Dr. Kambiz Shekdar in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Secondcell Bio scales the implementation of biotechnology originating from Rockefeller University for drug discovery at scale.
CHROMOVERT® TECHNOLOGY, INVENTED AT ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY, ALLOWS DESIRED CELLS TO BE PREPARED AT HIGH SPEED. 1) One or more target genes are added to cells to create a mixed population of cells, some of which contain target genes (or a mixed population).
Rockefeller University biotech inventors at Arab Health in Dubai to advance partnership talks with Emirati stakeholders on biotech sector in UAE.
The UAE’s next source could be biotechnology. With no legacy pharma, the UAE is free to choose biotechnology from its choice of modern biotechnology platforms to leapfrog the pharma industry.”
– Rockefeller graduate and biotech inventor Dr. Kambiz Shekdar, PhD.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, Jan. 28, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — Dr. Kambiz Shekdar, Rockefeller University alumnus and CEO of Secondcell Bio, attends Arab Health in Dubai to raise funds for a new joint venture in the UAE to commercialize 100 new drugs. The partnership, dubbed Emirati Cell Bio™, is based on proprietary biotechnology originating from a Nobel and King Faisal Prize-winning laboratory at Rockefeller University. The developments are based on the UAE’s aim to expand the biotech sector in the country.
Emirati Cell Bio™ represents a scale-up, not a start-up opportunity. The aim of the Emirati biotech facility will be to discover 100 or more new drugs via independent IPOs and/or partnerships with Big Pharma, to develop and market. The IPO-enabling™ Discovery Engine, known as Chromovert®, has already been successfully validated commercially in various application areas and lines of business.
Chromovert® was used to discover and develop a novel, non-addictive pain reliever that was filed for IPO by Chromocell Therapeutics on January 11, 2023. The pain reliever was quickly pursued by the FDA and featured on Gov. Chris Christie’s panel on the opioid epidemic at the White House as one of a handful of products in the pipeline to address the disaster.
Chromovert® was also used to discover and commercialize the very first natural salty flavor enhancers and new natural sweeteners to reduce both salt and sugar in the diet. Flavor research has been partnered with world-leading food and beverage companies The Coca-Cola Company, Kraft Foods & Nestle. From blocking pain to reducing salt and sugar in food, these diverse applications of the same underlying platform discovery engine demonstrate the breadth and reach of Chromovert® technology.
More than $100 million in private funding (and $0 in venture capital or US government grants) was invested to pioneer the unencumbered technology. Chromovert® inventor Dr. Shekdar is now transferring the Drug Discovery at Scale™ technology to the United Arab Emirates via Secondcell Bio.
The competitive advantage of the joint venture is based on both the proprietary Chromovert® technology and the ability to scale up in the United Arab Emirates. High scale-out costs and fear of obsolescence in entrenched teams remain barriers to scale-out proven disruptive technologies like Chromovert®. As there is no legacy pharmaceutical industry in the UAE, a large-scale public-private partnership (PPP) with Emirati stakeholders can be leveraged to overhaul the industry and achieve the national goal of expanding the biopharmaceutical sector.
dr Shekdar is seeking $50M seed funding to establish an operational Chromovert® drug discovery engine and laboratory infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates. An additional $100 to $950 million is being sought to power the engine to produce 100 or more new drug candidates for commercialization over a 3 to 5 year period. In addition to ongoing discussions with sovereign wealth funds in the United Arab Emirates as strategic partners, potential retail investors can also participate through an adapted form of the SAFE model developed by incubator Y Combinator in the US
While Secondcell Bio is primarily focused on drug discovery of Chromovert®, it is also pursuing non-drug applications that do not require human clinical trials to shorten overall commercialization timelines, including the discovery of natural volatiles to flavor consumer products similarly to modulate on the taste research previously conducted with Coca-Cola, Kraft and Nestlé. Consumer preference for aromatic goods is determined by scent and aroma. However, compared to human olfactory biology, which involves 30 to 40 taste receptors, the biology of human olfactory and aroma perception is mediated by over 400 olfactory receptors, making it unattainable for traditional cell-based discovery approaches. Chromovert® has already been shown to provide physiological access to this complex biology when the investment volume available in the UAE allows for the development of new consumer product applications (see The Nose, Accessing the Biology of Human Olfaction: New, All-Natural Fragrance Ingredients ; Novel Consumer Fragrance Experiences and Applications” in Harry’s Cosmeticology, 9th Edition).
The joint venture in the Emirates aims to create several multi-billion dollar commercial companies. Drug manufacturers generate an estimated average revenue of $18.6 billion per new drug worldwide. However, the current industry failure rate for new drug discovery and development of a staggering 98% indicates an urgent need for improvement at all stages of the process. The high failure rate also pushes the average cost of manufacturing each new drug to over $1.8 billion. The automated and improved Chromovert-enabled process enables a paradigm shift: for less than the cost of manufacturing a new drug, numerous drug discovery programs are implemented in parallel with increased overall probability of success and cost-effectiveness to develop at least 100 new drug candidates, each through its own dedicated unit taken public and/or partnered with Big Pharma for further development. Once established in the UAE, the same infrastructure can also be franchised e.g. B. Saudi Cell Bio™, India Cell Bio™ etc.
For more information on the growing biotech sector in the UAE, see Dr. Shekdar’s first-hand account “From Oil to Medicine” in the front-page report published in Manhattan’s WestView News in January 2023 at the following link: https://westviewnews.org/2023/01/17/vom-öl-zur -medicine/james/
ABOUT CHROMOVERT® TECHNOLOGY & SECONDCELL BIO
Biology deals with the human cell. Cells that closely mimic human diseases are fundamental to drug discovery. However, in a sea of cells designed to model disease, only a tiny number will do. Finding and isolating the optimal cells is extremely difficult. Chromovert® facilitates the detection and purification of even extremely rare, desired cells. The platform technology is applicable to any gene and cell, opening up new applications in flavor and drug discovery, biologics manufacturing, cell and stem cell therapies, and plant engineering. Chromovert® was developed by Dr. Kambiz Shekdar, PhD, in the laboratory of his late mentor and supervisor, Professor Dr. Gunter Blobel, MD, PhD, of Rockefeller University. The scientific publication of the technology is available at this link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10529-021-03101-5
Secondcell Bio is a life sciences company established to realize the greatest potential of Chromovert® technology for science and human health. The company was founded by Dr. Kambiz Shekdar, the inventor of the Chromovert® technology.
Kambiz Shekdar
Secondcell Bio
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Marwan Abdul Aziz, Director of Dubai Science Park
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January 29, 2023 at 00:34 GMT
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