On April 4, 2017 Kancera AB (publ) has previously announced the Board’s decision to execute the company’s exclusive option to acquire the Fractalkine project from Acturum Real Estate AB after transfer of results and know-how (Press release, Kancera, APR 4, 2017, View Source [SID1234518441]). This transfer of results and know-how has now advanced to the point where a decision has been taken to complete the acquisition of the Fractalkine project from Acturum Real Estate AB. Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo! Payment for the Fractalkine project will be made through an issue in three stages of a total of 6 million shares in Kancera AB. The installments will be made as the project is developed successfully and until the first clinical study has been conducted. The first payment of 2 million shares is due when Kancera AB apply for authorization for a clinical trial.
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
About the Fractalkine project
Fractalkine is an immune regulatory factor, a so-called chemokine, that sends signals via the CX3CR1 receptor, also called G-protein coupled receptor 13 (GPCR13). The level of fractalkine and its receptor, CX3CR1 has been shown to be elevated in many inflammatory diseases, cancer and in chronic pain conditions. Kancera’s drug candidate KAND567 is the furthest developed drug candidate against CX3CR1 and has been shown to be effective against inflammation and pain in several preclinical disease models. Kancera is now preparing the project for clinical studies.
In the healthy individual, Fractalkine and its receptor, CX3CR1, regulate migration of immune cells from the blood capillary wall into areas where the immune system is needed. Animal studies show that Fractalkine’s receptor is not essential for survival and that important immune functions remain intact despite the lack of receptor.The body of research supports the overall hypothesis that CX3CR1 is more crucial to developing disease than to keeping the individual healthy. The basis for successful development of KAND567 lies in effectively addressing local inflammation while maintaining a healthy immune system.
In clinical trials, blocking of the Fractalkine system has been shown to have the desired effect against auto-immune diseases such as Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis in refractory patients. These positive studies have been conducted by the pharmaceutical company Eisai using a monoclonal antibody. The results of these studies means that the probability increases for the Kancera AB drug candidate KAND567 to achieve clinical and commercial success as the first small-molecule drug that works through the Fractalkine system to combat many common diseases.
Year: 2017
Xenetic Biosciences Reports 2016 Year End Financial Results and Provides Business Update
On April 3, 2017 Xenetic Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:XBIO) ("Xenetic" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, research and development of next-generation biologic drugs and novel orphan oncology therapeutics, reported its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2016 (Press release, Xenetic Biosciences, APR 3, 2017, View Source [SID1234537802]). The Company’s management team will host a quarterly update conference call with a live webcast on Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 8:30 AM ET for investors, analysts and other interested parties (details below).
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
Xenetic also provided an update on its license deal with Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPG), a significant stockholder of the Company, along with the clinical status of the product candidate SHP656, or PSA-Recombinant Factor VIII ("rFVIII") being developed as a long-acting therapeutic for the treatment of hemophilia utilizing Xenetic’s proprietary PolyXen platform technology. The stated goal of Shire is to introduce an innovative, modified FVIII protein with a significantly prolonged circulating half-life, with the objective of providing a once weekly treatment or reaching higher trough activity levels for greater efficacy. SHP656 is currently in a Phase 1/2 clinical study. Shire expects to report topline data from this Phase 1/2 study in the second quarter of 2017 and, if the outcome of the trial is successful, Xenetic expects Shire to launch a Phase 3 trial in 2017. Xenetic has the potential to receive from Shire up to $100 million in cash milestones plus royalties linked to sales.
Additionally, Xenetic provided an update to its corporate progress as well as clinical and regulatory status and anticipated milestones for the Company’s lead product candidate, XBIO-101 (sodium cridanimod), a small-molecule immunomodulator and interferon inducer which, in preliminary studies, has been shown to increase progesterone receptor ("PrR") expression in endometrial tumor tissue. The Company is currently preparing to commence patient recruitment in the second quarter of 2017 for a Phase 2 clinical study of XBIO-101 in conjunction with progestin therapy for the treatment of progestin resistant endometrial cancer. Xenetic also recently filed a protocol under its existing investigational new drug application ("IND") for a biomarker study of XBIO-101 in triple negative breast cancer ("TNBC").
Recent Corporate Highlights
Uplisted to the Nasdaq Capital Market;
Received a $3 million milestone payment from Shire plc related to Shire’s advancing the Phase 1/2 clinical study for SHP656 being developed as a long-acting therapeutic for the treatment of hemophilia;
Filed a protocol under its existing IND for a biomarker study of XBIO-101 for the treatment of TNBC;
Expanded its patent portfolio geographically into key markets including areas of Europe, Asia and North America and strengthened the patent portfolio in the US providing robust protection of its platform technology;
Appointed Jeffrey Eisenberg as Chief Operating Officer;
Appointed Curtis A. Lockshin, Ph.D. as Chief Scientific Officer; and
Appointed Edward J. Benz, Jr., M.D., former CEO of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, to its Board of Directors.
"Over the course of 2016 and the beginning of 2017, we have worked diligently to lay a solid foundation for the Company and as such, have positioned ourselves for what we believe will be a transformational year. The corporate achievements we’ve made, including our uplist to Nasdaq, the bolstering of both our management team with two C-level appointments as well as our board of directors and notable progress with our clinical and regulatory strategies, have enabled us to build momentum which we believe has the potential to propel Xenetic to its next stage of growth," stated M. Scott Maguire, Xenetic’s CEO.
Expected Near-Term Milestones
Commence patient recruitment in Q2 2017 for a Phase 2 clinical study of XBIO-101 in conjunction with progestin therapy for the treatment of endometrial cancer in women with recurrent or persistent disease who have failed progestin monotherapy;
Announce topline data from the Shire Phase 1/2 study of SHP656 in Q2 2017;
Receive milestone payment from Shire if endpoints are achieved in Phase 1/2 study of SHP656; and
Leverage Shire SHP656 program to enter into more industry collaborations involving the PolyXen technology.
"Moving forward, we are excited for the year ahead and remain committed to executing our strategy. We believe that our expected near term corporate and clinical advancements will unlock significant shareholder value, in both the short-term and long-term," concluded Mr. Maguire.
Summary of Financial Results for Fiscal Year 2016
Net loss for the three months ended December 31, 2016, was $0.4 million, or a net loss applicable to common stockholders of $4.4 million after accretion of beneficial conversion feature on convertible preferred stock of $4.0 million, compared to a net loss of approximately $3.6 million for the same period in 2015. The decrease in net loss was primarily related to $3.0 million of milestone revenue earned in December 2016.
Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2016, was $54.2 million, or a net loss applicable to common stockholders of $58.2 million after accretion of beneficial conversion feature on convertible preferred stock of $4.0 million, resulting in a loss per share applicable to common stockholders of $7.84, compared to a net loss of $12.5 million resulting in a loss per share applicable to common stockholders of $2.96 for the year ended December 31, 2015. The increase in net loss was primarily related to the immediate expensing of in-process research and development acquired in 2016.
The Company ended the year with approximately $4.0 million of cash.
Conference Call and Webcast Information
Xenetic management will host a conference call for investors, analysts and other interested parties on Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. ET. The conference call and live webcast will be accompanied by presentation slides.
To participate in the call, please dial (877) 407-6914 (domestic) or (201) 493-6709 (international). The live webcast and accompanying slides will be available by accessing the IR Calendar in the Investors section of Xenetic’s website (www.xeneticbio.com). A replay of the webcast will be available for 90 days, starting approximately two hours after the presentation ends.
Intrexon, ZIOPHARM and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Advancing Next-Generation Non-Viral CAR-T Platform Empowered by Membrane-Bound IL-15 Under RheoSwitch Therapeutic System® Control
On April 3, 2017 Intrexon Corporation (NYSE:XON), a leader in the engineering and industrialization of biology to improve the quality of life and health of the planet, ZIOPHARM Oncology (NASDAQ:ZIOP), a biopharmaceutical company focused on new immunotherapies, and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, reported an update on the development of next-generation chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy for cancer as part of their strategic collaboration and license agreement (Press release, Ziopharm, APR 3, 2017, View Source [SID1234518449]).
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
Intrexon and ZIOPHARM Oncology, in an exclusive partnership with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, are advancing a unique approach to develop therapeutic candidates for two CAR-T targets expressed on a wide range of tumor types, including hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.
The distinctive methodology centers on two technologies: the proprietary RheoSwitch Therapeutic System (RTS) platform to regulate expression of membrane-bound interleukin-15 (mbIL15) co-expressed with CARs and Sleeping Beauty non-viral gene integration.
"Sleeping Beauty and the RTS approach are a powerful combination to improve the manufacturing process and instill control over CAR-modified T cells co-expressing cytokines such as membrane-bound IL-15. The collaboration with Intrexon and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, has been a catalyst to progress these next-generation gene therapy technologies. We are excited by the progress and look forward to advancing this innovative approach toward the clinic in mid-2018," said Laurence Cooper, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of ZIOPHARM.
The interleukin-15 (IL-15) cytokine is increasingly recognized as a key driver of therapeutic effect in CAR-T therapy, including in a recent Journal of Clinical Oncology publication which correlated lymphoma remissions with elevated IL-15 levels. Through the RTS gene switch, the expression of mbIL15 can be regulated to help CARs target cancers in a controlled manner, thus providing a new paradigm in T-cell therapy.
Additionally, the non-viral Sleeping Beauty transposon-transposase is an exceptional system for introducing genes encoding CARs and TCRs into T cells that holds multiple advantages over viral-based delivery systems. It simplifies genetic modification, and when coupled with reduced ex vivo processing, offers a pathway to shortened manufacturing and personalized T-cell therapies.
SignalRx to Present at the AACR Annual Meeting on its First-In-Class Triple PI3K/CDK4-6/BRD4 Inhibitor SRX3177 for Treating Cancer
On April 3, 2017 SignalRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., focused on developing novel small-molecule cancer therapeutics targeting key orthogonal and synergistic oncotargets, reported the upcoming presentation of scientific data on the company’s triple PI3K/CDK4-6/BRD4 inhibitor program and first-in-class triple inhibitor SRX3177 (Press release, SignalRx, APR 3, 2017, http://www.ireachcontent.com/news-releases/signalrx-to-present-at-the-aacr-annual-meeting-on-its-first-in-class-triple-pi3kcdk4-6brd4-inhibitor-srx3177-for-treating-cancer-617971313.html [SID1234527324]). The poster presentation by Dr. Donald L. Durden, MD, PhD, senior scientific advisor for SignalRx, will be poster #LB-298 at the April 5th late breaking poster session at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
SRX3177 is developed on the rationale that concurrent PI3K inhibition can prevent resistance to CDK4/6 inhibition, and combined CDK4/6 and PI3K inhibition leads to synthetic lethality reported in a number of cancer types, including breast cancer and mantle cell lymphoma, and blocking the chromatin reader protein BRD4 downregulates MYC and cyclin D1 transcription, further promoting cell cycle arrest in G1.
The presentation will describe the discovery and early development of the molecularly designed small-molecule triple inhibitor SRX3177. Key highlights to be presented include:
SRX3177’s potent in vitro enzymatic inhibition profile (IC50: CDK4 = 2.54 nM, CDK6 = 3.26 nM; PI3Kα = 79.3 nM, PI3Kδ = 83.4 nM; BRD4-BD1 = 32.9 nM, BRD4-BD2 = 88.8 nM).
SRX3177 rational design based on thieno-pyranone scaffold and target modeling.
Up to 82-fold more potent than palbociclib in a panel of mantle cell lymphoma, neuroblastoma, and hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines.
5-Fold more potent in cancer cells than combination of BKM120 (PI3K inhibitor) + palbociclib (CDK4/6 inhibitor) + JQ1 (BRD4 inhibitor).
40-Fold less toxic to normal epithelial cells than combination of BKM120 + palbociclib + JQ1.
Cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction with proven mode of action (p-AKT, p-Rb, chromatin release).
SignalRx is also announcing that it is seeking partnering opportunities to accelerate the development of this program and its PI3K-BRD4 program to advance novel small molecules into first-in-man clinical trials based on the promising profile of its inhibitors shown so far. Since these are single molecules with a single PK/PD and toxicity profile, there is a great opportunity to develop them as single therapeutics and streamline their development in combination therapies focused on companion diagnostics built around synthetic lethality discoveries in human cancers.
Checkpoint Therapeutics Reports Preclinical Data for Two Oncology Programs
On April 4, 2017 Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc. ("Checkpoint") (OTCQX: CKPT), a Fortress Biotech (NASDAQ: FBIO) company, reported that preclinical data on its third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor ("EGFR") inhibitor, CK-101, and anti-programmed cell death ligand-1 ("PD-L1") antibody, CK-301, were presented this week in poster sessions at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting (Press release, Fortress Biotech, APR 3, 2017, View Source [SID1234518456]). The data presented strongly support the clinical development of these therapies. Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo! James F. Oliviero, President and Chief Executive Officer of Checkpoint, said, "These encouraging preclinical data demonstrate the potential of our EGFR inhibitor and anti-PD-L1 checkpoint antibody to be effective new treatment options for patients suffering from cancer. We look forward to advancing these drug candidates through the stages of clinical development, both as monotherapies as well as in combination with each other."
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
Key conclusions from the posters are as follows:
CK-101 (RX518), a Mutant-Selective Inhibitor of EGFR that Overcomes T790M-Mediated Resistance in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)
CK-101 (also known as RX518) is a novel, irreversible, orally administered EGFR kinase inhibitor that specifically targets the mutant forms of EGFR, including T790M, while exhibiting minimal activity toward the wild-type EGFR. Cell proliferation assays in human cancer cell lines in vitro, and xenograft studies conducted in mouse models of NSCLC demonstrated:
CK-101 is a potent, mutant-selective inhibitor of both the activating (exon 19 deletion) and resistance mutations (L858R / T790M double mutation).
CK-101 inhibited tumor growth as a single agent in a NSCLC model with a single activating mutation (exon 19 deletion).
CK-101 showed dose-dependent inhibition of tumor growth as a single agent in a L858R / T790M double mutant NSCLC model.
CK-101 has little inhibitory potency toward wild-type EGFR (i.e., CK-101 was more than 100-fold less potent against wild-type EGFR than against L858R / T790M double mutation).
These data supported the initiation of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in September 2016 (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02926768). The Phase 1 dose-escalation portion is ongoing, and Checkpoint expects to initiate the Phase 2 portion in patients with EGFR T790M mutation‐positive NSCLC cancer in the second half of 2017.
Preclinical Characterization of a Novel Fully Human IgG1 Anti-PD-L1 mAb CK-301
Based on the various assays performed, the poster concluded:
CK-301 is a high affinity PD-L1 specific fully humanized lgG1 antibody which blocks binding of PD-L1 to PD-1.
Activity of CK-301 in all assays tested was similar to anti-PD-L1’s used as active controls (surrogates of avelumab, atezolizumab or durvalumab).
Similar to the approved anti-PD-L1, avelumab, CK-301 has the potential to induce ADCC (antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity).
A first-in-human Phase 1 study of CK-301 is planned to commence this year.
The posters are available on the Publications page within the Pipeline section of Checkpoint’s website,
www.checkpointtx.com.