Feb. 24 Quick Takes: hC Bio enters emerging tRNA field with $24M series A

hC Bioscience Inc. has entered the emerging tRNA therapeutics space with a $24 million series A round from a syndicate including ARCH Venture Partners, Takeda Ventures and 8VC. The company will use the funds to advance two technology platforms. The first, called PTCX (“Patch”), uses tRNA therapies to correct protein dysfunction caused by premature termination codons. The second platform, dubbed SWTX (“Switch”), targets diseases caused by missense mutations. hC was co-founded by president and CEO Leslie Williams and the University of Iowa’s Christopher Ahern. At least one other start-up, Flagship Pioneering-incubated Alltrna, recently launched to develop tRNA-based therapies.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) is another step closer to further expanding the label of Rinvoq upadacitinib after the oral JAK inhibitor met the primary and secondary endpoints in the Phase III U-EXCEL induction study to treat moderate-to-severe Crohn’s disease. At week 12, 49% of Rinvoq-treated patients were in clinical remission per CDAI criteria vs. 29% for placebo, and 51% met the clinical remission endpoint per the SF/AP criteria needed for European approval, vs. 22% for placebo (p<0.0001). Rinvoq also met the co-primary endpoint of endoscopic response (46% vs. 13%, p<0.0001). In December, AbbVie met the same co-primary endpoints in the Phase III U-EXCEED induction study...