On October 20, 2020 Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI) reported that it will be presenting at the 5th International Virtual Conference on Cancer Research & Development (Press release, Immunomic Therapeutics, OCT 20, 2020, View Source [SID1234568680]). On Monday, October 26, 2020, Chief Executive Officer at ITI, Dr. Bill Hearl, will be presenting a talk titled, "UNITE Platform, A Direct Antigen Presentation Approach in Oncology." Dr. Hearl will discuss ITI’s investigational platform technology, the company’s lead program and its preliminary data, as well as the company’s future focus.

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Panel details are as follows:

Title: UNITE Platform, A Direct Antigen Presentation Approach in Oncology

Panel Category: Cancer Immunology

Panel Date and Time: Monday, October 26, 2020 1:10-1:35 PM ET

Location: Cancer R&D Virtual Symposium

About UNITE

ITI’s investigational UNITE platform, or UNiversal Intracellular Targeted Expression, works by fusing pathogenic antigens with the Lysosomal Associated Membrane Protein 1, an endogenous protein in humans, for immune processing. In this way, ITI’s vaccines (DNA or RNA) have the potential to utilize the body’s natural biochemistry to develop a broad immune response including antibody production, cytokine release and critical immunological memory. This approach puts UNITE technology at the crossroads of immunotherapies in a number of illnesses, including cancer, allergy and infectious diseases. UNITE is currently being employed in a Phase II clinical trial as a cancer immunotherapy. ITI is also collaborating with academic centers and biotechnology companies to study the use of UNITE in cancer types of high mortality, including cases where there are limited treatment options like glioblastoma and acute myeloid leukemia. ITI believes that these early clinical studies may provide a proof of concept for UNITE therapy in cancer, and if successful, set the stage for future studies, including combinations in these tumor types and others. Preclinical data is currently being developed to explore whether LAMP1 nucleic acid constructs may amplify and activate the immune response in highly immunogenic tumor types and be used to create immune responses to tumor types that otherwise do not provoke an immune response.

On October 20, 2020 Kineta, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel immunotherapies in oncology and neuroscience, reported the presentation of new preclinical data on its VISTA antagonist antibodies at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Virtual Special Conference on Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy (Press release, Kineta, OCT 20, 2020, View Source;utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=kineta-presents-new-preclinical-data-on-its-vista-antagonist-antibodies-at-the-american-association-for-cancer-research-virtual-special-conference-on-tumor-immunology-and-immunotherapy [SID1234568673]).

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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

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Thierry Guillaudeux, PhD, Vice President Immuno-oncology at Kineta, presented the new preclinical data on the company’s fully human anti-VISTA antibodies during the Innate and Adaptive Checkpoints plenary session. Key findings from the presentation include the following:

Kineta’s anti-VISTA antibodies carry unique sequences and the selected lead candidates exhibit potencies in the subnanomolar range
Kineta’s human anti-VISTA antibodies are highly specific and cross-react with cyno-VISTA but not mouse-VISTA
VISTA antagonist antibody induces strong anti-tumor response as a single agent or in combo-therapies with anti-PD-L1 or anti-CTLA-4 in CT26 tumor models
VISTA antagonist antibody activates dendritic cells in the blood and reduces MDSCs
"We are very pleased with the development of our new anti-VISTA antibody program and the selection of our lead candidates" said Thierry Guillaudeux. "VISTA is a unique immuno-oncology target for the treatment of non-immunogenic tumors, with a central role in re-programming the tumor microenvironment to turn cold tumors hot."

VISTA is a key driver of the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) and is overexpressed on myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) and regulatory T cells (Tregs). It is a critical myeloid cell immune-checkpoint, and VISTA blockade can reprogram suppressive myeloid cells and reactivate antitumor immune function. Blocking VISTA activates an immune cell cascade that increases T cell effector functions to drive an efficient anti-tumor response. Preclinical studies have demonstrated single agent anti-VISTA activity but also demonstrate that targeting VISTA in combination with PD-1, PD-L1 or CTLA-4 can significantly improve the efficacy of those checkpoint inhibitors.

Presentation Details:

Title: Highly potent fully human anti-VISTA antibodies – A new target checkpoint inhibitor against immunosuppressive myeloid cells
Session Title: Innate and Adaptive Checkpoints
Date/Time: October 19, 2020, 2:20 PM – 2:29 PM Eastern
Presenter: Thierry Guillaudeux, PhD

On October 20, 2020 Oasmia Pharmaceutical’s CEO, Dr Francois Martelet reported that it will present at the Bio Europe’s Digital conference October 26-29, 2020 and take part in partnering meetings (Press release, Oasmia, OCT 20, 2020, View Source [SID1234568672]). The presentation will be made available on demand on the Bio Europe Digital website and accessible to attendees registered for the event. The presentation will also be uploaded onto Oasmia’s website following the event.

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On October 20, 2020 Carina Biotech and UniSA reported they have developed a new device to improve cancer immunotherapies (Press release, Carina Biotech, OCT 20, 2020, View Source [SID1234568669]).

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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

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Our researchers at the University of South Australia have developed a novel approach based on microfluidic technology to "purify" the immune cells of patients in the fight against cancer.

UniSA’s Future Industries Institute PhD student Mona Elsemary (pictured) has developed a microfluidic approach to purify chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T) cells, the bioengineered immune cells that are the basis of groundbreaking cellular immunotherapy – a transformative cancer therapy that harnesses the power of a patient’s immune system to fight their cancer.

Ms Elsemary’s work is part of Carina Biotech’s CAR-T development platform, which aims to produce effective treatments for solid cancers. Ms Elsemary will present her work tomorrow at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Conference on Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy.

"CAR-T therapy has produced some remarkable results against blood cancers and there is a huge international research effort underway to transform this success into producing CAR-T treatments for solid cancers," Ms Elsemary says.

"However, the CAR-T manufacturing process continues to be hindered by significant barriers and high costs – preventing the full potential of this life-saving therapy being reached."

Such problems include the presence of non-viable cells and debris in the formulation and the presence of cryoprotectants (e.g., dimethyl sulfoxide or DMSO), typically used for the freezing and storage of CAR-T cell products.

The presence of dead cells can cause potentially severe side effects in recipients, and the US Federal and Drug Administration (FDA) has set strict viability specifications for CAR-T products, with approximately 10% of patients not receiving their treatment due to failure in meeting them.

The presence of cryoprotectants in final CAR-T products can also cause severe allergic reactions and toxic side effects in some patients.

"Current commercial CAR-T cell products still contain significant amounts of DMSO," Ms Elsemere says. "Therefore, there is a significant need for a method that effectively purifies CAR T cells prior to infusion to patients."

The approach was developed by the University of South Australia team led by Prof Benjamin Thierry in collaboration with Assoc Prof Majid Warkiani at the University Technology Sydney, and could achieve, within 30 minutes, depletion of over 70% of dead cells in the CAR T products, leading to an average of 20% increase in cell viability.

In addition, over 90% of the cryoprotectant DSMO is removed – all with no detrimental effect on the quality and functionality of the cells.

Ms Elsemary’s research could greatly benefit patients by reducing both manufacturing cost and side-effects commonly associated to CAR T cell therapy.

On October 20, 2020 Kureha Corporation reported its earnings forecast for the first six months of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021 (FY2020), reflecting the Company’s recent performance (Press release, Kureha Corporation, OCT 20, 2020, View Source [SID1234568668]).

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The Company also resolved at its Board of Directors’ meeting held today to distribute retained earnings to shareholders of record September 30, 2020 (interim dividend) in accordance with Article 40 of the Companies Act.

1. Earnings forecast for the first six months of FY2020 (April 1, 2020-September 30, 2020)

Kureha’s earnings forecast for FY2020 has been withheld due to uncertainties regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business operations. However, based on assumptions and expectations in the light of recently available information, the Company projected its half-year earnings as provided in this document.

For the first six months of FY2020, revenue is expected to decrease due mainly to slower sales in the Advanced Materials segment compared with the same period in the previous year. Operating profit is forecast to fall substantially on the back of decreased revenue and due to the absence of other income recorded in the previous year, including a discount business purchase gain of 1,460 million yen associated with new consolidation, despite a decrease in SG&A expenses.

A full-year earnings forecast (period April 2020 through March 2021) is not provided at this stage as the Company is still unable to make rational assessments regarding the full-year impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cautionary note: Above forecasts are forward-looking in nature and based on assumptions and information available when this document was published. Actual results may differ due to unforeseeable risks and factors.

2. Distribution of retained earnings (interim dividend) Kureha’s Board of Directors has decided today to pay an interim dividend to shareholders of record September 30, 2020, as follows

[Dividend policy]
Kureha’s basic policy regarding dividend distribution is to pay a steady dividend to shareholders over a long period of time, while strengthening the Company’s financial structure to sustain long-term growth and future business development.