GERNGROSS RAISES $50M FOR COVID ANTIBODY COMPANY
Biotechnology entrepreneur and Dartmouth engineering professor Tillman Gerngross has raised $50 million in venture capital for his newest company, Adagio Therapeutics, to begin clinical trials of antibodies engineered to protect against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
Researchers at Adagio began looking for neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in March, and by spring, they “knew we had something really special,” said Gerngross, co-founder and CEO of both Adagio and its parent company, Adimab.
Gerngross said Adagio is pursuing vaccines and antibody research because the team is working on broad neutralization to prevent against similar outbreaks in the future. The goal is to develop a biannual injection that would protect against sarbecoviruses, a group of viruses that includes SARS-CoV-2.
“Coronaviruses have been spilling over into the human population now in three documented cases over the past 20 years. There is no reason to believe that the spill over is going to end,” said Gerngross.
Financing for Adagio was led in large part by Polaris Partners.
“I’ve invested in every single company that Tillman has started,” said Terry Mc-Guire, founding partner of Polaris. “We back him repeatedly. We find his creativity enormous, and his candor and can-do attitude extraordinary. What’s beautiful about Tillman is that he’s so incredibly decisive. He’s just been an extraordinary entrepreneur, and we’ve enjoyed success with Tillman.”
BAE ACQUIRES RAYTHEON UNIT
BAE Systems has completed acquisition of the Collins Aerospace military global positioning system business from Raytheon Technologies Corp. The company — formed in April as a result of the merger of United Technologies and Raytheon — was required to sell Collins’ GPS business in order to meet antitrust regulatory requirements. In January, BAE announced its intent to buy the Collins unit for $1.9 billion. Collins military GPS will be integrated into BAE’s Electronic Systems sector, which is based in Nashua. The acquisition brings “GPS anti-jamming and anti-spoofing tech nology that enables reliable navigation and guidance for a range of defense missions,” BAE Systems said.
VAPOTHERM UNVEILS KIT TO AID COVID CLINICIANS
Vapotherm Inc., a global medical technology company in Exeter that develops treatments for patients suffering from respiratory distress, has unveiled a kit aimed at helping better protect clinicians while treating patients with Covid-19.
The FELIX-1 kit creates a zone of relative negative pressure at the patient’s face, which may mitigate the risk of transmission of potentially infectious particles, Vapotherm said.
The company added that all profits from the kits will be distributed to nonprofit organizations supporting front-line clinicians fighting the pandemic. It is named for Felix Khusid, an influential respiratory therapist leader working in New York City who shared his previously implemented design with Vapotherm during the first wave of Covid.
NH ELECTRIC CO-OP TO PURSUE BROADBAND IN BYLAW CHANGES
The New Hampshire Electric Cooperative will propose amendments to the organization’s bylaws that would enable the organization to pursue broadband projects.
In an announcement, the co-op said it has started to look at ways it can expand broadband internet for its members, but its current bylaws aren’t flexible enough to take advantage of government funding for broadband expansion.
Earlier this year, co-op members narrowly missed passing a proposal that would have added facilitating broadband access as a focus of the organization.
The proposed amendments would give the co-op board of directors flexibility to pursue opportunities to provide all members with high-speed internet, either with approval form the board or by a member vote.
Members will be able to vote on the proposed bylaws in September, and the results will be publicly announced in October.
