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May 26, 2020 Bioscience Notebook

Rothberg’s Homodeus ramps up COVID test production

IMAGE | Courtesy Homodeus
By Natalie Missakian

Connecticut serial entrepreneur Jonathan Rothberg says one of his Guilford bioscience companies has begun scaling up production of its inexpensive, at-home COVID-19 test and expects to have the product out to the public by summer.

Rothberg updated Homodeus Inc.’s progess on the test it calls Covid Detect in a series of tweets over the holiday weekend. He has tweeted that he expects to sell the home system for around $30, with a goal of placing “a universal diagnostic machine by your toothbrush.” It still needs U.S. Food & Drug Administration approval. 

“Team is working around the clock to produce at a scale & cost that can get us all back to work, school and play,” Rothberg tweeted on Sunday. “Team is working closely with, and listening to, regulatory agencies to make sure this is simple, reliable, sensitive and accurate. Will keep you posted!”

New Haven BIZ first reported in early March that Rothberg, a nationally recognized innovator with a successful track record for developing revolutionary low-cost medical devices, was working on the test.

At the time he told NHB that he envisioned a device that was as easy to use as a home pregnancy test and could deliver results in as little as 20 minutes without the need for a lab. The test would be based on the genetic code of the virus, not antibodies. 

Rothberg tweeted that he’d successfully tested himself on Sunday using the device. He said the nucleic acid-based test is sensitive enough to detect the virus before symptoms appear. He tested negative. 

“Today I kept a promise to myself. My team made the first designed for home use universal diagnostic machine. Today I tested myself for #SARSCoV2 the #virus that causes #Covid19,” he tweeted. “Over the coming weeks we will work to get them to you. It will cost less than my [electric] toothbrush.”

In an earlier tweet, he said “Ran our at-home Covid test today. Swabbed my nostril. Dipped in collection tube. Placed in base-station. Read out results. Collection control worked — confirms test was run correctly. Nice peace of mind.” 

Homodeus is one of seven companies based in Rothberg’s 4Catalyzer bioscience incubator in Guilford. 

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A Massachusetts antibiotics maker says it is poised to accept Melinta Therapeutics’ bid to purchase the company for up to $39.5 million unless a California biotech makes a better offer by Friday.  

NHB reported May 19 that New Haven-born Melinta, fresh out of bankruptcy, made an unsolicited bid to acquire Watertown, Mass.-based Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, which had already agreed in March to be acquired by California-based AcelRx Pharmaceuticals.

Melinta placed a higher bid of $27 million in cash plus another $12.5 million if the company’s commercial antibiotic, Xerava, meets certain sales milestones. 

Tetraphase announced last Thursday that its board determined Melinta’s bid was superior to AcelRx’s offer of up to $26.9 million ($14.4 million upfront plus a similar $12.5 million milestone payment). Another drugmaker, LaJolla Pharmaceuticals, also bid on the company. 

“If the Melinta proposal continues to constitute a Superior Offer through Friday, May 29, 2020, the Tetraphase Board will consider terminating the AcelRx Merger Agreement and entering into the merger agreement with Melinta,” Tetraphase said. 

Acquiring Tetraphase would give Melinta the recently approved antibiotic Xerava, which treats serious intra-abdominal infections. Melinta’s portfolio currently includes four commercial antibiotics. 

Melinta was spun out of Yale as Rib-X Pharmaceuticals in 2000. It closed its flagship New Haven office in 2019 after disbanding its discovery research team, and is now headquartered in Morristown, N.J. 

It’s now privately owned by health-care hedge fund Deerfield Management after emerging from bankruptcy last month. 

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Shelton antiviral developer NanoViricides Inc. said Tuesday it has raised $10.2 million in a direct public offering.

NanoViricides said it netted around $9.33 million after fees and costs, which it plans to use for general business purposes, including the development of a potential COVID-19 drug and to advance its first drug candidate for shingles into human trials. The cash infusion will also go toward advancement of its potential drugs for cold sores and genital ulcers.

The company sold 1.4 million shares of common stock at $7.30 per share in the previously announced offering, which closed May 22. 

NanoViricides Chief Financial Officer Meeta R. Vyas said in a statement that the proceeds will extend the company’s cash runway by more than a year. 

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Kleo Pharmaceuticals said it is collaborating with New Jersey biotech Celuarity to explore whether the companies’ drug technology platforms can work together to treat COVID-19 and multiple myeloma.

Kleo said it is looking to combine its CD38-targeting antibody recruiting molecule (ARM) with Celularity’s “off-the-shelf” natural killer cell therapies, which are derived from the human placenta. (CD38 is an immune system protein.)

Both companies recently received the FDA’s approval to advance their respective drugs into human trials. Kleo’s technology induces the body’s so-called natural killer cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells. The company’s first disease target is multiple myeloma. 

Celularity’s drug is being investigated as a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia, multiple myeloma and glioblastoma multiforme. 

“Celularity’s cryopreserved allogeneic NK cells easily combine with the ARM platform, which is expected to facilitate NK cell targeting toward cancerous tumors or sites of viral infection,” said Kleo CEO Doug Manion in a statement.

Kleo also announced in late March that it was collaborating with South Korea’s Green Cross LabCell on a potential COVID-19 treatment.

Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com

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