Less than a week into 2023, and we already have a biotech name change as PsiOxus Therapeutics becomes Akamis Bio.
And what a name change it is. The new name is derived from Akamas, which comes from Greek myth and is said to be one of the warriors hiding in the fabled Trojan Horse that helped the Greeks attack Troy from inside the city’s otherwise impenetrable walls.
That name is also for good reason, coming from the biotech’s so-called Trojan Horse mechanism of action of its T-SIGn therapeutics, according to its press release. These drugs are designed to infiltrate solid tumor cells and allow the immune system to attack the tumor.
The biotech has launched a new website for the name change, which comes after it hired a new CEO last year in Howard Davis, Ph.D., and moved into its new U.S. operations in Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“Over the last several years, we have undergone an incredible transformation as a company, and our new name reinforces this evolution and our focused commitment to oncology drug development,” said Davis in the release.
This continues the trend we saw in the last quarter of 2022 where a slew of biopharmas renamed and rebranded, including CytRx, Respira, Adagio and Bone Therapeutics, with many coming as a result of difficult times and the need for a corporate reset.