On June 26, 2020 Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc., an oncology company focused on developing and commercializing allogeneic natural killer (NK) cell therapies, reported the launch of the company with the close of a $78 million Series A financing (Press release, Artiva Biotherapeutics, JUN 26, 2020, View Source [SID1234561489]). The financing was co-led by 5AM Ventures, venBio Partners, and RA Capital Management, and joined by Medivate Partners and seed investors and strategic partners GC LabCell (Green Cross LabCell Corporation) (KRX: 144510) and GC (Green Cross Holdings Corporation) (KRX: 005250). Artiva will use the proceeds of this financing to develop off-the-shelf universal NK cells for use in combination with monoclonal antibody therapy and tumor targeting CAR-NK cell therapies.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

"We have seen tremendous breakthroughs in redirecting immune cells against cancer, but patient access to these therapies has been limited by safety, scale, manufacturing, logistics, and cost issues," said Tom Farrell, President and CEO of Artiva. "Our goal at Artiva is to do more, leveraging GC LabCell’s foundational work on true off-the-shelf NK cells into a pipeline of product candidates that are accessible to any cancer patient who may benefit."

Artiva’s initial pipeline includes AB-101, a universal NK cell therapy for use in combination with monoclonal antibodies. The company plans to enter the clinic this year with AB-101 in combination with an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody for the treatment of relapsed refractory B-cell lymphoma. The company is also advancing AB-201, a novel HER2-specific CAR-NK cell therapy for the treatment of HER2+ solid tumors, and AB-202, a CD19-specific CAR-NK cell therapy for the treatment of CD19+ B-cell malignancies. In each case, a large scale of production along with effective cryopreservation enables high and repeat dosing.

Scaling NK Cell Therapy for Cancer

Artiva’s pipeline of universal and targeted NK cell therapies leverages the innate anti-tumor biology and safety features of NK cells. The therapies are optimized for enhanced efficacy through chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), therapeutic antibody combination therapy, and genetic engineering. The pipeline leverages a manufacturing platform that supports large-scale production and cryopreservation of off-the-shelf allogeneic NK cell therapies and proprietary CAR-NK and NK-specific gene-editing technologies to augment therapeutic activity.

Artiva’s platform incorporates cell expansion, activation, and engineering technology developed and enhanced through mid-stage clinical trials by the company’s corporate partner, GC LabCell. Artiva has exclusive ex-Asia-Pacific license agreements with GC LabCell covering their core manufacturing and CAR technology and initial product candidates and an option to take exclusive ex-Asia-Pacific licenses to additional research candidates generated by GC LabCell, under the governance of a Joint Steering Committee.

"The inherent biology of natural killer cells holds enormous therapeutic potential for cancer therapy, but until Artiva, technological barriers held back their advancement," said 5AM Ventures partner Brian Daniels, M.D. "Artiva is systematically resolving the barriers to safe and effective NK cell therapies at a scale that enables broader access to potentially life-saving cancer treatments."

Leadership Team: Deep Cell Therapy and Oncology Experience

Artiva’s proven executive team brings deep, diverse cell therapy and oncology experience to research and advance a pipeline of NK and CAR-NK cell therapies to treat cancer.

On June 26, 2020 ERC Belgium, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer, reported that it has submitted to the EMA its Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for conditional approval of its lead product SITOIGANAP (ERC1671) to treat recurrent glioblastoma (GBM) (Press release, ERC Belgium, JUN 26, 2020, View Source [SID1234561485]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

The MAA contains observations suggesting safety and efficacy of SITOIGANAP demonstrated from the interim data of a randomized double-blind phase II trial. The data show that administration of SITOIGANAP/GM-CSF/Cyclophosphamide combined with bevacizumab results in a clinically meaningful survival benefit with minimal toxicity.

The SITOIGANAP regimen presents unique advantages in comparison to historical controls and it significantly increased overall survival and median survival compared to controls. Moreover, current clinical data supports the safety of this product, with no severe adverse events observed; related side effects were grade 1 and 2 headache and local skin reactions.

Approximately 10% of the patients that received SITOIGANAP experienced total recovery and survived longer than 3 years when treated following GBM recurrence and after receiving standard of care. In contrast, no spontaneous remissions were observed in the control group, and all patients showed tumor progression.

Apostolos Stathopoulos, MD, PhD, President and CEO of ERC Worldwide commented, "We are excited to see such strong results from SITOIGANAP, especially the high number of patients going into remission. The beneficial advantage that we are bringing to patients suffering from this orphan disease like GBM is groundbreaking, especially being able to help those patients who have advanced to a stage without alternative therapeutic options."

About SITOIGANAP

SITOIGANAP is an advanced immunotherapy based on freshly extracted tumor cells and lysates that stimulates the patient’s immune system to recognize and reject cancer cells. The immunotherapy contains a combination of autologous tumor cells, and allogeneic tumor cells, generated from the glioma tumor tissues of three different donor cancer patients, and the lysates of all of these cells. Upon injection, this mixture stimulates the patient’s immune system to mount an immune response against the tumor cells, which may lead to their destruction.

SITOIGANAP is for patients suffering from a grade IV glioma (glioblastoma multiforme and gliosarcoma) when all other traditional treatments have failed. The response to SITOIGANAP is the same whether the MGMT promoter is methylated or unmethylated.

SITOIGANAP is currently in randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical trials in the United States as part of combination treatment for glioblastoma multiforme and gliosarcoma.

On June 25, 2020 Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN), a leader in molecular diagnostics and precision medicine, reported that a new study published in Future Medicine demonstrates the ability of myPath Melanoma to accurately classify skin lesions ruled indeterminate by standard pathological review (Press release, Myriad Genetics, JUN 25, 2020, View Source [SID1234561738]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

"This validation study for myPath Melanoma demonstrates the ability of the test to accurately classify lesions which are ruled indeterminate by an expert dermatopathologist," said Nicole Lambert, president of Myriad International, Oncology and Women’s Health. "Importantly, this accuracy was linked to the gold standard endpoint of real world clinical outcomes demonstrating the accuracy of the myPath Melanoma test result for patients and physicians concerned about this deadly cancer."

The study evaluated 181 skin lesions of which 125 were ruled indeterminate by at least one of seven blinded dermatopathologists who reviewed the samples. The samples were linked to known real world outcomes with 43 percent of samples representing malignant melanomas. Importantly, myPath Melanoma demonstrated 90.4 percent sensitivity and 95.5 percent specificity in the indeterminate sample cohort and 93.8 percent sensitivity and 96.2 percent specificity when evaluating the entire sample cohort. This data is consistent with multiple other clinical validation studies for myPath Melanoma which have demonstrated the ability of the test to delineate melanoma from benign skin lesions with high diagnostic accuracy.

About Melanoma
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 100,350 Americans are expected to be diagnosed with melanoma this year. Early and accurate diagnosis of melanoma is critical for long-term survival.

About Myriad myPath Melanoma
Myriad myPath Melanoma is a clinically validated test to be used as an adjunct to histopathology when the distinction between a benign nevus and a malignant melanoma cannot be made confidently by histopathology alone. The test measures the expression of 23 genes and accurately distinguishes melanoma from benign nevi. For more information visit: View Source

On June 24, 2020 (the "Closing Date"), HTG Molecular Diagnostics, Inc. (the "Company") reported that it entered into a Loan and Security Agreement (the "Loan Agreement"), by and among the Company and Silicon Valley Bank ("SVB"), as lender, which provides a secured term loan in the principal amount of $10.0 million (the "Term Loan") (Filing, HTG Molecular Diagnostics, JUN 25, 2020, View Source [SID1234561674]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

The proceeds from the Term Loan were fully funded on the June 25, 2020. The proceeds from the Term Loan, together with cash on hand, were used to repay in full all outstanding amounts and fees due under the (i) Credit and Security Agreement (Term Loan), dated as of March 26, 2018, by and among the Company, as borrower, the lenders party thereto from time to time and MidCap Financial Trust, as agent (the "MidCap Term Loan"), in the aggregate amount of approximately $7.5 million, (ii) Credit and Security Agreement (Revolving Loan), dated as of March 26, 2018, by and among the Company, as borrower, the lenders party thereto from time to time and MidCap Funding IV Trust (together with MidCap Financial Trust, "MidCap"), as agent (the "MidCap Revolving Loan"), in the aggregate amount of approximately $22,000 and (iii) Subordinated Convertible Promissory Note, dated as of October 26, 2017, issued by the Company to Qiagen North American Holdings, in the aggregate amount of approximately $3.2 million.

The Term Loan bears interest at a floating rate equal to the greater of 2.50% above the Prime Rate (as defined in the Loan Agreement) and 5.75%. Interest on the Term Loan is due and payable monthly in arrears. The Term Loan has interest-only payments through June 30, 2021. The interest only period may be extended for six months upon the achievement of an equity milestone as more fully described in the Loan Agreement. The ultimate interest-only period will be followed by equal monthly payments of principal and interest through the maturity date of January 1, 2024.

Prepayments of the Term Loan, in whole or in part, will be subject to early termination fees in an amount equal to 3.0% of principal prepaid if prepayment occurs on or prior to the first anniversary of the Closing Date, 2.0% of principal prepaid in prepayment occurs after the first anniversary of the Closing Date but on or prior to the second anniversary of the Closing Date, and 1.0% of principal prepaid if prepayment occurs after the second anniversary of the Closing Date and prior to the maturity date.

Upon termination of the Loan Agreement, the Company is required to pay an exit fee equal to 8.00% of the principal amount of the Term Loan.

The Company’s obligations under the Loan Agreement are secured by a security interest in substantially all of its assets, excluding intellectual property (which is subject to a negative pledge). Additionally, the Company’s future subsidiaries, if any, may be required to become co-borrowers or guarantors under the Loan Agreement.

The Loan Agreement contains customary affirmative covenants and customary negative covenants limiting the Company’s ability and the ability of the Company’s subsidiaries, if any, to, among other things, dispose of assets, undergo a change in control, merge or consolidate, make acquisitions, incur debt, incur liens, pay dividends, repurchase stock and make investments, in each case subject to certain exceptions. The Company must also comply with a financial covenant requiring the Company to maintain unrestricted cash at an account with SVB of not less than the greater of (i) $12.5 million and (ii) an amount equal to six (6) times the amount of Company’s average trailing three (3) month Cash Burn (as defined in the Loan Agreement), tested monthly as of the last day of each month.

The Loan Agreement also contains customary events of default relating to, among other things, payment defaults, breaches of covenants, a material adverse change, delisting of the Company’s common stock, bankruptcy and insolvency, cross defaults with certain material indebtedness and certain material contracts, judgments, and inaccuracies of representations and warranties. Upon an event of default, SVB may declare all or a portion of the Company’s outstanding obligations to be immediately due and payable and exercise other rights and remedies provided for under the agreement. During the existence of an event of default, interest on the obligations could be increased by 5.0%.

Warrant

In connection with the Loan Agreement, the Company granted to SVB a warrant to purchase up to 643,413 shares of the Company’s common stock at a purchase price of $0.7771 per share (the "Warrant"). The Warrant will

expire on June 24, 2030 and may be exercised for cash or at the election of the holder on a cashless, net exercise basis.

The foregoing is only a summary of the material terms of the Loan Agreement and the Warrant and does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Loan Agreement and the Warrant, copies of which are filed as Exhibit 10.1 and Exhibit 4.1 to this report, respectively.

On June 25, 2020 TAE Technologies Inc. of Foothill Ranch races to solve the world’s energy problems via nuclear fusion,reported that its 3-year-old biologically-targeted radiation therapy offshoot is inching closer to its own world-changing target: treating and curing cancer patients (Press release, TAE Life Sciences, JUN 25, 2020, View Source [SID1234561517]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

TAE Life Sciences LLC recently announced a $30 million investment to support its drug development program, which when combined with its neutron beam accelerator technology could unlock a new generation of targeted cancer therapy.

The Series B initial funding is among the largest in Orange County in the first half of the year.

The amount of funding is indicative of the company’s high expectations, officials tell the Business Journal.

"TAE Technologies doesn’t shy away from some pretty ambitious goals. We have the same culture at our company," said Bruce Bauer, chief executive of TAE Life Sciences, or TLS.

"We believe we have a technology that is going to change the world of cancer therapy. That’s an ambitious goal and a challenging area, but we have a culture of solving big problems. We’re not shying away from the magnitude of it."

Tumors Targeted

TLS publicly launched in March 2018 with some $40 million in funding at a $100 million valuation. Its combined $70 million of reported investments to date is a relatively small amount of funding compared to the $700 million its parent company has raised over the past 18 years; TAE Technologies backers have included Google and the late Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft Corp.

The PhD-heavy parent company, which is aiming to commercialize its space-age fusion technologies in the next three years or so, is reported to have a $3 billion valuation.

Get the latest OC business and Coronavirus updates
Email Address
TLS exclusively licensed its parent company’s accelerator technology, built on more than two decades of research that originated at the University of California-Irvine. The parent company’s goals are to provide an abundant source of energy that produces fewer pollutants.

TLS is using that same base of technology for medical applications: it aims to build a neutron delivery system for an emerging type of radiation therapy called Boron Neutron Capture Therapy or BNCT. BNCT is a radiation therapy technique that offers noninvasive treatment options for cancers of the head and neck, brain tumors and other aggressive and recurrent cancers.

TLS’ delivery system, called the AlphaBeam, produces low-energy neutrons that neutralize tumors containing accumulated boron-10, a nontoxic type of isotope that when given to a patient via a drug collects in tumor cells.

The radiation therapy is designed to spare healthy tissue. Because the boron-10 carrier drug is highly targeted to accumulate cancer cells, a patient could in theory be treated in just one or two treatment sessions, without many of the side effects of traditional radiation therapy.

Testing Underway

The technology is still in the testing phase.

The company’s first commercial system is currently on its way to a site in China, where its partner Neuboron Medtech Ltd. plans to launch Phase II clinical trials with TLS’ accelerator-based neutron system and a boron-10 target drug called BPA, which has been used to treat about 2,000 patients to date.

In the meantime, TLS is finalizing construction plans with an Italian-based partner, which will kick off clinical trials for CE markings in 2022. U.S. clinical trials will follow with at least three or more clinical sites.

On the drug development side, Bauer said research will continue for several years before clinical trials can begin.

"We’re bringing together everything from particle acceleration technology to pharmaceutical development. It takes time and perseverance, and that’s what we’re bringing to the table."

$100M Mission

TLS announced the $30 million initial close of its Series B round of financing on June 2.

More’s in store. Bauer—whose résumé includes stints in the private equity and medical imaging industries—said TLS ultimately wants to raise $100 million in its Series B round.

San Francisco-based Artis Ventures, which led TLS’ $40 million Series A round in 2018, participated in the deal.

R&D

Funds from the latest funding round will support drug development, which takes place at the company’s new R&D facility in Santa Monica. The building was previously occupied by Japan’s Stella Pharma Corp., which has experience in creating boron compounds for BNCT.

TLS subleased the 16,000-square-foot lab and recruited a core team of researchers from Stella, Bauer said.

The new round of funding will also support growing teams in R&D, manufacturing, quality control, software and systems engineering in Foothill Ranch.

TLS currently has 30 employees, though more than 70 people including contractors and TAE Technologies employees are working on the project, Bauer said.

Bauer declined to comment on future job openings, saying the subsidiary is "performing very well" occupying one of the four buildings at TAE Technologies’ Foothill Ranch headquarters.

Bright Future

Amid COVID-19, Bauer said TLS has transitioned to work from home and, he joked, "given everyone a chance to catch up on their paperwork, given the regulatory environment we operate in."

Joking aside, "we’ve had very productive continuity on the device side and drug development side."

The biggest challenge for the business has been maintaining its international partnerships amid travel restrictions, which have prevented teams from traveling to sites in Russia and China.

"The good news is we have strong partnerships in these locations and we’ve been relying on local assets to continue our work. It’s slowed us down a bit, but we’re working it out. Our teams will travel when they can."

Bauer is no stranger to patience and persistence, and he’s keeping his ambitions high.

"OC has a history of companies that have undertaken big challenges in healthcare, and succeeded, and really made an impact.