The new Nucleus building of BaseClear has been nominated for the RAP architecture prize, a bi-annual prize that is awarded by the Rijnlands Architecture Platform (RAP). The building is one of the nine finalists that have been selected from a longlist of twenty-four newly built or restored buildings within the Leiden region.

The Nucleus building has been designed by Popma & Ter Steege. With their design, the architects have created an open and collaborative environment to promote knowledge transfer. There are several open meeting spaces where employees from different business units and disciplines can meet and connect with each other. The building also contains a special lecture room for both internal and external meetings and lectures. The laboratories are located on the second floor of the building and are a completely restricted area for safety and confidentiality reasons. Within this area, the laboratories are structured optimally for the current working processes, but also have the flexibility to be restructured to adapt to future developments.

Open atmosphere

CEO Bas Reichert tells: “We are very proud of this nomination. Although we are a relatively small company, we can compete with large organizations such as Naturalis. This design fits perfectly with our core values. We want to collaborate with our customers, partners and spin-off companies in an open atmosphere and create an environment in which both our employees and our customers enjoy what they are doing. In our new lecture room, we have already organized several successful expert meetings, where visitors could also sit down for lunch and get a tour through our lab. We often hear from them that they really enjoy the place and appreciate how well everything is organized.”

Excellent sustainability

“The sustainability of the Nucleus building is also in line with our corporate vision” Reichert continues. The building has a BREAAM sustainability label of ‘Excellent’ due to, for example, the 290 square meters of solar panels, the compact building volume, the efficient and high-frequency lighting and the water-saving sanitary appliances. In addition, the building is connected to the thermal storage system (WKO) of the Biopartner foundation, which has an overcapacity for this.

Vote for BaseClear

Do you agree that the Nucleus building deserves to win this architecture prize? If so, please vote for our building on https://www.rapleiden.nl/architectuurprijs/. The festive presentation of both the jury and the public prize will take place on Wednesday evening, 9 October 2019 in Scheltema (Leiden).

For more information about the Nucleus building visit https://www.baseclear.com/about-baseclear/our-company/nucleus-building/.

Source: Baseclear

Pharvaris, a clinical-stage company focused on the discovery and development of novel oral B2-receptor antagonists for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE) and other B2-receptor-mediated indications, has completed a $66 million Series B financing, led by Foresite Capital together with Bain Capital Life Sciences, venBio Partners, and Venrock Partners, as well as existing investors, LSP, Kurma Partners and Idinvest Partners. In addition, the company announced its entry into clinical development with the initiation of a Phase 1 study of its lead compound, PHA121, in healthy volunteers.

“This financing and our outstanding syndicate of investors positions Pharvaris as a clinical leader for the development of oral treatments for patients with HAE,” said Berndt Modig, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Pharvaris. “Our experienced team is capitalizing on its deep knowledge of drug development and HAE as we progress in the clinic with PHA121, a new chemical entity targeting the same mechanism as icatibant, a leading therapy for the treatment of HAE attacks. The demands for less invasive routes of drug administration, more convenient dosing regimens, and additional treatment options support the development of an oral therapy to improve the quality of life of patients with HAE.”

The proceeds from the Series B financing will enable Pharvaris to expedite the clinical development of PHA121. The first subjects have been dosed in a Phase 1, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-ascending-dose study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of PHA121 in healthy subjects. A multiple-ascending-dose study is anticipated to start in early 2020. In preclinical studies, PHA121 demonstrates oral bioavailability, selective antagonism of the B2 receptor, and potent and rapid activity in bradykinin-mediated disease models.

Jochen Knolle, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Pharvaris, added, “Patients with HAE are eager for effective oral therapies. The development of a novel, oral B2-receptor antagonist could represent a new standard of care for the treatment and prevention of HAE and other B2-receptor-mediated conditions. This first-in-human Phase 1 study is expected to yield important safety and tolerability data. In addition, we expect to demonstrate pharmacodynamics for blocking bradykinin signaling, which will inform the design of subsequent clinical trials.” Dr. Knolle is an inventor of icatibant and, as Chief Scientific Officer and Head of R&D at Jerini AG, was instrumental in the development and first approval of icatibant for treatment of HAE.

Brett Zbar, M.D., Managing Director of Foresite Capital, and Richard Gaster, M.D., Ph.D., Principal at venBio Partners, will join Pharvaris’ board of directors. Ricky Sun, Ph.D., Partner at Bain Capital Life Sciences, will join the board as an observer.

Source: Pharvaris

ProQR Therapeutics, a company dedicated to changing lives through the creation of transformative RNA medicines for the treatment of severe genetic rare diseases, today announced that it received Fast Track designation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for QR-1123.

QR-1123 is a first-in-class investigational antisense oligonucleotide designed to address the underlying cause of vision loss associated with autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP) due to the P23H mutation in the rhodopsin (RHO) gene.

Fast Track designation is granted by the FDA to drugs in development for serious conditions with the potential to fulfill an unmet medical need. It was established with the intention to bring promising drugs to patients sooner by facilitating development with more frequent FDA interactions and expediting the review process.

“We are very pleased to receive Fast Track designation by the FDA for QR-1123. There are no current treatment options available for patients to improve vision or prevent vision loss due to adRP. Further, this designation emphasizes the high unmet need in this disease,” said Daniel de Boer, Chief Executive Officer of ProQR. “We look forward to beginning enrollment in the Phase 1/2 (Aurora) clinical trial for QR-1123 in the coming months.”

Source: ProQR

uniQure, a leading gene therapy company advancing transformative therapies for patients with severe unmet medical needs today announced the pricing of its underwritten public offering of 4,891,305 of its ordinary shares at a public offering price of $46.00 per share. The gross proceeds to uniQure from the offering, before deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by uniQure, are expected to be approximately $225 million. All ordinary shares to be sold in the offering are being sold by uniQure. In addition, uniQure has granted to the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 733,695 additional ordinary shares at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. The offering is expected to close on or about September 10, 2019, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Source: uniQure