LONDON – In the largest-ever series A for a Spanish biotech, Splicebio S.L. has raised €50 million (US$56.9 million) to apply its protein splicing technology to the delivery of large genes that do not fit into existing vectors. The company claims its approach will overcome the capacity constraints of adeno-associated viral vectors (AAVs), by splitting genes into parcels and reconstituting the proteins they express in vivo.
Researchers from the State University of New York at Albany have identified small molecules that could inhibit intein self-splicing from the protein PrP8 in the fungal pathogens Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii, emerging pathogens that can cause fungal meningitis in immunocompromised patients.