Connect with us

Spread & Containment

Joseph Arron marches to the beat of his own drum at 23andMe; Ex-Voyager CFO joins Sek Kathiresan at Verve Therapeutics

Joseph Arron
Joseph Arron is sometimes referred to as the black sheep of his family. While everyone else is a professional musician, he was always more interested in science.
“I played music, but I was never that keen on pursuing that as a career,”…

Published

2 years ago

on

Joseph Arron

Joseph Arron is sometimes referred to as the black sheep of his family. While everyone else is a professional musician, he was always more interested in science.

“I played music, but I was never that keen on pursuing that as a career,” Arron says, adding that his dad played in orchestras, his mom was the director of Carnegie Hall, and his brother is a professional cellist.

Arron is a maestro in a different kind of field — and now, genetic data will be the music to his ears as he leaves a 15-year career at Genentech to become 23andMe’s new CSO.

“23andMe’s strategic advantage is obviously its database,” Arron says in an interview with Endpoints News. “What attracted me here at this particular time was the realization of how large the database really is.”

The company — largely known for its saliva collection products that can map out an individual’s ancestry and determine genetic risks to certain diseases — now has around 12 million customers, about 80% of whom have consented for research to be done on their genetic data.

“Doing genome-wide analyses can be very challenging. And here we’ve got this scale that, based on all of the phenotypic data that we have, even if we want to zoom in on a small subset of the population, there’s still quite an impressive number there,” Arron says.

The Stanford grad was lured to 23andMe by head of therapeutics Kenneth Hillan, whom he met while working at Genentech. The two had kept in touch after Hillan left Genentech, and several months ago Hillan reached out about an opening he told Arron would be “right up your alley.”

Arron didn’t always know he wanted to go into industry. When he was a PhD student at Stanford back in the late ’90s, he recalls going to career days where a panel of 10 or so alumni would return to speak about their jobs. He always thought the most interesting panelists were the one or two who went into the industry or FDA — but it wasn’t until a Genentech recruiter reached out to him as a postdoc that he considered going into drugmaking himself.

“They said there’s a biotech company that’s looking for an immunologist with medical training to join them to sort of launch an effort to do biomarker discovery and translational research in inflammatory diseases,” Arron said.

He’d heard of Genentech, and it was a short drive away, so he decided to hear them out. After visiting the company seven times, he was convinced the position was perfect. He stayed for the next 15 years, working his way up from scientist to VP of immunology research.

Now Arron will be tasked with leading a major shift for 23andMe, as it continues to build up its therapeutics unit. In 2018, the company signed a $300 million deal giving GlaxoSmithKline access to its genetic database — and just last summer, the partners launched their first clinical study for a CD96-blocking antibody aimed at directing the immune system to attack cancer cells. 23andMe hit another major milestone almost two years ago, when it out-licensed the first drug program it developed in-house to a Spanish dermatology company called Almirall.

“Our intention is to be able to develop our own projects as we go along,” Arron said. “I just think we have to be judicious about where does it make sense to do this with a partner or where does it make sense to go it alone.”

— Nicole DeFeudis

Allison Dorval

→ Verve Therapeutics has executed the 1-2 punch of a Series B round and a sizeable IPO in 2021, and this week Sek Kathiresan’s cardiovascular disease-focused biotech has brought in Allison Dorval as CFO. According to a Form 8-K, Dorval informed Voyager Therapeutics of her decision to leave on Nov. 16 after three years as finance chief; back in May, president and CEO Andre Turenne left Voyager along with R&D head Omar Khwaja, but the turmoil within the biotech eased up a bit as it struck a gene therapy deal with Pfizer in October. In addition to this new gig, Dorval is on the board of directors at Puma Biotechnology and Aerovate Therapeutics.

→ On Wednesday, Novartis Gene Therapies tweeted out the introduction of Chris Fox as president. Fox steps away from Amgen, where she was VP and US general manager of the following therapeutic areas: cardiometabolic, bone and nephrology. She also spent more than a dozen years in several capacities at Takeda, namely VP of sales and VP of operations.

→ Eli Lilly vet Jude Onyia has been named CSO of Neurocrine, which inked a deal with Sosei Heptares a couple weeks ago for $100 million upfront that zeroes in on the schizophrenia drug HTL-0016878. Onyia, who was recently chief scientist at Bob Cuddihy’s gene therapy shop Capsida Biotherapeutics, spent a quarter century with Eli Lilly and rounded out his tenure at the Indianapolis pharma as VP of biotechnology discovery research. With the new Sosei Heptares pact, Neurocrine looks to bounce back after a swing and a miss on the primary endpoint with one of the programs in its $2 billion deal with Takeda.

Jullian Jones

→ Speaking of Lilly alums, Jullian Jones has been promoted to CBO at “molecular glue” biotech Monte Rosa Therapeutics. Jones was senior director of oncology business development at Lilly before joining Monte Rosa as head of business development in September 2020, and she also took on a number of roles at Boehringer Ingelheim from 2013-16. Monte Rosa has been a Peer Review frequent flyer as chief executive Markus Warmuth gets his C-suite in order; meanwhile, the company continues to rack up the financing prizes and made a splash on Nasdaq this summer with an IPO north of $200 million.

Tamas Oravecz

→ Aiming to “reprogram” the tumor microenvironment with a fresh $65 million Series A in its hip pocket, Parthenon Therapeutics has pegged Big Pharma alum Tamas Oravecz as CSO. Oravecz makes his way to Parthenon after he was elevated to VP, head of cell therapy platform and discovery at Janssen. Earlier, he was Celgene’s executive director of biology and pharmacology.

Charmaine Lykins

→ Charmaine Lykins has signed on to Boston neuro player Karuna Therapeutics as chief commercial officer, 10 months after replacing current ViaCyte CEO Michael Yang under the new title of SVP, global product planning and chief marketing officer of Nuplazid maker Acadia. After 15 years at Eli Lilly doing marketing within several therapeutic areas, including diabetes and bipolar & depression, Lykins jumped to become senior director of global marketing at Sunovion and then the VP of global marketing, schizophrenia for Lundbeck.

→ In case you missed the news from earlier in the week, GSK poached Pfizer’s viral vaccines lead Philip Dormitzer in a rush to capitalize on the future of mRNA like its rivals at Pfizer and BioNTech. Dormitzer, the former CSO of Pfizer’s viral vaccine unit who also was responsible for Pfizer’s RNA-based influenza vaccine candidate developed in collaboration with BioNTech, will now be taking up the mantle as global head of vaccines R&D at GSK. Prior to his stint at Pfizer, Dormitzer had a seven-year long career with Novartis, where he eventually served as US head of research and head of global virology for the company’s vaccines and diagnostics unit.

John Maraganore

→ In other big appointment news from earlier this week, John Maraganore, Alnylam‘s CEO who is set to retire at the end of the year, is making his way to ARCH Venture as a new venture partner alongside ex-FDA official Luciana Borio, Jake Bauer (previously at MyoKardia), Axel Bouchon (former head of Leaps by Bayer) and Sabah Oney (of Alector fame). Maraganore’s interest to be like a “grandfather” to the next generation of biotech startups has already drawn him to the board of directors at Beam Therapeutics and onto a similar role with SalioGen.

Ifeyinwa Osunkwo

→ With its sickle cell drug etavopivat yielding positive Phase I results in Q2, Forma Therapeutics has appointed someone who’s devoted her career to the disease as chief patient officer. Ifeyinwa Osunkwo founded and is the director of the Sickle Cell Disease Enterprise at Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, NC, and is a professor of medicine and pediatrics at Atrium Health. Osunkwo is slated to join CEO Frank Lee’s team at Forma sometime in Q1 of 2022.

Jeb Ledell

→ Aveo Oncology picked itself up and dusted itself off after a devastating rejection in which all but one member of the FDA panel voted against tivozanib in 2013. Earning the agency’s blessing with that very drug through an approval in March for relapsed or refractory advanced renal cell carcinoma, Aveo has recruited Jeb Ledell as COO. Since 2019, Ledell had been COO at Enzyvant — which just nabbed an approval of its own for the congenital athymia drug Rethymic — and he’s also held the same position at Compass Therapeutics.

Erin Brubaker

→ Erin Brubaker has ventured off to greater Philly-based Code Biotherapeutics as COO. Like CEO Brian McVeigh, Brubaker had a long career at GSK, spending 22 years at the pharma giant and leaving in 2018 as VP, R&D strategy development and deployment. Right before joining McVeigh’s team, Brubaker was VP, corporate development for Passage Bio. On the hunt for gene therapy 2.0 alongside such competitors as Generation Bio and the new Michael Ehlers joint Intergalactic Therapeutics, Code Bio debuted in April with $10 million in seed financing.

Sravan Emany

→ Under the new leadership of Tom McCourt, Ironwood paid Cour Pharmaceutical Development Company $20 million upfront for the primary biliary cholangitis drug CNP-104 a month ago. With Phase I ahead, Ironwood will greet Sravan Emany as CFO on Monday. Emany was corporate VP, commercial excellence and chief strategy officer of Integra LifeSciences before joining the Linzess maker.

Jane Pritchett Henderson

→ A cleanup crew has been sorely needed at Sesen Bio after its bladder cancer drug Vicineum got smacked with a CRL in August and more than 2,000 violations were discovered in the trial, so it stands to reason that the Cambridge, MA biotech has enlisted Dominika Kowalski as senior director of global drug safety following stints at Horizon, AbbVie and Abbott. Elsewhere at Sesen Bio, Jane Pritchett Henderson — a former board member and current CFO at Tillman Gerngross’ Adagio Therapeutics — was named as an advisor to CEO Thomas Cannell.

→ Eli Lilly’s bamlanivimab partner AbCellera, which also shook hands with Moderna in an mRNA alliance in September, has corralled Neil Aubuchon as chief commercial officer. Aubuchon makes the trek to the prominent Canadian antibody discovery player after his time at Amgen as global marketing lead for the drug giant’s general medicine early portfolio. In his 17 years at Lilly, Aubuchon took on a number of posts, including head of strategy & operations for Lilly Bio-Medicines and chief marketing officer in Australia and Japan.

Constantine Chinoporos

→ Constantine Chinoporos has been named CBO of Albireo, the recipient of twin approvals this summer for its pruritus drug odevixibat, now known as Bylvay. Most recently, Chinoporos held the same position at Boston Pharmaceuticals, and he’s also been a senior leader at such big names as Sanofi, Genzyme and Eli Lilly.

Alyssa Wyant

→ Marcio Souza-led Praxis Precision Medicines has taken the Peer Review stage with a quartet of announcements. First, the neurology biotech has appointed Merck business development vet Megan Sniecinski as CBO. Sniecinski had held the same post at BioCryst since 2019 and has also spent five years as an exec at PTC Therapeutics. Alyssa Wyant, a PTC alum in her own right, has been promoted to chief regulatory and quality officer at Praxis, while longtime Amgen staffer Karl Hansen (not to be confused with AbCellera’s Carl Hansen) gets the bump to chief technical operations officer after serving as SVP of CMC. Finally, co-founder Steven Petrou has exited stage left as director of The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health to focus on his Praxis responsibilities.

Jessie Richardson

→ Venrock-backed microbiome upstart Federation Bio, helmed by former 23andMe exec Emily Conley, has welcomed Andreas Grauer as CMO and Jessie Richardson as general counsel. Grauer, a 10-year Amgen vet in global development, had previously been the medical chief with Corcept Therapeutics, and Richardson — an ex-senior patent counsel at Genentech — jumps to Federation Bio after her time as PACT Pharma’s VP of legal. Federation Bio’s lead drug candidate targets a renal condition called enteric hyperoxaluria.

Su Zhang

→ Chinese gene therapy outfit Neurophth Therapeutics, which just raised $60 million in a Series C last week, has selected Su Zhang as CFO. Zhang had been the CFO of Ascentage Pharma since 2019, when the Suzhou-based biotech began trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange. He was also director of healthcare equity research at China Merchant Securities. Neurophth’s lead candidate, NFS-01, is in development for ND4-mediated Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy.

And what about that Ascentage vacancy? That CFO job goes to Yiqing Chen, the former vice CFO and general manager of investor relations and capital deployment at Fosun Pharma. He’s also been general manager, CFO and COO at Shenzhen-based sequencing company BGI Genomics.

Philippe Tinmouth

→ Covid-19 pill developer Pardes Biosciences went public in June thanks to a $275 million SPAC deal from Jim Tananbaum and Foresite Capital, and this week the Carlsbad, CA biotech has locked in Philippe Tinmouth as chief business and strategy officer. Tinmouth had retired as VP and head of business development at Vertex, where he held multiple roles since 2002, and for the last two years, he’s been on the board of directors at Scynexis.

→ Harbour BioMed, teaming up with Dana-Farber on cancer drugs in a multiyear collaboration, has brought on Weihao Xu as chief strategy officer. Xu, who will be Harbour BioMed’s global head of business development and corporate development. also served as CFO at Alphamab Oncology and CASI Pharmaceuticals.

Sherin Al-Safadi

→ Lots to sort out at radiopharmaceutical player Point Biopharma, so let’s get to it: Justyna Kelly has earned a promotion to COO after a year as VP, medical isotope development and operations; senior director of preclinical development Robin Hallett is moving on up to VP, discovery and translational sciences; and on Dec. 13, Sherin Al-Safadi will begin her tenure as VP, medical affairs. Al-Safadi moves on from Bayer, where she was the German pharma giant’s global medical affairs oncology strategy director.

A couple more items from Point: Sanofi Genzyme vet Michael Gottlieb stepped aside last week as chief commercial officer after nearly two years on the job, and board member Jonathan Ross Goodman has been named lead independent director.

Juho Jalkanen

→ To Scandinavia we go, where Matti Karvonen has stepped down as CMO of Finnish immuno-oncology and ARDS biotech Faron Pharmaceuticals after five years with the company. As the search gets underway for Karvonen’s successor, chief development officer Juho Jalkanen will be interim CMO.

→ Over in Copenhagen, Adcendo — an ADC outfit that notched a $62 million Series A before tapping Michael Pehl as CEO in July — has expanded the team with chief development officer Carmel Lynch and chief technology officer Pernille Høyrup Hemmingsen. After seven years at Seagen where she moved up to senior director, nonclinical science & clinical pharmacology, Lynch was appointed SVP, nonclinical development at Oxford BioTherapeutics. Hemmingsen, a Genmab alum in CMC, had been Savara’s VP, global product development and supply. One more Adcendo note: Former longtime Seagen exec Dennis Benjamin has been named chairman of the SAB and a research fellow.

Deepti Sodhi Jaggi

→ Deepti Sodhi Jaggi has joined San Francisco-based prescription digital therapeutics (PDT) player Better Therapeutics as CSO. Jaggi previously served as global head of patient insights & solutions at Astellas and as president and CMO at Clinakos.

→ Dublin-based Priothera, which is working on developing a potential treatment for patients with acute myeloid leukemia, has snatched up Elisabeth Kueenburg as CMO. Kueenburg joins the company from Celgene, where she served as clinical development lead.

→ Relief Therapeutics has made some changes to its executive team with the appointment of Nermeen Varawalla as a successor to CMO Gilles Della Corte (who is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities) and the promotions of Jeremy Meinen and Marco Marotta to chief accounting officer and CBO, respectively. Varawalla makes her way to Relief from Atlantic Healthcare, where she served as CMO and head of clinical development. Meanwhile, Meinen formerly served as Relief’s VP of finance and administration while Marotta came aboard to Relief from its acquisition of APR Applied Pharma Research.

Glenn Morrison

→ Sitting pretty after its gargantuan $436 million IPO this past spring, Recursion has enticed two execs with Big Pharma ties to jump on board. First, Glenn Morrison (VP, clinical development) just finished a year as VP of neurology clinical development at Alector, and during six years with Genentech/Roche, he was in charge of global clinical development for a pair of Alzheimer’s anti-amyloid antibodies. Recursion poaches Irit Rappley (VP, neuroscience and translational research) from Bristol Myers Squibb, where she was scientific director of discovery and translational research. Additionally, Recursion has given Icahn School of Medicine professor Tim Ahfeldt the role of fellow, neuroscience.

→ Alexey Seregin has been appointed VP of R&D at Boston-based gene therapy biotech Remedium Bio. After his years at Biogen, Solid Bio and Bioverativ, Seregin heads to Remedium Bio after two years at Takeda, where he was the pharma’s associate director, global gene therapy research.

Janet Hurt

→ Founded by Stanford’s Ed Engleman and launched in July 2020 with a $30 million round, Tranquis Therapeutics has ushered in Janet Hurt as SVP of clinical evidence generation and Faisal Shawwa as SVP of finance. Hurt has made numerous stops as a clinical operations leader before her arrival at Tranquis, including at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Denali and, most recently, Jasper Therapeutics. Shawwa had been with Catalyst Biosciences since April 2008 and was the company’s VP of finance.

→ Before Thanksgiving, New Jersey ophthalmic disease biotech Oyster Point Pharma made a pair of appointments, naming Raegan McClain as chief compliance officer and longtime Novartis vet Barry Rosenfeld as SVP, general counsel. McClain just held the same title at Optinose and is an ex-assistant general counsel at Sanofi, while Rosenfeld was VP, general counsel & corporate secretary for Novartis Finance Corporation before joining Oyster Point in November 2020 as senior director, corporate counsel.

Susan McClatchey

→ Susan McClatchey has taken on the role of VP and head of quality at Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeutics, which is developing its cytokine therapy IRX-2 for head and neck cancer. McClatchey served as head of quality during her 12 years at ViaCyte and was briefly IQVIA’s senior director, product development, cell and gene therapy.

Lisa DeLuca

→ With uproleselan in Phase III for relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia, GlycoMimetics has picked up Lisa DeLuca as VP, regulatory affairs. DeLuca, Nuvation Bio’s SVP of regulatory affairs since January, was a regulatory exec for a little more than two years at Radius Health. Her predecessor, Myra Rosario Herrle, is now the EVP of regulatory affairs for Point Biopharma.

→ Sean Mackay-led IsoPlexis, which strutted onto Nasdaq last month with its personalized protein “barcodes,” has installed three new staffers. Among the triumvirate: Richard Rew (general counsel and secretary) comes to IsoPlexis after six years at Luminex, where he was chief compliance officer and SVP, general counsel and secretary; Raj Khakhar (VP of finance) was Thermo Fisher’s director of finance for the corporate FP&A team; and Manny Resendes (global controller) had served as finance director, global instrument operations for PerkinElmer.

Rory Curtis

→ Cambridge, UK-based Metrion Biosciences has appointed Rory Curtis as VP, US commercial operations. Curtis’ experience in drug discovery extends to Regeneron, Millennium and Elixir, and he was in charge of the TRPA1 program while he was with Cubist Pharmaceuticals from 2009-15.

Fuxin Shi

→ Accuredit Therapeutics has named Fuxin Shi as head of drug discovery & preclinical research and general manager of its US subsidiary. Saddling onto the Suzhou, China-based gene editing company, Shi brings with her experience from her times at Novartis, Decibel Therapeutics and Frequency Therapeutics.

→ Ascendis Pharma‘s founder, president and CEO Jan Møller Mikkelsen has become chairman of the board at Hummingbird Bioscience. Novo Holdings led the way on Hummingbird’s $125 million Series C in the spring.

Sandy Zweifach

→ Penn spinout Carisma Therapeutics has named Sandy Zweifach chairman of the board. The co-founder and former CEO of Nuvelution Pharma, Zweifach also chaired Palladio Biosciences and Janpix, two of the biotechs Francesco De Rubertis combined to form Centessa.

→ Star Stanford I/O scientist Irv Weissman — the co-founder of Forty Seven before it was swooped up in a $4.9 million buyout by Gilead — has hopped onto the scientific advisory board of LA-based Appia Bio. Weissman will also be joined by stem cell biology and NKT cell biology expert Mark Exley, the former VP, cellular immunology for AgenTus.

→ Daniel Faga has been added to the board of directors of San Diego-based AnaptysBio, which sold an 8% slice of the royalties it owned of GSK checkpoint inhibitor Jemperli to Sagard Healthcare Royalty Partners last month for $250 million. Faga was COO at Mirati before leaving that post several weeks ago alongside CMO Joseph Leveque.

Meeta Gulyani

→ Meeta Gulyani, the EVP, head of strategy, business development and transformation for the life science business of Merck KGaA, has joined the board of directors at Seer. This marked Seer’s second board appointment in three weeks after the addition of Caribou CEO Rachel Haurwitz.

Austin Che

→ Menlo Park, CA-based enzyme engineering company Aether Biomachines has made Austin Che a member of its board. Che co-founded Ginkgo Bioworks, which landed a monster SPAC deal in May to the tune of $2.5 billion — but Ginkgo has since tried to ward off a short attack.

Laura Brege

→ Laura Brege is the latest member of San Francisco cancer player T-knife Therapeutics’ board of directors, which also includes folks who helped contribute to the biotech’s financing: Versant’s Alexander Mayweg and RA Capital’s Josh Resnick. The ex-president and CEO of Nodality, Brege is on the boards of Acadia, Mirum Pharmaceuticals, Pacira Pharmaceuticals and HLS Therapeutics.

→ New York’s Indaptus Therapeutics has made room for Mark Gilbert on the board of directors. Gilbert, the ex-CMO of Juno Therapeutics, is the EVP of R&D for Acepodia, which announced its Series C round yesterday.

→ Atriva Therapeutics — the German-based company working on testing their small molecule in the treatment of moderate to severe Covid-19 in hospitalized patients — has brought in former Galapagos CSO Piet Wigerinck to its scientific advisory board.

→ AcelRx has reserved a spot for Jill Broadfoot on its board of directors. Since July 2018, Broadfoot — a member of the board at Otonomy — has been the finance chief for aTyr Pharma.

→ Barcelona-based ONA Therapeutics has pulled a seat out for Michel Detheux on its board of directors. Detheux currently serves as president and CEO of iTeos Therapeutics.

Derek Graf also contributed to this edition.

Read More

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Spread & Containment

Health Officials: Man Dies From Bubonic Plague In New Mexico

Health Officials: Man Dies From Bubonic Plague In New Mexico

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Officials in…

Published

3 hours ago

on

March 13, 2024

By

Health Officials: Man Dies From Bubonic Plague In New Mexico

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Officials in New Mexico confirmed that a resident died from the plague in the United States’ first fatal case in several years.

A bubonic plague smear, prepared from a lymph removed from an adenopathic lymph node, or bubo, of a plague patient, demonstrates the presence of the Yersinia pestis bacteria that causes the plague in this undated photo. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Getty Images)

The New Mexico Department of Health, in a statement, said that a man in Lincoln County “succumbed to the plague.” The man, who was not identified, was hospitalized before his death, officials said.

They further noted that it is the first human case of plague in New Mexico since 2021 and also the first death since 2020, according to the statement. No other details were provided, including how the disease spread to the man.

The agency is now doing outreach in Lincoln County, while “an environmental assessment will also be conducted in the community to look for ongoing risk,” the statement continued.

“This tragic incident serves as a clear reminder of the threat posed by this ancient disease and emphasizes the need for heightened community awareness and proactive measures to prevent its spread,” the agency said.

A bacterial disease that spreads via rodents, it is generally spread to people through the bites of infected fleas. The plague, known as the black death or the bubonic plague, can spread by contact with infected animals such as rodents, pets, or wildlife.

The New Mexico Health Department statement said that pets such as dogs and cats that roam and hunt can bring infected fleas back into homes and put residents at risk.

Officials warned people in the area to “avoid sick or dead rodents and rabbits, and their nests and burrows” and to “prevent pets from roaming and hunting.”

“Talk to your veterinarian about using an appropriate flea control product on your pets as not all products are safe for cats, dogs or your children” and “have sick pets examined promptly by a veterinarian,” it added.

“See your doctor about any unexplained illness involving a sudden and severe fever, the statement continued, adding that locals should clean areas around their home that could house rodents like wood piles, junk piles, old vehicles, and brush piles.

The plague, which is spread by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, famously caused the deaths of an estimated hundreds of millions of Europeans in the 14th and 15th centuries following the Mongol invasions. In that pandemic, the bacteria spread via fleas on black rats, which historians say was not known by the people at the time.

Other outbreaks of the plague, such as the Plague of Justinian in the 6th century, are also believed to have killed about one-fifth of the population of the Byzantine Empire, according to historical records and accounts. In 2013, researchers said the Justinian plague was also caused by the Yersinia pestis bacteria.

But in the United States, it is considered a rare disease and usually occurs only in several countries worldwide. Generally, according to the Mayo Clinic, the bacteria affects only a few people in U.S. rural areas in Western states.

Recent cases have occurred mainly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Countries with frequent plague cases include Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Peru, the clinic says. There were multiple cases of plague reported in Inner Mongolia, China, in recent years, too.

Symptoms

Symptoms of a bubonic plague infection include headache, chills, fever, and weakness. Health officials say it can usually cause a painful swelling of lymph nodes in the groin, armpit, or neck areas. The swelling usually occurs within about two to eight days.

The disease can generally be treated with antibiotics, but it is usually deadly when not treated, the Mayo Clinic website says.

“Plague is considered a potential bioweapon. The U.S. government has plans and treatments in place if the disease is used as a weapon,” the website also says.

According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the last time that plague deaths were reported in the United States was in 2020 when two people died.

Tyler Durden Wed, 03/13/2024 - 21:40

Read More

Continue Reading

Spread & Containment

I created a ‘cosy game’ – and learned how they can change players’ lives

Cosy, personal games, as I discovered, can change the lives of the people who make them and those who play them.

Published

12 hours ago

on

March 13, 2024

By

Cosy games exploded in popularity during the pandemic. Takoyaki Tech/Shutterstock

The COVID pandemic transformed our lives in ways many of us are still experiencing, four years later. One of these changes was the significant uptake in gaming as a hobby, chief among them being “cosy games” like Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020).

Players sought comfort in these wholesome virtual worlds, many of which allowed them to socialise from the safety of their homes. Cosy games, with their comforting atmospheres, absence of winning or losing, simple gameplay, and often heartwarming storylines provided a perfect entry point for a new hobby. They also offered predictability and certainty at a time when there wasn’t much to go around.

Cosy games are often made by small, independent developers. “Indie games” have long been evangelised as the purest form of game development – something anyone can do, given enough perseverance. This means they can provide an entry point for creators who hadn’t made games before, but were nevertheless interested in it, enabling a new array of diverse voices and stories to be heard.

In May 2020, near the start of the pandemic, the small poetry game A Solitary Spacecraft, which was about its developer’s experience of their first few months in lockdown, was lauded as particularly poignant. Such games showcase a potential angle for effective cosy game development: a personal one.

Personal themes are often explored through cosy games. For instance, Chicory and Venba (both released in 2023) tackle difficult topics like depression and immigration, despite their gorgeous aesthetics. This showcases the diversity of experiences on display within the medium.

However, as the world emerges from the pandemic’s shadow, the games industry is facing significant challenges. Economic downturns and acquisitions have caused large layoffs across the sector.

Historically, restructurings like these, or discontent with working conditions, have led talented laid-off developers to create their own companies and explore indie development. In the wake of the pandemic and the cosy game boom, these developers may have more personal stories to tell.

Making my own cosy game

I developed my own cosy and personal game during the pandemic and quickly discovered that creating these games in a post-lockdown landscape is no mean feat.

What We Take With Us (2023) merges reality and gameplay across various digital formats: a website, a Discord server that housed an online alternate reality game and a physical escape room. I created the game during the pandemic as a way to reflect on my journey through it, told through the videos of game character Ana Kirlitz.

The trailer for my game, What We Take With Us.

Players would follow in Ana’s footsteps by completing a series of ten tasks in their real-world space, all centred on improving wellbeing – something I and many others desperately needed during the pandemic.

But creating What We Take With Us was far from straightforward. There were pandemic hurdles like creating a physical space for an escape room amid social distancing guidelines. And, of course, the emotional difficulties of wrestling with my pandemic journey through the game’s narrative.

The release fared poorly, and the game only garnered a small player base – a problem emblematic of the modern games industry.

These struggles were starkly contrasted by the feedback I received from players who played the game, however.

This is a crucial lesson for indie developers: the creator’s journey and the player’s experience are often worlds apart. Cosy, personal games, as I discovered, can change the lives of those who play them, no matter how few they reach. They can fundamentally change the way we think about games, allow us to reconnect with old friends, or even inspire us to change careers – all real player stories.

Lessons in cosy game development

I learned so much about how cosy game development can be made more sustainable for creators navigating the precarious post-lockdown landscape. This is my advice for other creators.

First, collaboration is key. Even though many cosy or personal games (like Stardew Valley) are made by solo creators, having a team can help share the often emotional load. Making games can be taxing, so practising self-care and establishing team-wide support protocols is crucial. Share your successes and failures with other developers and players. Fostering a supportive community is key to success in the indie game landscape.

Second, remember that your game, however personal, is a product – not a reflection of you or your team. Making this distinction will help you manage expectations and cope with feedback.

Third, while deeply considering your audience may seem antithetical to personal projects, your game will ultimately be played by others. Understanding them will help you make better games.

The pandemic reignited the interest in cosy games, but subsequent industry-wide troubles may change games, and the way we make them, forever. Understanding how we make game creation more sustainable in a post-lockdown, post-layoff world is critical for developers and players alike.

For developers, it’s a reminder that their stories, no matter how harrowing, can still meaningfully connect with people. For players, it’s an invitation to embrace the potential for games to tell such stories, fostering empathy and understanding in a world that greatly needs it.

Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

Adam Jerrett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Read More

Continue Reading

Spread & Containment

KIMM finds solution to medical waste problem, which has become a major national issue

A medical waste treatment system, which is capable of 99.9999 percent sterilization by using high-temperature and high-pressure steam, has been developed…

Published

16 hours ago

on

March 13, 2024

By

A medical waste treatment system, which is capable of 99.9999 percent sterilization by using high-temperature and high-pressure steam, has been developed for the first time in the country.

Credit: Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM)

A medical waste treatment system, which is capable of 99.9999 percent sterilization by using high-temperature and high-pressure steam, has been developed for the first time in the country.

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (President Seog-Hyeon Ryu, hereinafter referred to as KIMM), an institute under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Science and ICT, has succeeded in developing an on-site-disposal type medical waste sterilization system that can help to resolve the problem caused by medical waste, which has become a national and social issue as the volume of medical waste continues to increase every year. This project was launched as a basic business support program of the KIMM and was expanded into a demonstration project of Daejeon Metropolitan City. Then, in collaboration with VITALS Co., Ltd., a technology transfer corporation, the medical waste treatment system was developed as a finished product capable of processing more than 100 kilograms of medical waste per hour, and was demonstrated at the Chungnam National University Hospital.

Moreover, the installation and use of this product have been approved by the Geumgang Basin Environmental Office of the Ministry of Environment. All certification-related work for the installation and operation of this product at the Chungnam National University Hospital has been completed, including the passage of an installation test for efficiency and stability conducted by the Korea Testing Laboratory.

Through collaboration with VITALS Co., Ltd., a corporation specializing in inhalation toxicity systems, the research team led by Principal Researcher Bangwoo Han of the Department of Urban Environment Research of the KIMM’s Eco-Friendly Energy Research Division developed a high-temperature, high-pressure steam sterilization-type medical waste treatment system by using a high-temperature antimicrobial technology capable of processing biologically hazardous substances such as virus and bacteria with high efficiency. After pulverizing medical waste into small pieces so that high-temperature steam can penetrate deep into the interior of the medical waste, steam was then compressed in order to raise the boiling point of the saturated steam to over 100 degrees Celsius, thereby further improving the sterilization effect of the steam.

Meanwhile, in the case of the high-pressure steam sterilization method, it is vitally important to allow the airtight, high-temperature and high-pressure steam to penetrate deep into the medical waste. Therefore, the research team aimed to improve the sterilization effect of medical waste by increasing the contact efficiency between the pulverized medical waste and the aerosolized steam.

By using this technology, the research team succeeded in processing medical waste at a temperature of 138 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes or at 145 degrees Celsius for more than five (5) minutes, which is the world’s highest level. By doing so, the research team achieved a sterilization performance of 99.9999 percent targeting biological indicator bacteria at five (5) different locations within the sterilization chamber. This technology received certification as an NET (New Excellent Technology) in 2023.

Until now, medical waste has been sterilized by heating the exposed moisture using microwaves. However, this method requires caution because workers are likely to be exposed to electromagnetic waves and the entrance of foreign substances such as metals may lead to accidents.

In Korea, medical waste is mostly processed at exclusive medical waste incinerators and must be discharged in strict isolation from general waste. Hence, professional efforts are required to prevent the risk of infection during the transportation and incineration of medical waste, which requires a loss of cost and manpower.

If medical waste is processed directly at hospitals and converted into general waste by applying the newly developed technology, this can help to eliminate the risk of infection during the loading and transportation processes and significantly reduce waste disposal costs. By processing 30 percent of medical waste generated annually, hospitals can save costs worth KRW 71.8 billion. Moreover, it can significantly contribute to the ESG (environmental, social, and governance) management of hospitals by reducing the amount of incinerated waste and shortening the transportation distance of medical waste.

[*Allbaro System (statistical data from 2021): Unit cost of treatment for each type of waste for the calculation of performance guarantee insurance money for abandoned wastes (Ministry of Environment Public Notification No. 2021-259, amended on December 3, 2021). Amount of medical waste generated on an annual basis: 217,915 tons; Medical waste: KRW 1,397 per ton; General waste from business sites subject to incineration: KRW 299 per ton]

As the size and structure of the installation space varies for each hospital, installing a standardized commercial equipment can be a challenge. However, during the demonstration process at the Chungnam National University Hospital, the new system was developed in a way that allows the size and arrangement thereof to be easily adjusted depending on the installation site. Therefore, it can be highly advantageous in terms of on-site applicability.

Principal Researcher Bangwoo Han of the KIMM was quoted as saying, “The high-temperature, high-pressure steam sterilization technology for medical waste involves the eradication of almost all infectious bacteria in a completely sealed environment. Therefore, close cooperation with participating companies that have the capacity to develop airtight chamber technology is very important in materializing this technology.” He added, “We will make all-out efforts to expand this technology to the sterilization treatment of infected animal carcasses in the future.”

 

President Seog-Hyeon Ryu of the KIMM was quoted as saying, “The latest research outcome is significantly meaningful in that it shows the important role played by government-contributed research institutes in resolving national challenges. The latest technology, which has been developed through the KIMM’s business support program, has been expanded to a demonstration project through cooperation among the industry, academia, research institutes, and the government of Daejeon Metropolitan City.” President Ryu added, “We will continue to proactively support these regional projects and strive to develop technologies that contribute to the health and safety of the public.”

 

Meanwhile, this research was conducted with the support of the project for the “development of ultra-high performance infectious waste treatment system capable of eliminating 99.9999 percent of viruses in response to the post-coronavirus era,” one of the basic business support programs of the KIMM, as well as the project for the “demonstration and development of a safety design convergence-type high-pressure steam sterilization system for on-site treatment of medical waste,” part of Daejeon Metropolitan City’s “Daejeon-type New Convergence Industry Creation Special Zone Technology Demonstration Project.”

###

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) is a non-profit government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT. Since its foundation in 1976, KIMM is contributing to economic growth of the nation by performing R&D on key technologies in machinery and materials, conducting reliability test evaluation, and commercializing the developed products and technologies.

 

This research was conducted with the support of the project for the “development of ultra-high performance infectious waste treatment system capable of eliminating 99.9999 percent of viruses in response to the post-coronavirus era,” one of the basic business support programs of the KIMM, as well as the project for the “demonstration and development of a safety design convergence-type high-pressure steam sterilization system for on-site treatment of medical waste,” part of Daejeon Metropolitan City’s “Daejeon-type New Convergence Industry Creation Special Zone Technology Demonstration Project.”

Read More

Continue Reading

Trending