On March 19, 2019 Nurix Therapeutics, Inc., a private company discovering drugs that harness the body’s natural process to control protein levels, reported an upcoming oral presentation at the 2019 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting from March 29 – April 3, 2019 at the Georgia World Conference Center in Atlanta, Georgia (Press release, Nurix Therapeutics, MAR 19, 2019, View Source [SID1234534497]).

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ORAL PRESENTATION DETAILS
Presentation Title: Genetic and pharmacologic evaluation of the ubiquitin ligase CBL-B as a small-molecule, tumor immunotherapy target
Session Category: Experimental and Molecular Therapeutics
Session Title: Preclinical Drug Development
Date: Monday, April 1, 2019
Time: 3:50 p.m.-4:05 p.m. EDT
Location: Georgia World Conference Center, Room B206

On March 19, 2019 Cellectar Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLRB), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of drugs for the treatment of cancer, reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted an exemption to the Import Alert placed on the Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization (CPDC) for the use of CLR 131 in connection with the company’s pediatric IND (Press release, Cellectar Biosciences, MAR 19, 2019, View Source [SID1234534493]). This exemption will allow Cellectar to immediately begin enrolling patients in its Phase 1 pediatric study for the treatment of select relapsed or refractory solid tumors including neuroblastoma, lymphomas and malignant brain tumors.

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Cellectar is already enrolling patients in its Phase 1 and Phase 2 multiple myeloma and select B-cell lymphoma studies of CLR 131 after having received FDA exemption to the CPDC Import Alert in November 2018 for its hematology IND.

"We are grateful that the FDA has granted this additional exemption for CLR 131, which allows us to immediately initiate our pediatric clinical study in children battling life-threatening cancers," said James Caruso, president and CEO of Cellectar. "These patients have a very poor prognosis and low rates of survival as a result of limited effective treatment options. Based on our preclinical and ongoing clinical studies, we are optimistic that CLR 131 has the potential to provide a meaningful treatment option for children suffering from cancers with high unmet medical needs."

About the Phase 1 Pediatric Study of CLR 131

The Phase 1 pediatric study will be an open-label, sequential-group, dose-escalation study to evaluate the safety and tolerability of a single intravenous administration of CLR 131 in up to 30 children and adolescents with cancers, including neuroblastoma, sarcomas, lymphomas (including Hodgkin’s lymphoma) and malignant brain tumors. Secondary objectives of the study are to identify the recommended Phase 2 dose of CLR 131 and to determine preliminary antitumor activity (treatment response) of CLR 131 in children and adolescents. We plan to initiate this Phase 1 study at 5-7 pediatric cancer centers, within and possibly outside the US.

About CLR 131

CLR 131 is a small-molecule, cancer-targeting radiotherapeutic PDC designed to deliver cytotoxic radiation directly and selectively to cancer cells and cancer stem cells. CLR 131 is our lead therapeutic PDC product candidate and is currently being evaluated in both Phase 2 and Phase 1 clinical studies. In December 2014, the FDA granted orphan drug designation for CLR 131 for the treatment of multiple myeloma. In 2018, the FDA granted orphan drug and rare pediatric disease designations for CLR 131 for the treatment of neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, Ewing’s sarcoma and osteosarcoma. The FDA previously accepted our IND application for a Phase 1 open-label, dose-escalating study to evaluate the safety and tolerability of a single intravenous administration of CLR 131 in up to 30 children and adolescents with cancers including neuroblastoma, sarcomas, lymphomas (including Hodgkin’s lymphoma) and malignant brain tumors

On March 19, 2019 DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: DMAC), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel treatments for kidney diseases and neurological disorders, reported its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2018 (Press release, DiaMedica, MAR 19, 2019, View Source [SID1234534492]).

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Business Highlights

"In the past year, DiaMedica has achieved important development goals for our two lead programs, DM199 for chronic kidney disease and acute ischemic stroke. We expect to build upon this success in 2019 as we work toward advancing our pipeline of clinical programs, which hold the potential to have significant impact on patients suffering from chronic kidney disease and acute ischemic stroke," stated Rick Pauls, DiaMedica’s President and CEO. "After our successful Nasdaq IPO in December, we have sufficient capital to obtain Phase II read-outs in our two lead programs. We are well positioned to execute on our clinical development plans to achieve meaningful milestones in the next year, and we look forward to sharing our progress."

U.S. IPO, Nasdaq Uplisting and U.S. Reporting Company

On December 6, 2018, DiaMedica completed an initial public offering ("IPO") of its common shares in the United States and uplisted to the Nasdaq Capital Market, raising $16.4 million in gross proceeds and $14.7 million in net proceeds. This was an important milestone for DiaMedica that expanded its investor base, adding several U.S. institutional investors, and strengthened its balance sheet. The IPO also provided the capital to complete Phase II clinical trials for DM199 in patients suffering acute ischemic strokes ("AIS") and chronic kidney disease ("CKD").

License of DM199 with Ahon Pharma, subsidiary of Fosun Pharma.

In September 2018, DiaMedica signed a license and collaboration agreement with Fosun Pharma’s Ahon Pharma subsidiary for acute ischemic stroke in China. Fosun is one of the largest Chinese pharmaceutical firms with an extensive hospital sales force. The agreement provides exclusive rights to clinically develop and commercialize DM199 solely for acute ischemic stroke in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Under the terms of the agreement, DiaMedica may receive approximately $32 million in milestone payments, plus sales-based royalties of up to approximately 10%. In addition, DiaMedica has retained full control over the manufacturing of DM199. Ahon Pharma is currently preparing an application for an investigational new drug application to the China National Medical Products Administration. In China, a form of the KLK1 protein extracted from human urine, known as u-KLK1 or Kailikang, has been approved and is considered a standard of care for AIS patients.

Clinical Developments

DM199 for the Treatment of Chronic Kidney Disease

Enrolling Patients in Phase Ib Clinical Study in Patients with CKD

In December 2018, the United States Food & Drug Administration ("FDA") accepted DiaMedica’s investigational new drug ("IND") application to study DM199 in patients with CKD. In February 2019, the Company began enrolling patients in its Phase Ib clinical study, which is being conducted at 3 sites in the U.S. and all sites are actively enrolling patients. The open label clinical trial is evaluating three dose levels of DM199, administered in a single subcutaneous ("SC") dose, in 32 patients with moderate or severe CKD. Primary endpoints include safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, change in KLK1 levels, albumin to creatine ratios and kidney biomarkers measured over a 12-day period. This study is intended to assist in identifying dose levels for use in subsequent Phase II trials. The Company expects a readout on the results of the CKD study in mid-2019.

Released Chronic Kidney Disease White Paper

Today, DiaMedica also released a white paper that further details the potential of KLK1/DM199 to treat patients with chronic kidney disease. The paper can be accessed at www.diamedica.com/product-candidates/chronic-kidney-disease.

DiaMedica is currently planning a randomized Phase II study in patients with rare forms of chronic kidney disease to be initiated in the second half of 2019. The Company will have updates on the rare forms to be targeted in this study and other details to follow.

DM199 for the Treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke

DM199 Acute Ischemic Stroke Phase II "REMEDY" Trial Update.

In 2018, the Company initiated treatment of patients in its Phase II randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multi-center evaluation to assess the safety, tolerability and markers of DM199 in acute ischemic stroke patients, the REMEDY trial. With the success of its IPO, DiaMedica raised its target enrollment in the REMEDY trial from 60 to approximately 100 patients to provide additional data to support the design of a robust and efficient Phase III study. In this trial, the study drug (DM199 or placebo) is administered as an intravenous ("IV") infusion within 24 hours of stroke symptom onset, followed by SC injections later that day and once every 3 days for 21 days (8 SC doses). Multiple plasma-based biomarkers (e.g. C-reactive protein), the Modified Rankin Scale, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and the Barthel Index will be assessed at multiple points throughout the study, including 90 days post-stroke. This study will also include multiple tests to investigate DM199’s therapeutic potential. With the increase in the enrollment target, the Company expects to complete this trial in the fourth quarter of 2019 or first quarter of 2020.

AIS Review Paper Supporting the Use of DM199 for AIS Published in Peer-Reviewed Journal

On January 22, 2019, DiaMedica announced that a manuscript titled "Human Tissue Kallikrein in the Treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke" was published in the peer-reviewed medical journal "Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders (TAND)." The paper reviews the scientific literature covering the biochemical role of KLK1 and presents the mechanistic rationale for using KLK1 as an additional pharmacological treatment for AIS. In addition to the biochemical mechanism of KLK1, the paper highlights supporting results from human genetics and preclinical animal models of brain ischemia. It also reviews published clinical results for treatment of AIS by a form of KLK1 that is isolated from human urine. This form has been approved for post-infarct treatment of AIS in China and data has been published on clinical trials involving over 4,000 patients. The paper offers a series of testable therapeutic hypotheses for demonstrating the long-term beneficial effect of KLK1 treatment in AIS patients and the reasons for this action.

Financial Results

License revenue for 2018 was comprised of the initial $500,000 license payment DiaMedica received in connection with the license and collaboration agreement with Ahon Pharma.

Research and development expenses were $4.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to $3.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, an increase of $1.3 million. The increase was primarily due to the additional preclinical testing and related costs required to support an application for an investigational new drug application in the United States, higher study costs for the REMEDY Phase II stroke study as compared with the DM199 bridging study which was substantially completed in 2017, and increased personnel and non-cash stock-based compensation costs.

General and administrative expenses were $2.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to $1.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. General and administrative costs increased due to one-time costs incurred associated with the Company’s planned IPO in the United States, primarily the Nasdaq listing process and related legal and accounting fees. Higher salaries, fees and short-term benefits due to the addition of staff and higher share-based compensation also contributed to the increase during 2018.

Other income, net, was $1.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to $259,000 for 2017. The increase resulted primarily from the recognition of the research and development incentive from the Australia Government paid for qualifying research work performed by DiaMedica Australia. This increase was partially offset by increased foreign currency transaction losses.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

Total cash resources were $16.8 million as of December 31, 2018, compared to $1.4 million as of December 31, 2017. Total current assets were $18.0 million and $1.5 million as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively. These increases resulted primarily from net proceeds of $20.6 million received from the sale of common shares and warrants during 2018, partially offset by the use of cash to fund operations in the current year,

Current liabilities increased to $1.3 million as of December 31, 2018, compared to $1.0 million as of December 31, 2017. The increase in current liabilities resulted primarily from the increase in costs accrued related to clinical trials.

Net cash used in operating activities was $5.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, up from $3.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. The net cash used in each of these periods primarily reflects the net loss for these periods, and was partially offset by non-cash charges for stock-based compensation and the net effects of changes in operating assets and liabilities.

Conference Call Information

DiaMedica management will host a conference call to discuss these results on Wednesday March 20, 2019, at 8:00 a.m. Central Time:

Date:

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Time:

8:00 AM CT

Web access:

View Source

Dial In:

(866) 962-3583 (domestic)

(630) 652-5857 (international)

Conference ID:

6773627

Listeners should log on to the website or dial in 15 minutes prior to the call. The webcast will remain available for play back on our website, under investor events and presentations, following the earnings call and for 12 months thereafter. A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available until March 28, 2019, by dialing 1(855) 859-2056 (US Toll Free Dial In), (404) 537-3406 (international), replay passcode 6773627.

About DM199

DM199 is a recombinant (synthetic) form of the human serine protease, KLK1. The KLK1 protein plays an important role in the regulation of diverse physiological processes including blood flow, inflammation, fibrosis, oxidative stress and neurogenesis via a molecular mechanism that increases production of nitric oxide and prostacyclin. KLK1 deficiency may play a role in multiple vascular and fibrotic diseases such as chronic kidney disease, retinopathy, stroke, vascular dementia, and resistant hypertension where current treatment options are limited or ineffective. DiaMedica is the first company to have developed a recombinant form of the KLK1 protein. The KLK1 protein, produced from porcine pancreas and human urine, has been used to treat patients in Japan, China and Korea for decades. DM199 is currently being studied in patients with acute ischemic stroke and patients with chronic kidney disease.

On March 19, 2019 Context Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on hormone driven cancers, reported it will present at the following upcoming investor conferences (Press release, Context Therapeutics, MAR 19, 2019, View Source [SID1234534482]).

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Needham and Company 18th Annual Health Care Conference in New York City on Tuesday, April 9, 2019 at 2:30 p.m. ET.

On March 19, 2019 TESARO, an oncology-focused business acquired by GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK), reported the presentation of data from the Phase 1/2 GARNET study evaluating dostarlimab in women with recurrent or advanced endometrial cancer who progressed on or after a platinum-based regimen (Press release, GlaxoSmithKline, MAR 19, 2019, View Source [SID1234534481]). These data were presented at the 2019 Society for Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer in Honolulu, Hawaii. The preliminary results demonstrate clinically meaningful and durable response rates of dostarlimab (anti-PD-1 antibody, formerly TSR-042), in this patient population, regardless of microsatellite instability status. In addition, the safety findings indicate that dostarlimab is well tolerated with a safety profile consistent with what is expected of anti-PD-1 therapy.

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Further data from the GARNET study will be analysed using the RECIST 1.1 criteria to support regulatory filing for dostarlimab in endometrial cancer at the end of 2019.

Mary Lynne Hedley, Ph.D., President and Chief Operating Officer of TESARO, said, "Currently, treatment options for women with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer are limited, with only one FDA-approved agent for a subset of these patients. We intend to use these and other data from the GARNET study to seek regulatory approval of dostarlimab to potentially address the critical unmet treatment needs of women whose disease has progressed. The data presented today evaluating dostarlimab in women with recurrent/advanced endometrial cancer, combined with earlier data in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, reinforces the potential of dostarlimab in treating patients with a variety of solid tumours."

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynaecologic malignancy in the U.S. There are limited treatment options for women whose disease progresses on or after first-line therapy. EC can be classified as microsatellite stable (MSS/75%) or microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H/25%). Currently, there is only one approved therapy in the recurrent EC setting for the subset of patients with MSI-H tumours, and no approved treatments for patients with MSS EC who have recurred after platinum-based chemotherapy.

Key Study Findings
A total of 125 patients were analysed including 41 MSI-H (33%), and 79 MSS (63%) patients, as well as 5 with an unknown MSI-status (4%). Dostarlimab was dosed at 500 mg once every 3 weeks for 4 doses, followed by 1000 mg once every 6 weeks until disease progression.

Determination of MSI status was made based upon a central test using next generation sequencing (NGS). Treatment with dostarlimab monotherapy resulted in a clinically meaningful response rate in recurrent or advanced EC who progressed on or after a platinum-based regimen, regardless of MSI status. Overall response rates by irRECIST in the full population, MSI-H population, and MSS population were 30%, 49%, and 20%, respectively. Disease control rate in the full population, MSI-H population, and MSS population was 53%, 63% and 47%, respectively.

At the time of data cutoff, treatment was still ongoing in 84% of responders, with 89% of the responders (33 of 37) having been on treatment for more than six months and 49% of responders (18 of 37) having been on treatment for more than one year. Durability of response was similar between the MSI-H and MSS cohorts. The median duration of response (DOR) has not yet been reached. All responses were assessed using irRECIST criteria.

The data show that 88 out of 125 (70.4%) patients had at least 1 treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE). The most commonly reported TEAEs related to dostarlimab were fatigue (14.4%), diarrhea (12.8%), and nausea (12.0%). In general, adverse events were low grade, with only 13.6% of patients experiencing grade 3 or higher adverse events. No deaths occurred due to a treatment-related adverse event. In total, 5.6% of all patients experienced a grade 3 or higher immune related, treatment-related adverse event.

About GARNET
The ongoing Phase 1/2 GARNET trial is evaluating dostarlimab as monotherapy in patients with advanced solid tumours. GARNET included a weight-based dose escalation study (Part 1) and a fixed-dose safety study (Part 2A), both of which have been completed. Results of these studies were used to determine the recommended Phase 2 dose (RP2D; 500 mg Q3W for the first 4 cycles then 1000 mg Q6W). Part 2B of the study includes four expansion cohorts: MSI-H endometrial cancer, MSI-H non-endometrial cancer, MSS endometrial cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Data from the NSCLC cohort have been previously presented at Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) in 2018.

About dostarlimab
Dostarlimab (TSR-042) is an investigational humanized anti-programmed death (PD)-1 monoclonal antibody that binds with high affinity to the PD-1 receptor and effectively blocks its interaction with the ligands PD-L1 and PD-L2. If approved, dostarlimab would be the first anti PD-1 therapy administered as monotherapy every 3 weeks for 4 doses then every 6 weeks thereafter. Dostarlimab was developed as part of a collaboration between TESARO and AnaptysBio, Inc. This collaboration was initiated in March of 2014, and is focused on the development of monospecific antibody drugs targeting PD-1, TIM-3 (TSR-022), and LAG-3 (TSR-033), in addition to a bi-specific antibody drug candidate targeting PD-1/LAG-3 (TSR-075).

Dostarlimab is not currently approved for use anywhere in the world.