WESTCHESTER COUNTY BIOSCIENCES UPDATE
Featuring news, events and industry trends
Prevent Blindness and Regeneron Unite to Help Save Eyesight through the "Diabetes and the Eyes" Program

Prevent Blindness, the nation's oldest voluntary eye health and safety organization, and Tarrytown headquartered, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., are uniting to increase education on the impact diabetes can have on vision and eye health through an expanded "Diabetes and the Eyes" program. With the support of Regeneron, the program will now include a video series relevant for both English and Spanish speakers, community-level health education and support, and refreshed materials to increase awareness of diabetes' impact on vision.

Diabetes is one of the leading causes of vision loss and blindness in the nation due to the damage the disease can cause in eyes even before visual symptoms are noticeable. According to the 2022 National Diabetes Statistics Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 37.3 million Americans have diabetes, and 23% of those people are unaware of their condition, which is an alarming statistic indicating nearly a quarter of people with diabetes are unaware of their risk for developing diabetes-related visual impairment.

For more information on the "Diabetes and the Eyes" program, please visit https://www.preventblindness.org/diabetes-and-eyes-educational-toolkit. For general diabetes information, visit http://preventblindness.org/diabetes
Cognition Therapeutics to Present Preclinical Results Demonstrating Therapeutic Potential for Sigma-2 Receptor Modulators in Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Cognition Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage neuroscience company in Purchase that is developing drugs that treat age-related degenerative diseases of the central nervous system and retina, will be presenting a poster at the annual meeting of The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) summarizing preclinical results showing that sigma-2 (σ-2) receptor modulators protect RPE cells and normalize key homeostatic processes disrupted in dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD). Cognition plans to initiate a Phase 2 clinical study for CT1812, the company’s lead σ-2 receptor modulator, in patients with dry AMD.
Westchester County Biosciences Accelerator
Announces 2022 Pitch Day

Mark your calendars for May 12 & May 13 to meet the 12 startups in our Biosciences Accelerator! Network with the bioscience community and enjoy pitches from the the 2022 Westchester County Biosciences Accelerator (WCBA) and the 2022 Accelerator for Biosciences in CT (ABCT) Cohorts. Join either in-person or virtually to show support for this year’s cohort of talented entrepreneurs. Click here to register.
Sapience Therapeutics Receives FDA Orphan Drug Designation for ST101 for the Treatment of Advanced Melanoma

Sapience Therapeutics, Inc. recently announced that the FDA has granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) to its lead program, ST101, for the treatment of advanced melanoma for patients in stages IIB through IV. This is the third orphan drug designation received for the ST101 program, following orphan designations by the FDA for the treatment of AML in April 2018 and for glioma in June 2020.

ST101 is a first-in-class peptide antagonist of C/EBPβ currently being evaluated in the Phase 2 portion of an ongoing Phase 1-2 clinical study in patients with advanced unresectable and metastatic solid tumors that are refractory to standard therapy (NCT04478279). This study includes expansion cohorts that are currently dosing and enrolling patients with GBM, cutaneous melanoma, locally advanced or metastatic hormone-receptor positive breast cancer and castration-resistant prostate cancer.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Future of Tri-State Life Sciences – Leading Developments, Policy, Funding & Designing Class-A Facilities

Date: May 12
Time 8:00 am
Registration fee ($149) and attendee information
Burke Neurological Institute Hosts Hope for Stroke:
2022 McDowell Symposium & Awards

Date: May 20
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

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