Florida is currently home to the nation’s second largest medical device manufacturing industry, second largest pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, and fourth largest biotechnology R&D industry, making it a major science center for life in the US So, in this article, with more than 2,300 businesses operating within the life sciences industry in Florida as a whole, we look at five companies that are helping to grow the state’s biotech scene.
AIM ImmunoTech
AIM ImmunoTech focuses on the research and development of therapies for the treatment of multiple cancers, immune disorders and viral diseases. The company’s lead product is a first-in-class investigational drug called Ampligen, which is a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and broad-spectrum, highly selective TLR3 agonist immunomodulator.
Ampligen is currently being used to treat patients with pancreatic cancer in an Early Access Program (EAP) approved by the Dutch Health Inspectorate at the Erasmus Medical Center, and AIM has started a phase 2 clinical trial in locally advanced pancreatic cancer. On January 10, it was also announced that enrollment is now open at Erasmus Medical Center in a phase 1b/2 clinical trial combining Ampligen with AstraZeneca’s anti-PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor Imfinzi for the treatment of metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
Additionally, Ampligen is approved in Argentina for the treatment of severe chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and is currently being evaluated in multiple aspects of COVID-19 myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and post-Covid conditions.
Immunity Bio
ImmunityBio develops next-generation therapies and vaccines that work by strengthening the natural immune system to defeat both cancer and infectious diseases. The company’s range of immunotherapy and cell therapy platforms are designed to stimulate and sustain an immune response to create durable and safe protection against disease.
N-803 (Anktiva) is the company’s lead drug candidate. It is an interleukin-15 superagonist fusion protein designed to induce expansion of natural NK and CD8+ T cells without concomitant stimulation of T regulatory cells. The cytokine interleukin-15 plays a critical role in the immune system by influencing the development, maintenance, and function of natural killer (NK) and T cells.
On Jan. 2, the Florida biotech company announced that it has received up to $320 million in financing and equity investment from Oberland Capital. This provided ImmunityBio with significant financial resources to accelerate its commercialization efforts pending potential regulatory approval as well as expand its pipeline within the broader urologic cancer space. Proceeds will also be used to fund ongoing business operations and clinical trials expanding N-803’s indications to multiple solid tumors.
Longveron
Based in Miami, Florida, Longeveron is a biotechnology company specializing in the development of cell therapies for life-threatening and chronic aging-related conditions. The company believes that by using the same cells that promote tissue repair, organ maintenance and immune system function, it can develop safe and effective therapies for some of the most challenging diseases and conditions associated with aging.
Longeveron’s lead investigational candidate is called Lomecel-B, which is derived from culture-expanded medical signaling cells (MSCs) that originate from the bone marrow of young healthy adult donors. The company is currently conducting Phase 1 and 2 trials for frailty in aging, Alzheimer’s disease, metabolic syndrome, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS).
In December 2023, the company announced additional positive clinical data and imaging biomarker results from its Phase 2a trial of Lomecel-B in the treatment of mild Alzheimer’s disease. Shortly thereafter, the company also announced that it had closed a $2.36 million registered direct offering.
Myosin therapy
Focused on developing new drugs that target cellular motor proteins – which are specialized molecular machines that convert energy into mechanical work inside cells – Myosin Therapeutics’ mission is to address critical unmet medical needs by developing therapies that target myosin, that go beyond symptom relief to directly targeting the root causes of diseases. Currently, her main focus is on the development of therapies for central nervous system (CNS) and oncology indications.
One of Myosin’s lead compounds, MT-125, is for the treatment of glioblastoma. In early models, MT-125 has shown that it can simultaneously stop cancer cells from dividing and migrating, and therefore could be a first-in-class therapy. Meanwhile, its other lead compound, MT-110, is for stimulant use disorders such as meth and cocaine use disorder.
Last year, the Florida biotech announced that it had supplemented its funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with a seed round of funding to advance the company’s lead programs in glioblastoma and stimulant use disorder. Myosin said the funding should allow it to reach an IND submission for MT-125 as well as take MT-110 through Phase 1 clinical trials.
Psilera
Psilera believes nature holds the keys to the future of mental health therapy as it focuses on combining compounds that already exist in nature with the latest AI screening technology to create patient-centered neurological therapies .
The company specifically intends to produce non-hallucinogenic drugs. This is because he believes that by removing the hallucinogenic properties of drugs such as LSD, MDMA and psilocybin (better known as magic mushrooms), he hopes to also remove the unpleasant side effects and create more affordable versions of psychedelic neurotherapeutic drugs.
In May 2023, Psilera announced that it had selected its lead clinical candidate, called PSIL-006. The drug is derived from the internal discovery pipeline of Psilera and has similar characteristics to psilocybin, but lacks the hallucinogenic effects. When compared directly in preclinical in vivo studies, PSIL-006 was able to induce rapid and positive changes in behavior representative of alcohol use disorder (AUD), anxiety, depression, and cognitive impairment similar to psilacetin, a psilocybin mimetic. .
Florida’s biotech scene: a hub of innovation featuring leading companies
Florida is not only a leading life sciences center in its own right, but also has a number of specific centers in the state, such as Alachua and Jupiter. In fact, at the height of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Alachua’s biotech industry contributed more than $1 billion to the local economy, aided by the University of Florida’s business incubator program, which helps spur innovation in the state. In addition, Momentum Labs was established in Alachua, specifically providing biotech companies with laboratory space, business resources and capital to advance their technologies.
For this reason, many biotech startups are beginning to form in Florida. And while innovation in the state still doesn’t match other major U.S. hubs — like San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, North Carolina, or New York — several companies seem to be succeeding in advancing their clinical candidates, as evidenced by the list in this article .
