INTR@PID Lung 037) showed that Bintrafusp Alfa did not improve efficacy compared to Keytruda in treating patients with PD-L1-high, advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). For pharmaceutical and biotech investors, this outcome underscores two major points: 1. Clinical efficacy and safety are paramount: In the competitive pharmaceutical development landscape, achieving clinical efficacy and safety is essential for any new therapeutic to gain approval and reach the market. 2. New developments must dominate: A new drug must demonstrate a clear advantage over existing treatments, such as reducing specific side effects or being effective in combination therapies. Picture this: As an investor considering the development of a drug similar to Bintrafusp Alfa, you would have been drawn by the hype around a potential treatment for a common type of cancer. You would have hoped to contribute to saving lives and earning returns on your investment. However, understanding the volatile nature of biotech and pharmaceutical investments, and relying on a team of seasoned experts for scientific due diligence, you might have mitigated or avoided a piece of the $4.2 billion loss by recognizing the drug's limitations before clinical trials.

The movement towards animal testing alternatives by leveraging state of the art technologies is gaining significant momentum. Charles River Laboratories Launches Alternative Methods Advancement Project to Reduce Reliance on Animal Testing. "The adoption of alternatives is a strategic imperative for the industry that requires scientific rigor to prove its possibility and expansive collaboration to drive change" - Birgit Girshick

🌍 Subscribe to our Newsletter 🌍 In typical biotech investment decks, researchers aim to understand causal relationships between variables like molecules and tissues., but cognitive biases can lead to flawed conclusions. Our newsletter, featuring insights from Imagine Biotech industry experts, helping you navigate these complexities and mitigate risks where traditional due diligence falls short. 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧***