On December 19, 2019 FORMA Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on rare hematologic diseases and cancers, reported the closing of $100 million Series D financing (Press release, Forma Therapeutics, DEC 19, 2019, View Source [SID1234552504]). The financing was led by RA Capital Management, with participation from Cormorant Asset Management, Wellington Management, Samsara BioCapital and funds managed by Janus Henderson Investors, as well as an undisclosed healthcare investment fund.

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"This financing reflects our sharpened focus on serving patients with rare hematologic diseases and cancers," said Frank Lee, chief executive officer of FORMA Therapeutics. "In the last month, we have presented important proof of mechanism and differentiating clinical data for our programs in sickle cell disease, glioma, AML and NASH. We are energized by the commitment from this group of leading industry investors as we move into 2020, another critical year with multiple clinical data readouts and a new program entering the clinic."

"We are impressed with FORMA’s seamless transformation over the past year, moving from an early discovery engine to a clinical-stage, asset-focused company," said Peter Kolchinsky, Ph.D., managing partner of RA Capital Management and new FORMA board member. "We feel fortunate to be able to come together with our peers to capitalize FORMA’s development of what we believe are several best-in-class molecules. While there are already many programs in development to help patients with sickle cell disease and the cancers we are targeting, FORMA’s candidates represent a unique and likely complementary contribution to the future armamentarium, which is important both for patients and strategically for FORMA."

Financing proceeds will support the ongoing clinical development of FT-4202, FORMA’s pyruvate kinase-R (PKR) activator in clinical development as a potential disease-modifying therapy for sickle cell disease (SCD). Data presented at the 2019 American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper) Annual Meeting confirm that FT-4202 activates PKR with a simultaneous effect on hemoglobin oxygen affinity and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels, and it was safe and well-tolerated in healthy subjects. A Phase 1/2 study is currently enrolling patients with sickle cell disease.

The funding will also support FORMA’s deep pipeline, including FT-7051, a novel and potent selective inhibitor of CBP/p300 binding to DNA for androgen receptor-driven cancers, also being investigated for its potential in AR-v7 mCRPC; olutasidenib, a next generation inhibitor of mutated isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1m) in development to treat gliomas, relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (R/R AML), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and other IDH1m solid tumors; and progress on a variety of preclinical programs.

On December 19, 2019 Salarius Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: SLRX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company targeting cancers caused by mis-regulated gene expression, referred to as epigenetics, reported that its chief executive officer, David Arthur, will present at the Biotech Showcase 2020 conference being held January 13-15, 2020 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square in San Francisco, California (Press release, Flex Pharma, DEC 19, 2019, View Source [SID1234552503]).

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During the presentation, Mr. Arthur will highlight recent corporate achievements and anticipated milestones from its clinical development pipeline, which is led by Seclidemstat, a potent reversible inhibitor of the LSD1 enzyme. Seclidemstat is currently the subject of an ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial in Ewing sarcoma, a rare and deadly pediatric bone cancer for which there is no approved targeted treatment. Seclidemstat is also being studied in a second Phase 1 clinical trial in advanced solid tumors (AST), including prostate, breast and ovarian cancers. Salarius recently achieved important dose escalation and trial enrollment events for each program, positioning the company to report early patient safety and efficacy data from both clinical trials in 2020.

Details of the presentation are as follows:

Event: Biotech Showcase 2020
Date: Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Time: 11:30 a.m. (PST)
Track: Franciscan A
Location: Hilton San Francisco Union Square

On December 19, 2019 CytomX Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CTMX), a clinical-stage oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company pioneering a novel class of investigational antibody therapeutics based on its Probody therapeutic technology platform, reported an update on its lead programs and 2020 clinical portfolio outlook (Press release, CytomX Therapeutics, DEC 19, 2019, View Source [SID1234552501]).

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"Our clinical pipeline today reflects the continued progress we have made in advancing our two wholly-owned lead programs, CX-072 and CX-2009, from initial clinical proof of concept into Phase 2 clinical development," said Sean McCarthy, D. Phil., president, chief executive officer and chairman of CytomX Therapeutics. "Throughout 2019, we have also gained additional momentum in our partnered clinical programs. Bristol-Myers Squibb is advancing the anti-CTLA-4 probody, BMS-986249, into Phase 2 and the CytomX team continues Phase 1 dose escalation of CX-2029, an anti-CD71 probody drug conjugate, in partnership with AbbVie. All four of these clinical stage programs have the potential to make a meaningful difference for cancer patients and we look forward to providing updates in 2020."

PROCLAIM-CX-072 is a Phase 1/2 clinical program studying CX-072, an anti-PD-L1 Probody therapeutic in patients with solid tumors.

In November 2019, the Company announced the initiation of a Simon 2 Stage Phase 2 clinical trial studying CX-072 in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab) in relapsed or refractory melanoma. Stage 1 of this study aims to enroll up to 40 patients.

The Phase 1 expansion arm of PROCLAIM-CX-072 studying CX-072 as monotherapy in selected tumor types, has completed enrollment. Data presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) confirmed evidence of clinical activity in several cancer types including triple negative breast cancer, squamous cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma with an encouraging safety profile. At this time, CytomX plans to focus further clinical development within this program on combinations with CX-072, including the ongoing Phase 2 study with ipilimumab.
PROCLAIM-CX-2009 is a Phase 1/2 clinical program studying CX-2009, an anti-CD166 Probody drug conjugate, as monotherapy for the treatment of solid tumors.

The Phase 1 dose escalation and refinement stages of this trial are complete. Data reported at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research from the Phase 1 dose escalation trial showed encouraging anti-cancer activity and tolerability in several tumor types, including breast cancer, ovarian cancer and head and neck cancer. Based on these results, CytomX is initiating a Phase 2 expansion study of CX-2009 monotherapy at 7 mg/kg administered every three weeks in up to 40 patients with hormone receptor (ER, PR) positive, HER2 negative breast cancer.
"We continue to see forward progress across our wholly-owned and partnered clinical programs, affirming that CytomX’s Probody platform can potentially lead to innovative therapies that improve patient outcomes," said Amy Peterson, M.D., chief development officer of CytomX Therapeutics.

2020 Clinical Outlook Across The CytomX Portfolio

PROCLAIM-CX-072

Presentation of final data is anticipated from the expansion arms of the Phase 1/2 trial of CX-072 as monotherapy in multiple selected tumor types.
Initial data is anticipated from the first stage of the ongoing Phase 2 trial of CX-072 in combination with ipilimumab in relapsed or refractory melanoma.
PROCLAIM-CX-2009

Updated data is anticipated from the CX-2009 Phase 1 dose escalation and dose ranging studies.
Enrollment of the Phase 2 expansion study of CX-2009 in hormone receptor (ER, PR) positive, HER2 negative breast cancer is anticipated throughout 2020.
PROCLAIM-CX-2029, an anti-CD71 Probody Drug Conjugate

CytomX and its partner, AbbVie, anticipate the presentation of initial data from the Phase 1 dose escalation portion of the PROCLAIM-CX-2029 Phase 1/2 study.
BMS-986249, an anti-CTLA-4 Probody Therapeutic

CytomX’s partner, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), anticipates presenting data from the completed Phase 1 portion of the Phase 1/2a study evaluating BMS-986249 alone and in combination with OPDIVO (nivolumab) in advanced solid tumors.
BMS is initiating the Phase 2 portion of this clinical trial, upon which CytomX is entitled to a $10 million milestone payment.

On December 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 James Caruso, president and chief executive officer of Cellectar Biosciences, will present a company overview at the Biotech Showcase on Monday, January 13, 2020 at 10:30 am Pacific Time (Press release, Cellectar Biosciences, DEC 19, 2019, View Source [SID1234552500]). The conference will be held at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square on January 13-15, 2020.

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A live and archived webcast of Mr. Caruso’s presentation will be available in the Investors section of the company’s website.

On December 19, 2019 bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE) reported that members of the management team will present at the following upcoming investor conferences in January (Press release, bluebird bio, DEC 19, 2019, View Source [SID1234552499]):

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Goldman Sachs 12th Annual Healthcare CEOs Unscripted: A View from the Top, Thursday, January 9, at 2:00 p.m. ET at the Goldman Sachs Offices, New York City
38th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Tuesday, January 14, at 3:00 p.m. PT at the Westin St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco, followed by a question and answer breakout session at 3:30 p.m.
To access the live webcasts of bluebird bio’s presentations, please visit the "Events & Presentations" page within the Investors & Media section of the bluebird bio website at View Source Replays of the webcasts will be available on the bluebird bio website for 90 days following the events.