On October 13, 2020 Iksuda Therapeutics (Iksuda), the developer of enhanced, new-generation of Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs), reported it has executed its option to secure exclusive, worldwide rights to develop a novel class of tumour-activated prodrug payloads from the University of Goettingen, following a successful collaboration exemplifying the series in ADC formats (Press release, Iksuda Therapeutics, OCT 13, 2020, View Source [SID1234568431]). The highly potent and selective payload series represents a powerful new class within ADC development with novel protein alkylating cytotoxicity. Iksuda will drive onward development and commercialisation, incorporating the tuneable payload series in its ADC pipeline and payload armoury, to create best in class ADC therapeutics for nominated targets associated with haematological and solid tumours with high unmet need.

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The partnership with the University of Goettingen was founded on Iksuda’s commitment to expand its payload armoury and optimise ADC design according to target antigen. The programme confirmed the value of tumour-selective activation of these powerful cytotoxic agents, conjugated with Iksuda’s stable conjugation technology (PermaLink), in widening the therapeutic index of ADCs. The novel protein-alkylating mode-of-action of the payload series differs from the field’s primary focus of intra- or DNA inter-strand cross-linking, conferring benefits against drug resistance mechanisms. Through the combination of PermaLink technology and the protein alkylating prodrugs, the Company aims to enable the differentiated development of more powerful ADCs with improved tumour killing, aligned with improved safety index and an ability to overcome potential tumour resistance.

Iksuda has demonstrated the potential value of prodrug approaches for targeted cancer therapeutics through its recent license of a CD19-targeting ADC from LegoChem Biosciences ("LCB") for hard-to-treat B-cell cancers, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and Burkitt lymphoma. The ADC contains LCB’s prodrug DNA-cross-linking payload, with preclinical data confirming an impressive increase in therapeutic index over comparators. Under a broader agreement, the Company has gained access to LCB’s prodrug payload platform for use in nominated Iksuda targets.

Dr Dave Simpson, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Iksuda Therapeutics, said: "Iksuda’s successful partnership with the University of Goettingen, led by Professor Lutz Tietze, and subsequent licensing agreement demonstrates our continued work in building and refining approaches to ADC development. We are successfully responding to the industry-wide challenge of being able to treat all patients with cancer. Iksuda remains focussed on building a pipeline of next-generation ADCs with improved therapeutic index through our internal and external pipeline, harnessing our deep understanding in the field and accepting the challenge of targeting areas of high unmet clinical need."

Dr Jens-Peter Horst, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, MBM ScienceBridge, the technology transfer organisation of the University of Goettingen, said: "This agreement is exemplary for the successful transfer of many years of academic research and development work into a very promising and innovative cancer therapy."

On October 13, 2020 Lassogen, a company dedicated to developing lasso peptides as an entirely new therapeutic modality, reported that it has raised $4.5 million in an oversubscribed seed round of funding led by Playground Global with participation from Better Ventures, First In Ventures, Tsingyuan Ventures, and additional investors (Press release, Lassogen, OCT 13, 2020, View Source [SID1234568430]). Combined with pre-seed funding in 2019, Lassogen has raised investment capital totaling $5.1 million to date. The seed investment proceeds will enable the company to achieve key results that demonstrate the utility and promise of lasso peptides for treating serious human diseases such as cancer, autoimmunity, pain, and inflammation.

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Lassogen is developing a new class of peptide therapeutics that combine the strengths of antibodies and small molecule drugs while overcoming many of their limitations. Lasso peptides are folded into a unique lariat structure which renders them extraordinarily stable to degradation by proteases, low pH, or high temperatures and provides a three-dimensional array of amino acid side chains to engage targets with high affinity and selectivity. Naturally occurring lasso peptides are diverse in terms of size, shape, and composition, thus offering highly tunable and modular scaffolds for designing novel therapeutics with optimized properties.

Lassogen was founded by CEO Mark Burk, Ph.D., who was previously CEO and founder of Snap Bio, along with co-founder Kent Boles, Ph.D., and academic co-founders and advisors Douglas Mitchell, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Tracy Handel, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmaceutical Science at University of California San Diego.

"Lasso peptides represent a rare and powerful new therapeutic modality that could enable breakthrough treatments for challenging diseases by modulation of disease targets that are difficult for antibodies and small molecules. We are benefitting from a confluence of technology advances and insights that revealed the unexpected high prevalence and extreme diversity of lasso peptides produced by bacteria," says co-founder and CEO Mark Burk. "By taking cues from nature, we are now in a position to leverage the modern tools of in silico modeling and synthetic biology, including molecular evolution, to design and rapidly advance optimized lasso peptides into development against a range of high value targets."

"We see an opportunity for Lassogen to create an entirely new class of programmable medicines to treat challenging disease targets," said Peter Barrett, General Partner at Playground Global. "We are delighted to be a part of their journey toward a healthier future."

Phyllis Whiteley, Ph.D., Venture Partner at Playground Global, will join Lassogen’s board of directors. "The majority of therapeutics are dominated by antibodies and small molecules, yet many important diseases are resistant to those treatments," said Whiteley. "The Lassogen team, including serial entrepreneur and operator Mark Burk as well as highly respected academics and technologists, is uniquely positioned to produce and program lasso peptides to treat challenging diseases."

"We’re thrilled to be supporting the important and innovative work that Lassogen is doing, which has the potential to usher in a new era of success against debilitating diseases such as cancer," says Wes Selke, Managing Director at Better Ventures. "Mark and his team have the right backgrounds to make this happen and are exactly the kind of mission-driven founders we seek to back."

On October 13, 2020 Codiak BioSciences, Inc. ("Codiak"), a clinical-stage company focused on pioneering the development of exosome-based therapeutics as a new class of medicines, reported the pricing of its initial public offering of 5,500,000 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $15.00 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $82.5 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses (Press release, Codiak Biosciences, OCT 13, 2020, View Source [SID1234568425]). All of the shares are being offered by Codiak. In addition, Codiak has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 825,000 additional shares of common stock at the initial public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions.

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The shares are scheduled to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Market on October 14, 2020 under the ticker symbol "CDAK," and the offering is expected to close on October 16, 2020, subject to customary closing conditions.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Evercore ISI and William Blair are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering and as representatives of the underwriters. Wedbush PacGrow is acting as lead manager for the offering.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and became effective on October 13, 2020. This offering is being made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the final prospectus, when available, may be obtained from: Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, New York 10282, telephone: 1-866-471-2526, or email: [email protected]; Evercore Group L.L.C., Attention: Equity Capital Markets, 55 East 52nd Street, 36th Floor, New York, NY 10055, telephone: (888) 474-0200, or email: [email protected]; or William Blair & Company, L.L.C., Attention: Prospectus Department, 150 North Riverside Plaza, Chicago, IL 60606, telephone: 1-800-621-0687, or email: [email protected].

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

On October 13, 2020 Immunome, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMNM), a biopharmaceutical company utilizing a proprietary human memory B cell platform to discover and develop first-in-class antibody therapeutics, with a focus on oncology and infectious diseases, including COVID-19, reported the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase an additional 487,500 shares of common stock at the public offering price of $12.00 per share, resulting in additional gross proceeds of approximately $5.9 million, in connection with the Company’s previously announced initial public offering of common stock (Press release, Immunome, OCT 13, 2020, View Source [SID1234568424]). After giving effect to the full exercise of the over-allotment option, the total number of shares sold by Immunome in the initial public offering was 3,737,500 shares and the gross proceeds were approximately $44.9 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by the Company. All of the shares were sold by Immunome. Immunome’s common stock began trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market on October 2, 2020, under the ticker symbol "IMNM".

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Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. and Chardan acted as book-running managers for the offering.

A registration statement relating to the offering of these securities has been declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 1, 2020. The offering was made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the final prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained by vising www.sec.gov or from Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., 277 Park Avenue, 26th Floor, New York, NY 10172, or by calling (212) 409-2000, or by emailing [email protected] or Chardan Capital Markets, LLC, 17 State Street, 21st floor, New York, New York 10004, or by calling (646) 465-9001.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

On October 13, 2020 Cedilla Therapeutics, a private biotechnology company developing targeted small molecules for the treatment of cancer and other diseases caused by protein dysregulation, reported the closing of a $57.6 million Series B financing (Press release, Cedilla Therapeutics, OCT 13, 2020, View Source [SID1234568423]). The financing was co-led by Casdin Capital and Boxer Capital of Tavistock Group and included new investors Eli Lilly and Company and Schroder Adveq, as well as other undisclosed institutional investors, along with existing investor Third Rock Ventures. In connection with the financing, Eli Casdin, Chief Investment Officer and Founder of Casdin Capital, and Dominik Naczynski, Senior Vice President at Boxer Capital, will join the Company’s Board of Directors.

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"Cedilla was founded on the understanding that therapeutic targets exist in multiple proteoforms, or protein states, which can be evaluated for functional relevance and exploited to create novel opportunities for intervention, even where conventional approaches have failed," said Alexandra Glucksmann, Ph.D., Cedilla’s president and chief executive officer. "Over the past two years, we have honed our integrated approach and we are now prepared to advance target-specific efforts toward the clinic. We appreciate the support of our new and existing investors, which will enable us to name our first two development candidates, expand our discovery-stage research and work toward our goal of delivering novel small molecules that can redirect the course of disease and deliver profound benefit to patients."

Cedilla identifies previously unexploited proteoforms of high-value targets. While prior attempts to drug these targets have focused only on their canonical states, Cedilla has discovered the means to affect function or stability by engaging pivotal, post-translationally modified states. Cedilla’s product candidates are designed with mechanisms best fit to modulate these functionally-relevant proteoforms, which may include protein inhibition or degradation. Proceeds from this financing will support ongoing efforts to build a broad portfolio of small molecule medicines, including the identification and preclinical development of Cedilla’s first two product candidates.

"Cedilla is establishing an entirely new approach to drug development, based on a deep understanding of proteomics and a unique ability to identify and modulate functionally-relevant proteoforms of high-value targets," said Eli Casdin, Chief Investment Officer and Founder of Casdin Capital. "It is a big idea with powerful potential and we are excited to partner with the management team to accelerate the next stage of the company’s growth."