NEW YORK — Tempus AI this week announced that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of Ambry Genetics for $375 million in cash and $225 million in shares at closing, of which $100 million is subject to a lock-up agreement until one year after the transaction. Financing was provided by Ares Management Credit funds. Ambry will continue to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Tempus under its current leadership team.
The US Food and Drug Administration has granted breakthrough device designation for Acrivon Therapeutics' multiplex immunofluorescence assay to identify endometrial cancer patients who may benefit from treatment with the company's investigational CHK1 and CHK2 inhibitor, ACR-368.
The assay, dubbed ACR-368 OncoSignature, was developed using the Acrivon Predictive Precision Proteomics (AP3) platform, a generative AI-based tool, and relies on protein biomarkers to identify best responders. Clinical data presented at the 2024 annual European Society for Medical Oncology meeting found that patients who were OncoSignature-positive were more likely than those who were OncoSignature-negative to respond to ACR-368 treatment, the company said.
Acrivon is currently enrolling patients with endometrial and other cancers into a registrational-intent, multicenter Phase IIb trial of ACR-368 in which it is using the ACR-368 OncoSignature assay to predict which patients are likely to respond to treatment.
Myriad Genetics announced this week that it partnered with Interlink Care Management to make its MyRisk with RiskScore hereditary cancer test available to qualifying patients in Interlink’s CancerCARE network. Patients in that network will have access to Myriad’s guideline-based MyGeneHistory online patient screening tool, and if criteria are met, they will be referred to a clinician who can order MyRisk on their behalf. Those patients will also be able to review their results with one of Myriad’s genetic counselors.
CCI Photonics, a spinout of Lancaster University in the UK, announced this week that it has received £450,000 ($559,527) to support development of a pathogen identification and antibiotic susceptibility test system. Called InfectiScan, the in vitro diagnostic device combines infrared spectrometry with AI to perform ID/AST in 15 minutes. The new funding will help develop the firm's commercial strategy and support a collaboration with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to validate a diagnostic prototype in urinary tract and bloodstream infections, including those resistant to antibiotics.
The Tokyo-based Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund said this week that it is investing ¥670 million (about $4.2 million) in the development of a diagnostic tool to combat leishmaniasis. The project will be led by Ohio State University in collaboration with Nagasaki University and the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (Icddr,b). Building on previous research, the project will refine formulations of the leishmanin antigen, conduct preclinical safety and efficacy studies, and prepare for regulatory submissions for clinical trials with the end goal of improving infection status monitoring and eliminating visceral leishmaniasis. The project is one of several receiving approximately ¥2 billion from GHIT, with the other funded initiatives focused on drug screening and development for neglected tropical diseases and malaria.
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