Synlogic Appoints Dr. Aoife Brennan as President and Chief Executive Officer

On October 2, 2018 Synlogic, Inc. (Nasdaq: SYBX), a clinical stage company applying synthetic biology to probiotics to develop novel, living medicines, reported the appointment of Aoife Brennan, M.B., B.Ch., as president and chief executive officer of Synlogic, effective immediately (Press release, Synlogic, OCT 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234529712]). Dr. Brennan joined Synlogic as chief medical officer in 2016 and has served as interim president and chief executive officer since May 2018.

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!

"After conducting a thorough search process, it was clear to the board of directors that Aoife is the right person to lead Synlogic at this time in the company’s evolution," said Peter Barrett, chairman of Synlogic’s board of directors. "Aoife stepped into the interim role and rapidly demonstrated her effectiveness. Her broad experience across multiple stages of drug development and therapeutic areas, her demonstrated leadership abilities, and her ambitious vision for Synlogic, make her uniquely qualified for the job. We are confident that under her leadership, Synlogic will be well-positioned to deliver Synthetic Biotic medicines to patients."

"I appreciate the confidence and support of the board of directors and am thrilled to be selected to lead Synlogic as we pioneer the development of a completely new class of living medicines," said Dr. Brennan. "We have made great progress to date, advancing two Synthetic BioticTM programs into the clinic. I look forward to continuing to execute on our plans for the clinical development of our lead candidates while capitalizing on the broad applicability and potential of our novel platform to build a pipeline of therapies for patients with serious and life-threatening diseases."

Prior to joining Synlogic, Dr. Brennan spent six years at Biogen in roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as vice president and head of the Rare Disease Innovation Unit, which included programs ranging from pre-clinical to commercial. She has also led programs across multiple therapeutic areas including the late-phase development of nusinersen for spinal muscular atrophy and treatments for Hemophilia B and Hemophilia A, ALPROLIX and ELOCTATE. Earlier, Dr. Brennan was director of clinical development at Tolerx, a start-up biotech company focused on immunotherapy for Type 1 diabetes. Dr. Brennan holds a medical degree from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and completed her post-graduate training in internal medicine, endocrinology and metabolism at the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland. Additionally, she completed post-doctoral training in clinical research and metabolism at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and is a graduate of the Harvard Medical School Scholars in Clinical Science Program.

PharmAbcine Announces FDA Accepts IND Application of TTAC-0001 for the Treatment of Recurrent Glioblastoma

On October 2, 2018 PharmAbcine, Inc, a clinical-stage biotech company developing novel antibody therapeutics for multiple cancer indications reported that the company received "Study May Proceed Letter " from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Investigational New Drug ("IND") application of its flagship antibody, TTAC-0001 (Press release, PharmAbcine, OCT 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234529710]). This enables the Company to begin opening US clinical trial sites for phase II clinical trial with bevacizumab (Avastin) refractory recurrent GBM patients.

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!

Recurrence of GBM is inevitable and recurrent GBM (rGBM) is one of the most aggressive and has the worst prognosis. The treatment options are limited with modest activity for rGBM. Therefore, there is no universally held standard of care available till now.

Patients with rGBM are suffering under cerebral edema and partially responded to bevacizumab. However, patients responded to bevacizumab ultimately become non-responder during the treatment and once patients become bevacizumab non-responder, unfortunately, there are no more therapeutic options.

Cerebral edema comes from excessive secretion of VEGF-A, B, C and D from brain tumors. While bevacizumab traps VEGF-A only, TTAC-0001 binds to VEGFR2 specifically and interferes the activation of VEGFR2 by VEGF-A, C and D.

TTAC-0001 has completed its phase IIa in recurrent GBM in Australia last year with clear safety profile (all DAE maintain within grade 2) and 25% disease control rate. rGBM patients in the study responded to TTAC-0001 for cerebral edema (>40%). No hypertension, hemorrhage, gastric/lung perforation or proteinuria have been observed.

Jin-San Yoo, CEO of PharmAbcine, Inc., commented: "As part of the study design, it was always planned that US trial sites would become part of our Bevacizumab refractory recurrent GBM Phase II clinical trial. We are pleased with today’s IND approval from the FDA as it will accelerate patient enrolment into the global bevacizumab recurrent GBM phase II trial. Moreover, the FDA’s decision is positive news for eligible American sufferers under this devastating condition who can now participate in the study."

This research was supported by Korea Drug Development Fund (KDDF) funded by MSIT, MOTIE and MOHW (Grant No. KDDF201509-07, Republic of Korea)

MEDIGENE PARTICIPATES AT FOUR CONFERENCES IN OCTOBER

On October 2, 2018 Medigene AG (FSE: MDG1, Prime Standard, SDAX) reported its participation at the following upcoming investor and scientific conferences (Press release, MediGene, OCT 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234529709]):

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!

Fourth CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference (CIMT) (Free CIMT Whitepaper)
Date: 30 September – 03 October 2018
Location: New York, USA

European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT) Annual Congress
Date: 16 – 19 October 2018
Location: Lausanne, Switzerland

ESMO – European Society for Medical Oncology Congress
Date: 19 – 23 October 2018
Location: Munich, Germany

BTIG Healthcare Conference
Date: 25 October 2018
Location: New York, USA

Medigene AG (FSE: MDG1, ISIN DE000A1X3W00, Prime Standard, SDAX) is a publicly listed biotechnology company headquartered in Martinsried near Munich, Germany. The company is developing highly innovative immunotherapies to target various forms and stages of cancer. Medigene concentrates on the development of personalized T cell-based therapies, with associated projects currently in pre-clinical and clinical development.

PIERIS PHARMACEUTICALS TO PRESENT PRECLINICAL DATA FOR 4-1BB/PD-L1 BISPECIFIC PRS-344/ONC0055 AT THE SOCIETY FOR IMMUNOTHERAPY OF CANCER (SITC) ANNUAL MEETING

On October 2, 2018 Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PIRS), a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing novel biotherapeutics through its proprietary Anticalin technology platform for cancer, respiratory and other diseases, reported that preclinical data for PRS-344/ONC0055 will be presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. PRS-344/ONC0055 is one of currently five programs Pieris is developing as part of its immuno-oncology collaboration with Servier.

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!

Presentation Details

Title: Simultaneous costimulatory T-cell engagement and checkpoint inhibition by PRS-344/ONC0055, a 4-1BB / PD-L1 bispecific compound for tumor localized activation of the immune system
Poster Number: P375
Date/Time: Friday, November 9, 2018, 8 AM – 8 PM EDT and Saturday, November 10, 2018, 8 AM – 8:30 PM EDT
Location: Hall E, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC

The poster will be made available on the Publications section of the Company’s website at www.pieris.com.

BioInvent presents slow-eliminating checkpoint blocking antibody for tumor directed oncoviral immunotherapy at the SITC conference

On October 2, 2018 BioInvent International AB (OMXS: BINV) reported that the company will present two posters together with its transgender for a new checkpoint blocking antibody optimized for slow elimination and its targeted oncolytic virus vector at Society for the Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper)s (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) annual meeting that will be held November 7-11 in Washington DC (USA) (Press release, BioInvent, OCT 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234529707]). The anti-CTLA-4 antibody encoding oncolytic virus product candidate is developed for tumor localized cancer immunotherapy.

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!

Generation and characterization of a CTLA-4 antibody with improved Fc γ R -dependent Treg deletion of tumor microenvironment-targeted oncolytic virotherapy of cancer

Author: Monika Semmrich, Jean-Baptiste Marchand, Petra Holmkvist, Linda Mårtensson, Ulla-Carin Tornberg, Laetitia Fend, Mathilda Kovacek, Ulla-Carin Tornberg, Ingrid Teige, Andre McAllister, Eric Quéméneur, Björn Frendéus.
Poster number: P602
Antibody-armed oncolytic vaccinia virus to block immunosuppressive pathways in the tumor microenvironment

Author: Jean-Baptiste Marchand, Monika Semmrich, Laetitia Fend, Ulla-Carin Tornberg, Nathalie Silvestre, Björn Frendéus, Eric Quéméneur
Poster number: P615
The posters will be shown on Friday and Saturday, November 9-10 in the poster (hall E).

Björn Frendéus, BioInvents Chief Scientific Officer, said: "We are pleased to announce a potentially safe and more effective strategy for combining anti-CTLA 4 and anti-PD-1 / PDL1 checkpoint inhibition in oncolytic viral therapy. By building on the extensive clinical validation of checkpoint blockers, onkoviral tumor localized administration of our monoclonal antibody optimized for slow elimination potential has improved the therapeutic window for CLTA-4 targeted checkpoint intervention, enabling a better tolerated and more effective combination therapy with approved antibodies directed against the PD-1 / PD-L1 axis. "