Latest news with #AbeonaTherapeutics
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Abeona Therapeutics® to Present at the Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference
CLEVELAND, May 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Abeona Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: ABEO) today announced that Vish Seshadri, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, and Madhav Vasanthavada, Ph.D., Chief Commercial Officer, will participate in a fireside chat at the Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference on Wednesday, June 4, 2025 at 11:40 a.m. Eastern Time. A live webcast of the fireside chat can be accessed on the Investors section of the Abeona website under 'Events' at The webcast will be archived for 30 days. About Abeona Therapeutics Abeona Therapeutics Inc. is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company developing cell and gene therapies for serious diseases. Abeona's ZEVASKYN™ (prademagene zamikeracel) is the first and only autologous cell-based gene therapy for the treatment of wounds in adults and pediatric patients with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB). The Company's fully integrated cell and gene therapy cGMP manufacturing facility in Cleveland, Ohio serves as the manufacturing site for ZEVASKYN commercial production. The Company's development portfolio features adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapies for ophthalmic diseases with high unmet medical need. Abeona's novel, next-generation AAV capsids are being evaluated to improve tropism profiles for a variety of devastating diseases. For more information, visit ZEVASKYN™, Abeona Assist™, Abeona Therapeutics®, and their related logos are trademarks of Abeona Therapeutics Inc. Forward-Looking Statements Investor and Media Contact: Greg Gin VP, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications Abeona Therapeutics [email protected]
Forbes
02-05-2025
- Health
- Forbes
The Prototype: These Bacteria Can Generate Electricity
In this week's edition of The Prototype, we look at quantum computing for image recognition, a gene therapy using a patient's own skin cells, electricity-generating bacteria, using physics to cook perfect pasta and more. You can sign up to get The Prototype in your inbox here. Years ago, scientists found that certain kinds of bacteria appear to breathe by generating electricity, rather than taking in oxygen, but how they did so was a mystery. A new study published in the journal Cell identifies how this happens: the microbes are using a group of chemicals called naphthoquinones in a manner similar to the way a battery discharges electricity. This is what enables bacteria to thrive in oxygen-deprived areas like deep sea vents. Armed with this knowledge, it may be possible for scientists to adapt these bacteria for use in a wide variety of applications, such as wastewater treatment or developing bioelectronic sensors. It could even be used as a method to turn atmospheric carbon dioxide into useful chemicals–a sustainability twofer. Stay tuned. CEO Vishwas Seshdari Abeona Therapeutics Around 750 people in the United States have a rare genetic condition called recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB). People with this disease aren't able to correctly produce a particular type of collagen essential for the skin, causing excessive blistering and slowing the healing of wounds dramatically–if they heal at all. Earlier this week, the FDA approved a new treatment for this condition called Zevaskyn, which was developed by gene therapy company Abeona Therapeutics. The product is manufactured using a patient's own skin cells, which have been genetically modified to produce the right kind of collagen. Those cells are then formed into sheets that can be grafted to a patient at the site of a wound. In a clinical trial, 81% of the wounds treated with Zevaskyn showed significant healing after six months, compared to just 16% in patients using current therapies. What's more, the healing appears to be durable, showing long term improvements at follow-ups conducted years later. Patients getting the therapy also reported significantly less pain. Abeona's CEO Vishwas Seshdari told me that with the approval, the company should be ready to start treating patients by July, starting with a manufacturing cadence of being able to treat about six patients a month. The price per treatment is $3.1 million, with patients expected to receive one or two in their lifetime, and Seshdari said that it's already working on reimbursement arrangements with payers to ensure those who need it can get it. The company is also expanding its manufacturing capability with an eye to being able to treat 10 patients a month by the first half of next year. 'We can't wait to bring this therapy to patients,' he said. Quantum software company BlueQubit has figured out how to use quantum computing to power image-classifying AI. Working with the Honda Research Institute, it developed three different ways to encode images so they can be manipulated by quantum computing hardware. They were then used both by regular computers using quantum algorithms as well as quantum computers manufactured by IBM. The company found that one of the encoding methods enabled quantum-powered AI to classify images with about 94% accuracy, which is comparable to what can be achieved by classical computers. That said, current methods of classifying images are still faster. But by developing a way to do image classifying on quantum hardware, this research sets the stage for this type of application to be used when quantum computers have scaled to the point where they're regularly out-performing regular computers. On Monday morning, 27 satellites for Amazon's Project Kuiper were launched into orbit. CEO Andy Jassy confirmed on social media that day that all of them were operational. The company intends to eventually have over 3,200 satellites in orbit, with a goal of providing broadband internet access around the globe. In my other newsletter, InnovationRx, Amy Feldman and I looked at a patent fight over the world's top-selling drug, new breakthroughs from the American Association for Cancer Research, a dataset to better understand Parkinson's, the relationship between microplastics and heart disease and more. Waymo is partnering with Toyota to design a new platform for autonomous cars and trucks with an aim to develop them for personal use. Scientists have discovered a massive, glowing molecular cloud just 300 light years from our solar system. This vast cloud of gas and dust, which has been dubbed Eos, is primarily composed of hydrogen and will evaporate in around 6 million years. A team of researchers has developed a soft exoskeleton called the MyoStep, which is made of lightweight materials and can help kids with cerebral palsy walk and play. Starbucks has 3D-printed its latest store, a 1400 square foot, drive-thru only facility in Brownsville, Texas. A genetically modified probiotic could remove mercury from seafood after you eat it. The gut microbe was developed by researchers at UCLA and UC San Diego, and was shown to reduce the amount of mercury passing into the brain and fetuses of mice who were fed a diet of fish. Cacio e pepe is a deceptively simple Italian dish with only three ingredients - pasta, black pepper and pecorino romano cheese, which combined make a rich and creamy dish. Or, if you're like me, a clumpy mess. But a team of physicists have figured out how to do it flawlessly every time, and published their results in the journal Physics of Fluids. The key is to add powdered starch to the water before cooking the pasta, which ensures there's enough of it to allow the cheese to blend. It's also important to make sure the water cools before you add the cheese, blending it in, then heating the resulting sauce slowly to avoid clumps. If you're looking for a dish to make this weekend, give it a try. I've been greatly enjoying Guy Ritchie's series MobLand on Paramount+. It's an organized crime drama set in London that primarily follows Tom Hardy's Harra Da Souza, who works as chief enforcer for his boss, played by Pierce Brosnan. The show itself is well-executed and entertaining, but it's elevated by Helen Mirren clearly having a ball playing a Lady MacBeth-esque crime boss's wife. I definitely recommend it.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
FDA approves Abeona's $3.1m cell therapy for rare skin disease
Abeona Therapeutics has secured US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for Zevaskyn (prademagene zamikeracel), a gene-corrected cell therapy designed to treat recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB). The approval follows years of clinical development and regulatory setbacks, and positions Abeona as the second company to bring a therapy for this condition to the US market. Also known as pz-cel, Zevaskyn is indicated for both paediatric and adult patients with RDEB. The therapy is administered as credit card-sized sheets of skin made from the patient's own keratinocytes, which are harvested, genetically modified to express the functional COL7A1 gene, and surgically applied to chronic wounds. The COL7A1 gene encodes a type of collagen essential for anchoring skin layers – something patients with RDEB lack due to genetic mutations. The FDA had previously rejected an application from Abeona last year, citing outstanding manufacturing and quality control (QC) concerns. Following a complete response (CR) letter and further chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) submissions, the agency granted approval based on results from a pivotal Phase III study (NCT04227106). Despite a partial clinical hold in 2019, the study met both co-primary endpoints of wound healing and pain reduction, with no serious treatment-related adverse events (AEs) reported. The company also provided confirmatory evidence from a Phase I/IIa trial (NCT01263379), which supported the durability of healing after a single application. Zevaskyn is priced at $3.1m, placing it among the most expensive therapies in the US but in line with other rare disease gene and cell therapies. Abeona expects to make the product available commercially in Q3 2025. The company raised $35m in late 2022 after announcing the Phase III data, followed by a $25m financing round in July 2024 to support manufacturing and launch readiness. Krystal Biotech's Vyjuvek (beremagene geperpavec), a topical gene therapy gel for DEB, was approved in 2023 and generated $290.5m in revenue in 2024. Unlike Zevaskyn, which is applied once through surgery, Vyjuvek is dosed weekly and costs around $631,000 per patient per year. Vyjuvek also delivers a functional COL7A1 gene, though via a re-dosable, non-integrating viral vector. In the 29 April announcement, Abeona's CEO Vish Seshadri, said: 'We have heard from the RDEB community that there is a persistent unmet need to reliably address RDEB wounds, especially those that are chronic and prone to infection. Through a single surgical application, Zevaskyn can now offer people with RDEB the opportunity for wound healing and pain reduction in even the most severe wounds, as evidenced by the results from our pivotal Phase III study.' In connection with the approval, Abeona received a rare paediatric disease priority review voucher (PRV), which the company said it plans to monetise. The PRV programme, which grants expedited FDA review for a future drug application, is set to expire soon unless renewed by Congress. Rare disease advocates have warned that the programme's lapse, combined with existing FDA resource constraints, could deter future investment in paediatric rare disease research and development. "FDA approves Abeona's $3.1m cell therapy for rare skin disease" was originally created and published by Pharmaceutical Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
