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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
A startup banks $66M to pursue ‘inclusive precision medicine'
This story was originally published on BioPharma Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily BioPharma Dive newsletter. Actio Biosciences, a San Diego-based biotechnology startup, announced Wednesday it raised a $66 million Series B financing to support drug research it's initially aiming at rare genetic diseases, but sees having broader potential, too. Actio's most advanced program is in early-stage testing for the degenerative nerve disorder Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, but may also be useful in treating overactive bladder, the company said. A second program focused on a genetic form of epilepsy is expected to enter the clinic by the end of the year. The startup's Series B round was co-led by new investor Regeneron Ventures and existing backer Deerfield Management. Canaan, Droia Ventures and Euclidean Capital also participated. Actio emerged from stealth in late 2023 with $55 million in Series A funding and, since then, has brought two small molecule drugs either into or near clinical testing. One of the medicines it's developing, ABS-1230, is for epilepsies caused by mutations in a gene called KCNT1. These KCNT1-related epilepsies can strike early and come with severe health complications, such as an impact on brain function or even death. They're also the target of programs Praxis Precision Medicines, Servier and Atalanta Therapeutics, among others, are pursuing through different drugmaking methods. David Goldstein, Actio's CEO and formerly co-founder of Praxis, claimed that small molecules still hold the most promise for targeting epilepsies related to KCNT1, mutations which cause the overactivation of a kind of ion channel expressed in the brain. Some researchers turned to biologics, believing that they may have a better chance dealing with the disease's myriad mutations, he said. However, Actio believes its drug ABS-1230, which blocks this malfunctioning ion channel, should inhibit all repeatedly observed, disease-causing mutations, making it useful to many patients with the condition. "This kind of inclusive precision medicine is a key priority for the company," Goldstein said. Actio's other drug, ABS-0871, blocks a different ion channel protein called TRPV4 and is currently in a Phase 1 trial with healthy volunteers. By the end of the year, though, Actio intends to start a Phase 1b study in people with the Type 2C form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth, which is characterized by severe muscle weakness and respiratory complications. ABS-0871 is hoping it will show promise in overactive bladder, too, as part of the company's strategy to use insights from its rare disease research in more common disorders. Actio began raising its Series B round at the beginning of the year, and was able to complete it despite an accelerating, sector-wide pullback that's making it harder for companies to close funding rounds. Goldstein attributed its success to picking programs that have 'very high biological plausibility.' 'I'm sure that the climate will return back to funding those ideas that might be huge payoffs later, but it's just a little bit hard to predict,' Goldstein said. 'You really need to have programs that have a pretty predictable path.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
West Sacramento hosting 4th annual All Nations Indigefest
( — West Sacramento is hosting the 4th annual All Nations Indigefest this Saturday. The event, organized by local urban agriculture community group Three Sisters Gardens, will feature live performances from a number of acts, including spoken word artist and 2025 Tiny Desk Contest Winner Ruby Ibarra. Video Above: June 13th Weekend Weather Forecast Other acts include: Indigenous musician and scholar Lyla June Non-binary Filipinx-Canadian musician and multi-artist Kimmortal Trans and two-spirit musician Bobby Sanche San Diego-based revolutionary hip hop artists The Neighborhood Kids Two visual artists will also be painting live at the event. The festival will also feature food, and a number of community groups in attendance will offer free resources. The event will start at 5 p.m. at River Walk Park. Guests are encouraged to utilize free parking on D Street, 2nd Street and E Street or pay $15 to park in the parking garage next to the Ziggurat. There will also be a free bike valet. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Qualcomm to acquire Alphawave Semi for $2.4B
This story was originally published on Manufacturing Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Manufacturing Dive newsletter. Semiconductor giant Qualcomm Inc. has agreed to buy Alphawave Semi for $2.4 billion in an effort to better position itself for the artificial intelligence and data center boom. The acquisition, expected to close during the first quarter of 2026, would provide San Diego-based Qualcomm with key assets from Alphawave, a U.K.-based chip designer focused on high-speed connectivity and compute silicon for 5G wireless, AI and data center applications. The deal is part of a recent acquisition spree by Qualcomm to build out and enhance its product capabilities for the next generation of technologies. In recent years, Qualcomm, a competitor with Intel, Apple and Nvidia, has been in growth mode to be part of the next wave of AI smartphones and expand into new markets. In April, the company said it acquired the generative AI division of Vietnam-based company VinAI to improve research and development and accelerate the creation of advanced solutions for smartphones, PCs, vehicles and other products. Qualcomm also recently purchased connected vehicle technology firm Autotalks to advance its smart mobility segment. Last year, Qualcomm added to its portfolio, expanding its internet-of-things capabilities. Qualcomm, known for its Snapdragon processors used for gaming, cameras and audio, is also seeking to be a larger player in the expansion of AI-driven data centers. The company's next-generation processors Oryon CPU and Hexagon NPU are a 'natural fit for data center workloads' and complementary to Alphawave's high-speed technologies, Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm, said in a statement. The pending deal is a milestone for Alphawave as it looks to expand its customer base, unlock growth opportunities and drive technological innovation. Qualcomm primarily owns or leases manufacturing facilities across China, Germany and Singapore, according to its latest annual report dated Sept. 29, 2024. It also has sales, administrative and R&D centers in the United States, India and China. The company saw revenue grow 17% in the quarter ending in March to nearly $11 billion compared to last year. It also saw net income grow 21% to $2.8 billion as it navigated tariff headwinds. Recommended Reading Samsung to acquire cooling systems provider FläktGroup to meet data center demand Sign in to access your portfolio
CNBC
10-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
26. Iambic Therapeutics
Founders: Tom Miller (CEO), Fred ManbyLaunched: 2020Headquarters: San Diego, CaliforniaFunding: $220 millionValuation: N/AKey Technologies: Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, deep neural networks/deep learning, generative AI, machine learning, robotics, quantum computingIndustry: BiotechPrevious appearances on Disruptor 50 list: 0 It can take 10-15 years for today's biopharmaceutical companies to bring new drugs all the way through discovery and clinical trial. San Diego-based Iambic Therapeutics' AI-driven platform can accelerate the pace of drug discovery and development, enabling drug development in just a few years. The company has novel medications in its pipeline to treat breast cancer and other HER2 cancers, and recently formed a research collaboration with pharmaceutical giant Lundbeck for a small molecule therapeutic to treat migraines. By predicting how its new molecules will interact with human systems, Iambic's technology can also reduce the need for clinical trials. The company was originally called Entos, and was founded when CEO Thomas Miller, a theoretical chemist and professor at California Institute of Technology, teamed up with longtime collaborator Fred Manby. In its first iteration, the company worked on making better chemical predictions across many industries and worked with companies including Toyota and Procter & Gamble. But the founders saw applications for their work in what's called small molecule drug discovery. Small molecule drugs, often synthesized chemically, target specific proteins or cellular pathways. Iambic's platform for drug discovery is called Enchant. The company says it provides high-confidence predictions in data-poor situations, such as early-stage and clinical-stage drug programs. "(Cancer) is an area of huge need," Miller told an interviewer for the California Institute of Technology in 2022. "It's an incredibly fast, quickly advancing disease. Many people are afflicted by it. There's many varieties of it. It is the combination of those things that means that if you have the ability to design a new drug, there's a way to … have a relatively fast timescale to advance that to the point where it's in human trials." Rather than selling its drug-discovery services and software to pharmaceutical companies, Iambic has focused on producing its own drugs. "Instead of running around, trying to convince people that this software is so great, and they should buy it, you can actually just use it and execute with it, and actually make better molecules. Then those molecules can stand on their own two feet," Miller said. In 2024, Iambic completed a B round of funding, with investors including OrbiMed, Nvidia and Sequoia Capital, and announced a collaboration with Nvidia, which has been teaming up as a venture investor with many startups across sectors using AI, including, for example, agtech Disruptor Carbon Robotics. Iambic also moved into a new headquarters in San Diego last year and took its headcount to about 100, enabling the company to run experiments on thousands of newly discovered molecules each week. It also announced an update to NeuralPLexer, which predicts protein-ligand structures, and published data in Nature Machine Intelligence showing that NeuralPLexer outperformed AlphaFold, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner developed by Google's DeepMind. Iambic also hired its first CFO, Michael Secora, who previously worked at publicly held Recursion.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Qualcomm to Buy Alphawave IP for $2.4 Billion
Qualcomm agreed to buy U.K.-listed semiconductor company Alphawave IP Group for about $2.4 billion as it seeks to boost its portfolio of technology used for artificial intelligence, data centers and data storage. The deal concludes two months of talks and will see the U.S. chip maker pay 183 pence a share for the company, a 96% premium to the company's closing price of 93.50 pence on March 31, the day before Qualcomm announced its interest. Warner Discovery Splits Cable From Marquee Streaming, Studio Businesses The Best New Features Coming to Your iPhone, iPad and Mac (and What's Missing) Apple Unveils Array of New Software, but AI Comeback Remains Far Off Think Twice Before You Click 'Unsubscribe' Alexander Brothers File $500 Million Defamation Suit Against The Real Deal On April 1, San Diego-based Qualcomm said it was considering making an offer to buy Alphawave IP Group without disclosing any financial details. Shareholders also have the option of swapping their holding for new Qualcomm shares instead of cash. Alphawave shares jumped 23% to just above the offer price in early trade Monday. 'The combined teams share the goal of building advanced technology solutions and enabling next-level connected computing performance across a wide array of high growth areas, including data-centre infrastructure,' Qualcomm Chief Executive Cristiano Amon said. Alphawave specializes in designing high-speed connectivity technology that enables data to travel faster using lower power. It serves customers in high-growth markets such as data centers, artificial intelligence, 5G wireless infrastructure, data networking, autonomous vehicles and solid-state storage. The company listed in London in 2021 at 410 pence a share but has mostly traded significantly below that level since the initial public offering. The U.K. company's board intends to recommend shareholders accept the deal, which is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2026. Write to Ian Walker at and Dominic Chopping at Will America's Unbalanced Trade Doom the Dollar? Judge Tosses Justin Baldoni's Lawsuits Against Blake Lively and New York Times The Canned-Food Aisle Is Getting Squeezed by Rising Steel Tariffs WPP CEO to Depart After String of Ad Client Defections Businesses Are Bingeing on Crypto, Dialing Up the Market's Risks Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
