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50 of the best-funded biotechs of 2023

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As the year draws to a close, it is clear that molecular science and diagnostics is the hottest funding area in the biotech industry. In an analysis of 50 of the best-funded biotechs of 2023 focused on human health, molecular and science and diagnostics startups collectively attracting roughly $945 million, dwarfing the figures in other segments. The next popular two niches, gene therapies and oncology, had average funding levels of approximately $245 million and $170 million, respectively. While AI has received a significant amount of attention this year, biotechs specializing in that field garnered an average funding of only about $66 million. Outside of the life sciences, startups with a broader focus on AI raised a cumulative average of $202.47 million, based on an analysis of close to 1000 companies.

Caris Life Sciences has raised nearly $1.7B to date

In terms of best-funded companies overall,…

Two new SARS-CoV-2 antibodies could neutralize COVID-19 strains with high efficacy

This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 in yellow. [Image courtesy of NIAID RML]

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have identified two monoclonal antibodies that are broadly effective against SARS-CoV-2 variants.

The researchers investigated the activity of nine anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against several variants of concern, including alpha, beta, gamma, delta and omicron.

The scientists at the Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine suspect that the antibodies may reduce the future need for regular boosters.

The research was published in Communications Biology.

Natalia Freund and doctoral students Michael Mor and Ruofan Lee at Tel Aviv University led the research in collaboration with Ben Croker of the University of California at San Diego. Other research partners included Ye Xiang, a professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing and professors Me…

How Delta could change the COVID-19 landscape

[Image courtesy of CDC]

Delta is “an extremely transmissible variant and has taken us all for a loop,” said Dr. Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine and associate division chief of the division of HIV, infectious diseases and global medicine at University of California, San Francisco.

But despite Delta’s hurricane-like ascent, the volume of infections it drives are likely to fall just as quickly after peaking, Gandhi said in a webinar from the Bay Area Council.

Delta could peak anywhere from mid-August to mid-October, according to several experts quoted in WebMD.

In the interim, Delta will remain most threatening for the unvaccinated and those without prior COVID-19 infections, although the variant will likely continue to drive breakthrough infections in vaccinated individuals.

In highly vaccinated areas of the U.S. where the vaccine has spread, there has been a “decou…

How Aditx Therapeutics is measuring COVID-19 immunity

Mountain View, Calif.-based Aditx Therapeutics (NSDQ:ADTX) has recently introduced an offering known as AditxtScore, a lab-developed test that provides a comprehensive profile of the immune system. An initial focus area for the technology will be monitoring COVID-19 immunity.

The technology could also help inform the development of immunotherapies and reduce organ transplant rejection. One of the company’s cofounders, the late Dr. Leonard Bailey, was best known for transplanting a baboon’s heart into a human infant in 1984.

When the company was founded in 2017, the company set out immune monitoring and reprogramming. In addition to organ transplants, autoimmune disorders and allergies were focus areas. “All of them have one thing in common,” said the company’s CEO and cofounder, Amro Albanna. “They’re generally caused by our immune system overreacting.”

But with the rise of COVID-19, much of society is worried about the possibility of the immune system …