WESTCHESTER COUNTY LIFE SCIENCES UPDATE

Regeneron receives FDA approval for

Eylea’s pediatric treatment

Tarrytown-headquartered Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Eylea (aflibercept) Injection to treat preterm infants with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).

According to the company, between 1,100 to 1,500 infants in the U.S. develop ROP that is severe enough to require medical treatment. This rare eye disease often impacts infants who are born before 31 weeks of pregnancy have been completed or who weigh less than 3.3 pounds at birth. As retinal blood vessels are often only fully developed once an infant is full-term, these infants are at risk of developing retinal blood vessels that are abnormal, potentially leading to retinal detachment and irreversible vision loss. Mild cases of ROP may improve without treatment, but some cases require treatment to keep ROP from causing significant visual impairment and even blindness.

Following this first pediatric approval, Eylea is now indicated to treat five retinal conditions caused by ocular angiogenesis.

Open Career Opportunities at Sapience

Interested in a career at Sapience? Based in Harrison, the clinical stage biotechnology company forging a new class of peptide-based cancer therapeutics, is recruiting for the following roles:

• Assistant Director/Director, Translational Pharmacology
• Senior Scientist Mass Spectroscopy
• Manager/Associate Director of Quality Assurance
• Scientist, Protein Production
• Scientist/Senior Scientist, Research
• Experienced Administrative Assistant

Attention Tech Startups:

Apply Today for Element 46!

Are you a tech startup in Westchester County? Apply today for the Spring 2023 cohort of the Element 46 Tech Accelerator Powered by Cela. The program offers a 12-week virtual curriculum, pitch and networking events for founders, access to a mentor network of investors and successful technology entrepreneurs, corporate and technology partnerships, and cutting edge technology and business skills. Apply today.

Upcoming Info Sessions:

Thurs., February 23 (5 PM) - for potential mentors, investors and other interested supporters

Mon., February 27 (5 PM) - for founders interested in learning more about the accelerator

Cognition reports completion of enrolment in trial of Alzheimer’s therapy

Purchase-headquartered Cognition Therapeutics has announced the completion of enrolment in the Phase II SEQUEL clinical trial (COG0202, NCT04735536) of its oral small molecule CT1812 to treat adult patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease. The randomized, double-blind trial has been designed to evaluate differences in synaptic function in CT1812- versus placebo-treated participants, with the help of a quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG) for measuring theta waves. The Phase II SEQUEL trial enrolled 16 adult patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease. SEQUEL will evaluate CT1812’s safety and efficacy and measure its impact on the electrical activity in the brain, and specifically those electrical impulses in the theta band. Topline results from the SEQUEL trial are expected in the middle of this year.

Submit a Project Pitch to America's Seed Fund

America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF funds startups to create the next game-changing technologies — often based on fundamental science or engineering — in need of research and development to create new products, services, and other scalable solutions. Each year, they award $200+ million in R&D funding to about 400 startups across the US.

Click here to learn more and get started on your Project Pitch. Chosen startups can get up to $2 million to develop deep technologies. The projects they fund must have the potential to positively benefit society and to lead to significant outcomes in the commercial market. Most of the startups they fund have fewer than five employees, are recently formed and haven't received funding from the government before.

America's Seed Fund is a program within the National Science Foundation and housed within the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships.

2022 Economic Census Underway

The U.S. Census Bureau announced the beginning of data collection for the 2022 Economic Census. Businesses across the nation will begin receiving invitations to respond online to the economic census and will have until March 15 to submit their responses. The economic census is the U.S. government's official 5-year measure of American businesses and the economy.

The economic census is sent to over 4 million businesses (including large, medium and small companies) to collect a range of operational and performance data. These businesses are representative of most industries and geographies in the United States and Island Areas.

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Westchester’s life sciences ecosystem?

Please let us know.

Email lifesciences@westchestergov.com.