MiNA Therapeutics Secures £23 Million Series A Financing to Advance First-in-Class Activating RNA-Based Therapeutics

On September 10, 2020 MiNA Therapeutics, the pioneer in RNA activation therapeutics, reported the completion of a £23 million ($30 million) Series A equity financing led by aMoon, Israel’s largest healthtech and life sciences venture fund, with participation from existing investors (Press release, MiNA Therapeutics, SEP 10, 2020, View Source [SID1234564967]). The proceeds from the financing will be used to advance MiNA’s pipeline of proprietary, first-in-class, small activating RNA ("saRNA") therapeutics, and to support the continued clinical development of MiNA’s lead candidate, MTL-CEBPA, as a combination treatment in cancer. As part of the Series A financing, Dr. Gur Roshwalb, M.D., M.B.A., Managing Director at aMoon, has joined the Board of Directors at MiNA Therapeutics. MTS Securities, LLC acted as the exclusive placement agent in connection with the financing.

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"Since the inception of MiNA Therapeutics, we have been focused on advancing the Company by validating our innovative therapeutic approach in patients and establishing strategic collaborations with leading academic institutions and industry partners," said Robert Habib, CEO of MiNA Therapeutics. "This financing represents an important step in our evolution that will not only fund our continued clinical development in patients with cancer but will also enable us to further explore the potential of our pioneering approach in therapeutic areas beyond oncology. We are grateful for the support from our existing investors and are honoured to welcome aMoon to MiNA."

"To date, MiNA’s innovative small activating RNA therapeutic approach has demonstrated the potential to modulate previously undruggable targets in difficult-to-treat indications such as liver cancer," said Dr. Gur Roshwalb, Managing Director at aMoon. "We strongly believe in the potential of this new class of medicines and look forward to collaborating with the team at MiNA to support the continued growth of this technology platform."

saRNA medicines have the potential to transform the therapeutic landscape of cancer and other severe metabolic and genetic diseases. MiNA’s lead candidate, MTL-CEBPA, is a first-in-class therapy that reduces immune suppression in the tumour microenvironment. MTL-CEBPA has been studied in clinical trials in more than 70 patients with advanced liver cancer, demonstrating unprecedented initial results. Used in combination with the standard primary cancer treatment drug, sorafenib, MTL-CEBPA improved the rate, duration and depth of response when compared to data independently reported from third-party studies with single agent sorafenib therapy. The additional funding will enable MiNA Therapeutics to conduct a Phase 2 study of MTL-CEBPA in combination with sorafenib in patients with advanced liver cancer and TIMEPOINT, an ongoing Phase I/Ib study of MTL-CEBPA in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with advanced solid tumour malignancies. Additionally, the proceeds will fund research activities to advance a pipeline of novel small activating RNA therapies for the treatment of cancer, metabolic and genetic diseases.

Casma Therapeutics Announces $50 Million Series B Financing

On September 10, 2020 Casma Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company harnessing autophagy and the lysosome to design powerful new medicines, reported the completion of a $50 million Series B financing (Press release, Casma Therapeutics, SEP 10, 2020, View Source [SID1234564966]).

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The financing, led by The Column Group (TCG), adds new investors Eventide Asset Management, LLC and Schroder Adveq, as well as other undisclosed institutional investors. Existing investor Third Rock Ventures also participated in the Series B. In connection with the financing, Millie Ray, Ph.D., from The Column Group, will join Casma’s Board of Directors. Finny Kuruvilla, M.D., Ph.D., chief investment officer of Eventide Asset Management, LLC will become a board observer.

The proceeds from the financing will allow Casma to advance their TRPML1 agonist program into development for muscular dystrophy, as well as continue to develop the Company’s Autophagy Degrader Platform (ADP). TRPML1 regulates the repair of the plasma membrane of muscle cells following damage, addressing the core pathology in multiple forms of muscular dystrophy. ADP is a novel approach for the degradation of multiple disease-causing targets. The autophagy system is able to degrade disease targets substantially larger and more diverse than those that rely on E3 ligase-based or proteasomal degradation approaches.

"We are very excited to welcome TCG, Eventide Asset Management, LLC and Schroder Adveq as investors in Casma. We believe our investors’ strong focus on science, combined with their established position in the life sciences ecosystem, will aid us in continuing to forge ahead as pioneers in this novel area of biology," said Keith Dionne, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Casma Therapeutics. "We look forward to the insight and leadership Drs. Ray and Kuruvilla will bring to Casma’s board."

"TCG has been interested in the power of harnessing the autophagy-lysosomal pathway for some time and we are excited to help Casma advance multiple therapies toward the clinic and ultimately, the marketplace. I am looking forward to working with the Casma team on leveraging this powerful technology to create novel therapies for multiple unmet medical needs," said Dr. Ray.

BeiGene to Present at the Morgan Stanley 18th Annual Global Healthcare Conference

On September 10, 2020 BeiGene, Ltd. (NASDAQ:BGNE; HKEX:06160), a commercial-stage biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing innovative medicines worldwide, reported that the Company will present at the Morgan Stanley 18th Annual Global Healthcare Conference on Thursday, September 17, 2020 at 11:45 a.m. ET (Press release, BeiGene, SEP 10, 2020, View Source/news-releases/news-release-details/beigene-present-morgan-stanley-18th-annual-global-healthcare" target="_blank" title="View Source/news-releases/news-release-details/beigene-present-morgan-stanley-18th-annual-global-healthcare" rel="nofollow">View Source [SID1234564965]).

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A live webcast can be accessed from the investors section of BeiGene’s website at View Source or View Source An archived replay will be available following the event for 90 days.

DURECT Corporation to Participate in September Virtual Investor Conferences

On September 10, 2020 DURECT Corporation (Nasdaq: DRRX) reported that it will participate in the HC Wainwright 22nd Annual Global Investment Conference, Cantor Fitzgerald Virtual Global Healthcare Conference and Oppenheimer Fall Healthcare Life Sciences & MedTech Summit (Press release, DURECT, SEP 10, 2020, https://investors.durect.com/news-releases/news-release-details/durect-corporation-participate-september-virtual-investor?field_nir_news_date_value[min]=2020 [SID1234564964]).

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HC Wainwright 22nd Annual Global Investment Conference
Date Monday, September 14
Time: 2:30-2:50 PM EDT (Fireside Chat with Ed Arce)
Webcast: View Source

Cantor Fitzgerald Virtual Global Healthcare Conference
Date Tuesday, September 15
Time 10-10:30am EDT (Fireside Chat with Ellie Merle)
Webcast: View Source

Oppenheimer Fall Healthcare Life Sciences & MedTech Summit
Date: Tuesday, September 22
Time: 11:40am-12:20pm EDT (Fireside chat with Francois Brisebois)
Webcast: View Source

TRACON Pharmaceuticals To Present At The H.C. Wainwright 22nd Annual Global Investment Conference

On September 10, 2020 TRACON Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: TCON), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel targeted cancer therapeutics and utilizing a cost efficient, CRO-independent product development platform to partner with ex-U.S. companies to develop and commercialize innovative products in the U.S., reported that Charles Theuer, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO, will present a corporate overview at the H.C. Wainwright 22nd Annual Global Investment Conference on Wednesday, September 16th, at 12:00 pm EDT (Press release, Tracon Pharmaceuticals, SEP 10, 2020, View Source [SID1234564963]).

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To access a live webcast of the presentation, please visit the "Events and Presentations" page within the "Investors" section of the TRACON Pharmaceuticals website at www.traconpharma.com. A replay of the webcast will also be available following the event.