On March 5, 2020 Orionis Biosciences reported a major drug discovery collaboration with Novartis. Orionis has developed innovative technologies in genome-scale drug discovery and tunable molecular design of novel therapeutic drug modalities to tackle the industry’s most intractable disease targets.

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The goal of the four-year collaboration with Novartis is to discover and design novel small molecule therapeutics, such as protein degraders, across various therapeutic areas, by broadly leveraging Orionis’ Allo-Glue technology platform. The terms of the collaboration include research funding, a convertible note investment, royalties and potential clinical milestones.

"Our collaboration with Novartis provides tremendous validation of the work we have accomplished over the past several years to develop innovative tools to unlock challenging drug targets for new therapeutic modalities," commented Niko Kley, CEO of Orionis. "There are many disease-related targets that have eluded scientists and drug discoverers for decades, with new ones being identified every day. Our proprietary genome-wide discovery and drug design technologies may enable identification and development of small molecules and biologics with high specificity and selectivity against targets at a scale, speed and efficiency that is unique in the industry."

Orionis was originally founded by drug discovery and technology pioneers Niko Kley, PhD, CEO, Jan Tavernier, PhD, CTO and Professor at VIB-Ghent University (Belgium), and VIB. Riccardo Sabatini, PhD, CDS, joined the company as architect and leader of Orionis’ computational science platform.

Dr. Jay Bradner, MD, PhD, President of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research commented, "We are excited to be working with the Orionis team to combine our expertise in drug discovery and development with their innovative technologies for rapidly identifying and prioritizing new targets at a genome-wide scale. Our hope is that through this collaboration, we will be able to reach historically elusive targets as we strive to bring new therapies to patients more quickly."

Riccardo Sabatini commented further, "It is incredibly exciting to see how mapping of genome-scale fingerprints of drug action is opening new possibilities and dimensions in applications of numerical methods and machine learning to support drug design."

"The opportunity behind the forming of Orionis was that the existing pharmacopeia of approved drugs reflects relatively few disease targets being addressed with too many similar drugs. We have been steadily executing on our mission to bring together an array of technological innovations to enable discovery of a diversity of new drug candidates that act with high therapeutic target-focused precision," commented Prof. Jan Tavernier.

Orionis Biosciences, named for the Orion star system, is a unique constellation of people, technology platforms and drug modalities. "We have quietly built and evolved our core science capabilities, portfolio of intellectual property and an exciting emerging pipeline of drug candidates, which we are advancing to unlock major value for the pharmaceutical industry and new treatment options for patients in need," commented CEO Niko Kley.

About Allo-Glue Technology

Allo-Glue molecules are a unique class of allosterically acting small molecules that enable access to targets previously thought unapproachable. They act to alter the form and function of, and thereby reprogram, intracellular proteins to engage in molecular interactions that modulate disease target proteins, including promoting their degradation by a cell’s natural protein disposal machinery.

(Press release, Orionis Biosciences, MAR 5, 2020, View Source [SID1234668929])

On March 5, 2020 Immunowake Inc. reported that it has entered into agreements with Genescience Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd and Genscript Biotech Corp (HKG: 1548) in which Immunowake will obtain exclusive licenses to PD-L1 antibodies for the development of multi-target therapeutics. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed (Press release, Immunowake, MAR 5, 2020, View Source [SID1234656119]).

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Immunowake is a pre-clinical company focused on the development of antibody-based therapeutics against cancer. Immunowake’s CEO and founder Xiaoyun Wu said, "This agreement provides us the necessary resources to continue to pursue multiple, non-exclusive research collaborations, as well as future financing opportunities."

On March 5, 2020 INmune Bio, Inc., an immunology company developing treatments that harness the patient’s innate immune system to fight disease, reported that management will present at the 32nd Annual Roth Conference at 8:30 a.m. (PT) on Tuesday, March 17, 2020 and will conduct one-on-one meetings that day (Press release, INmune Bio, MAR 5, 2020, View Source [SID1234555321]).

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The conference will be held March 15-17, 2020 at The Ritz Carlton, Laguna Niguel in Orange County, CA. The ROTH Conference, with close to 550 participating companies and over 5,100 attendees, will feature presentations from public and private companies in a variety of sectors.

Management will be available for one-on-one meetings. For more information about the conference or to schedule a one-on-one meeting with management, please contact [email protected].

On March 5, 2020, XOMA (US) LLC (the "Company" or "XOMA"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of XOMA Corporation, reported that it has entered into a Collaboration and License Agreement (the "Agreement") with Cadila Healthcare Limited ("Zydus"), a company organized and existing under the laws of India, effective as of March 3, 2020 (Filing, 8-K, Xoma, MAR 5, 2020, View Source [SID1234555316]). Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company acquired the rights to receive potential royalty payments in the single to low double-digit percentages of the aggregate net sales in India, Brazil, Mexico and certain other emerging markets (the "Zydus Territory") associated with an IL-2-based immuno-oncology drug candidate that combines Zydus’s IL-2 candidate with XOMA’s anti-IL-2 monoclonal antibody (the "Drug Candidate"). Pursuant to the Agreement, Zydus will make certain development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments to the Company in the potential aggregate amount of up to $24 million upon the occurrence of certain events as set forth in the Agreement and share with the Company revenue received from third party sublicensees in the Zydus Territory. Zydus will be solely responsible for the development of the Drug Candidate through the first Phase 2 clinical study at its sole cost.

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Subject to a right of first negotiation granted to Zydus to acquire rights to the Drug Candidate world-wide outside of the Zydus Territory (the "XOMA Territory"), which expires 180 days following the completion of the Drug Candidate’s first Phase 2 clinical study, the Company retains the rights to develop and commercialize the Drug Candidate in the XOMA Territory itself or through one or more third party sublicensees. The Company’s development and commercialization of the Drug Candidate in the XOMA Territory would be subject to the payment of low to mid teen-digit royalties to Zydus on the aggregate net sales of the Drug Candidate, or sharing with Zydus revenue received from third party sublicensees.

Unless earlier terminated, the Agreement will remain in effect until the expiration of all payment obligations by either party with respect to the Drug Candidate. The Agreement may be terminated (i) by mutual agreement, (ii) by either party for the other party’s uncured material breach, bankruptcy or competitive change of control, (iii) by Zydus prior to expiration of its right of first negotiation due to safety or technical infeasibility or (iv) by Zydus following expiration of its right of first negotiation for convenience upon 90 days prior notice if prior to the first commercial sale of the Drug Candidate in the Zydus Territory or upon 180 days prior notice if after such first commercial sale.

The description of the Agreement contained herein does not purport to be complete, and is qualified in its entirety by reference to such Agreement, together with the exhibits thereto, a copy of which will be filed as an exhibit to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ending March 31, 2020.

On March 5, 2020, Celsion Corporation (the "Company") reported to Aspire Capital Fund, LLC, an Illinois limited liability company ("Aspire Capital"), terminating the Common Stock Purchase Agreement dated October 28, 2019 (the "2019 Aspire Purchase Agreement") with Aspire Capital effective as of March 6, 2020. The 2019 Aspire Purchase Agreement provided that, upon the terms and subject to the conditions and limitations set forth therein, Aspire Capital was committed to purchase up to an aggregate of $10 million of shares of the Company’s common stock over the 24-month term of the 2019 Aspire Purchase Agreement at a price equal to (i) the lowest sale price of the Company’s common stock on the purchase date; or (ii) the arithmetic average of the three (3) lowest closing sale prices for the Company’s common stock during the ten (10) consecutive trading days ending on the trading day immediately preceding the purchase date (Filing, 8-K, Celsion, MAR 5, 2020, View Source [SID1234555303]). In consideration for entering into the 2019 Aspire Purchase Agreement, the Company issued to Aspire Capital 100,000 shares of the Company’s common stock.

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On November 8, 2019, the Company filed with the SEC a Registration Statement on Form S-1 registering all the shares of common stock that may be offered to Aspire Capital from time to time under the 2019 Aspire Purchase Agreement. From October 28, 2019 through the date of termination, the Company sold 1,500,000 shares of common stock under the 2019 Aspire Purchase Agreement generating proceeds of $2.3 million. Upon termination, the Company has no further obligations under the 2019 Aspire Purchase Agreement.