Latest news with #MarkEngel
Business Wire
03-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Precisio Biotix Therapeutics, Inc. (Precisio) Announces Dosing of a First Patient with ClyO (Staph Lysin) to Treat a Multi Drug-Resistant Prosthetic Joint Infection
DOVER, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Precisio announced a first-in-man dosing of its staph lysin called ClyO (LYSG101) to a patient with a prosthetic joint infection that had not responded to other treatments. The FDA approved this treatment under a compassionate care IND filed by The patient appears to have tolerated the treatment without any adverse events. It is too early to assess full efficacy, but this is certainly a significant step toward providing additional options to patients, particularly when traditional treatments have failed. Dr. Raymond Schuch, VP, Director of US Operations, notes, 'Our sole company focus is the systematic engineering of native lysins and generation of drug-like, optimized and engineered lysins vs. antimicrobial-resistant human pathogens that are associated with high unmet medical needs. Our team possesses unique experience of developing these lysins and transitioning lysins into clinical studies and into patients. To date, our efforts have focused on respiratory, skin, and vaginal infections. We are excited to add prosthetic joint infections to the portfolio of infections we think that we can effectively treat.' Mark Engel, Founder and CEO of Precisio said, 'We are a platforms plus products company. The key to developing best-in-world lysins is that we use multiple self-developed high-tech proprietary tools. These include tools in bioinformatics, machine-learning, and AI (Zeus™-LysiThru™). We are now at a point where we think we can develop lysin products against many infections including those resistant to standard antibiotics. This patient at Mayo Clinic is the first of what we hope are many examples that we announce in the coming months. Doctors around the globe are anxious to start using our treatments on a compassionate basis since large numbers of patients are not responding to existing treatments.' Dr. Assaf Raz, VP of Research and Development noted: 'Drug-resistant infections are a pressing global health issue, causing at least 700,000 deaths each year. Without decisive action, this number could rise to 10 million annually by 2050, according to the UN Ad hoc Interagency Coordinating Group on Antimicrobial Resistance. Our research team is dedicated to developing new lysin therapeutics for large areas of need that bypass antibiotic resistance. We are highly encouraged that our technologies allow us to rapidly create effective solutions for multidrug-resistant pathogens, combating resistant infections and improving patient outcomes.' Mr. Engel summarizes that, 'The engineered lysins we are developing will have a tremendous impact as additional tool for treating and preventing infections. We think that our lysins will be effective against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Because we are so efficient in developing them, we will be able to produce our lysins in highly stable formulations with low cost-of-goods, thereby making them available to both developed markets and in the LMIC markets. This presents an opportunity to dramatically change health outcomes around the globe. We are now seeking both strategic and financial support to move forward more rapidly. Our team is highly motivated since we know that every day wasted means lives lost.' About Lysins: Lysins are members of a promising new class of antimicrobials - direct lytic agents. Unlike traditional antibiotics, lysins actively hydrolyze the bacterial cell wall, causing extremely rapid lysis and cell death. Due to this unique mechanism of action, lysins are targeted to specific pathogens, can effectively degrade biofilms, and are effective against bacteria resistant to traditional antibiotics. Critically, unlike traditional antibiotics, they do not cause bacterial resistance. About Precisio Biotix Therapeutics Inc. ( Precisio is a US clinical stage biotech company creating lower-cost novel precision engineered biological antibacterials, with an initial focus on respiratory, skin, lung, and prosthetic joint infections. Precisio is a platform-plus-product company (Rx and consumer). The Company has additional R&D operations in India, China, and the UK. Management has had multiple previous successful exits and currently seeks strategic partners for all aspects of the business. Recent news includes (1) a grant award from the Gates Foundation for the development of lysins to treat Bacterial Vaginosis and (2) regulatory approval of a topical Lysin in the EU.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Olmsted County HRA approves $1.72M loan for affordable housing project
Mar. 14—ROCHESTER — Olmsted County's Housing and Redevelopment Authority board approved an up to $1.72 million loan to support the creation of eight new for-sale homes priced under $350,000 in southeast Rochester. Bigelow Homes proposed the project, dubbed Woodcrest, on the heels of a county-driven project on Red Hawk Drive Southeast , which created 10 homes with $251,900 price tags. "The more we can prove that this product will sell and more developers do it, we are going to help the whole housing continuum," Bigelow Homes President Mike Paradise told the HRA board Thursday of building on efforts to produce homes for sale at less than $400,000. With $2.4 million spent on construction of the Red Hawk Drive homes returning to the county as soon as the sales close, Olmsted County's Housing Program Manager Mark Engel said the funds will be added to $1.3 million remaining in an HRA program designed to help spur housing development. Those are the funds that will be provided as a zero-interest loan for the new Bigelow project near the intersection of 15th Street Southeast and 24th Avenue. The goal is to continue testing the housing market and determine whether such loans could be a long-term model to help produce needed housing as the HRA maintains its efforts to support various avenues toward more affordable housing. The proposal calls for development of an agreement that will require Bigelow Homes to build a mix of homes priced between $336,000 and $348,000. Two of the homes will be similar to split-level homes built on Red Hawk Drive and the other six will be ramblers with unfinished basements. A big difference is all the homes will be sold with ownership of the land, rather than putting it in the First Homes Community Land Trust to reduce the sales price. County Commissioner Laurel Podulke-Smith questioned the ability to keep the homes affordable through future sales, which is considered an advantage when working with First Homes since all sales are income restricted. Jennifer Woodford, president of Rochester Area Foundation, which includes the First Homes program, said she supports the effort, because it will meet a local housing need for residents above the First Home income requirement but earning less than what's needed to purchase a $500,000 home, which is what is most commonly built locally. Paradise said his company has agreed to limit initial sales to people earning 120% of the area median income or less, which is similar to a program led by the city of Rochester. He said the price range fills an affordability gap between renting and purchasing a $500,000 home while also opening opportunities to create movement in the housing market that could benefit others. "The stronger the inventory we have in housing will actually lower prices," he said. County Commissioner Bob Hopkins cast the sole vote against approving the loan, stating the housing is needed and the project appears valid, but he questions whether the decision should be made without seeking other proposals. "I'm just not comfortable at this point," he said, noting he's the newest member of the HRA board composed of county commissioners and a resident representative. Senior Assistant Olmsted County Attorney Tom Canan also raised concerns about the lack of a competitive loan process, but HRA Board Chairman Mark Thein pointed out that any developer could have brought a similar presentation to the county, and the nature of the loan means funds will be available for future projects if other builders come forward. Since the funds aren't being depleted, Paradise, who is a member of the Coalition for Rochester Area Housing Board of Directors, said the Woodcrest project can serve as a test for broader use. "I think it's important that we realize this might be a tool that other for-profit builders can use to build the housing we need," he said. Engel said the Woodcrest loan will be designed to cover construction costs as work is being done, since Bigelow Homes already owns the property, which is prepared for development. It means Bigelow Homes won't see a financial benefit from the project until the homes are sold. The financing agreement, however, will allow the company to build all the homes in succession, rather than waiting for financing between builds. It's an efficiency Engel said cut approximately $17,000 from the cost of the Red Hawk Homes. The HRA plan calls for developing the required loan documents in time for construction to start in April or May. The homes would be listed for sale as early as May, which is expected to provide time for additional efficiencies in the process. The first Woodcrest home is expected to be completed in August, with the remaining available as they are completed through November.
