Tech billionaires move innovative new drug developments forward

By PharmaCompass

2018-08-30

Impressions: 147 Article

Tech billionaires Peter Thiel and Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani created news last week for taking new drug developments forward.

Japan-born Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani founded the Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten and has an estimated worth of US$ 7 billion.

The story goes back to 2013 when Mikitani’s father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

As he traveled around the world looking for the most advanced treatment methods to cure his father’s sickness, he met Hisataka Kobayashi, a senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), who was working on the development of a new cancer treatment called near-infrared photo-immunotherapy (PIT).

PIT focusses on attacking only cancerous cells by chemically joining a monoclonal antibody with a photo-activating dye called “IR700” that is then injected into the bloodstream.

The antibody then traverses the body together with the IR700, finding and “docking” on to the cancer cells.

By locating the docked cells and shining near-infrared light on them, the IR700 undergoes a chemical reaction which pierces the cell membrane, allowing water through the perforation and causing the cancerous cell to expand and rupture in a matter of seconds.

The technology was licensed to Aspyrian Therapeutics in which Mikitani invested and the company is now called Rakuten Aspyrian.

Last week, Rakuten Aspyrian announced it had raised US$ 150 million in a Series C financing. The round, as with previous rounds, was led by Mikitani and brings the company's total fundraising to approximately US$ 238 million in equity.

Tech billionaire Peter Thiel backed COMPASS Pathways received approval from the FDA for a clinical trial of psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression.

Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug compound produced by more than 200 species of mushrooms, collectively known as psilocybin mushrooms or “magic mushrooms”.

This FDA approval follows approval of Epidiolex (cannabidiol or CBD), an active ingredient obtained from marijuana, for the treatment of seizures associated with two rare and severe forms of epilepsy.

The trial will be a phase IIb dose-ranging study with 216 patients taking part in 12 to 15 research sites across Europe and North America. Regulatory approvals for the trial have already been given in the UK, the Netherlands and Canada.

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