Cancer Media Outlet SurvivorNet Announces $10-million in Series B Funding

On January 10, 2010 SurvivorNet has reported just closed a new round of funding, bringing its total outside investment to $15-million (Press release, SurvivorNet, JAN 10, 2020, View Source [SID1234553044]). The latest $10-million investment was led by London-based asset manager Gatemore Ventures, and will be used to accelerate SurvivorNet’s growth and expand its coverage across various types of cancer.

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1.5 million unique visitors per month are now coming to SurvivorNet to access information from some of the world’s top oncologists, representing a powerful presence in the cancer market which sees 1.8 million new diagnoses per year in the U.S.

"If something was really wrong with someone you loved, you wouldn’t want them to turn to Dr. Google," says SurvivorNet CEO & Co-Founder Steve Alperin. "SurvivorNet started as a personal mission to give families like mine a better source for cancer information. With the help of our extraordinary partners in the cancer community, we are now helping millions of people get better information that can help save their lives or make their journey a little easier. With this new support from our investors we are going to continue expanding our coverage across more cancer types and bring more of the country’s leading experts to the people who need them."

"We believe that SurvivorNet could change the landscape for all participants in the healthcare industry, and we are excited about our involvement in the company’s growth," says George Cadbury, Partner at Gatemore.

70% of Americans are not treated at a major cancer center, and the data is clear that these patients don’t respond as well to treatment. There is an astounding 10% higher death rate for many types of cancer patients treated outside academic centers. SurvivorNet is addressing this gap by collaborating with many of the country’s top cancer centers to make their experts available to the millions of people who can’t get to them but desperately need the information. Dozens of the leading comprehensive cancer centers in the country have contributed to SurvivorNet, including MD Anderson, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Cleveland Clinic, The Mayo Clinic, Stanford, and Cedars Sinai.

"Health information is the one problem in healthcare that we all suffer from, and nobody has really addressed it. It’s a dramatically underinvested space," says Alperin. "By building a deeper, higher quality product in this space, we are helping patients ask better questions. With so much incredible progress in cancer right now, doctors have trouble keeping up. So patients need to go in armed and ready. A simple example is ovarian cancer. 80% of women are still not offered a genetic test that could make them eligible for medication to greatly extend their lives. We think this information gap is unacceptable and we are doing something about it."

Biomarck Pharmaceuticals to Participate in 38th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Thursday, January 16th, 2020

On January 10, 2020 Biomarck Pharmaceuticals, Ltd reported that it is delighted to have been invited to present Phase 2 clinical data from its study in NSCLC and an update on the Phase 2 study in ARDS at the JPM conference (Press release, BioMarck Pharmaceuticals, JAN 10, 2020, View Source [SID1234553043]).

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These two controlled clinical studies add to the breadth of clinical data observed in over 300 patients dosed with BIO-11006 which has already shown significant effect (p=0.029) in FEV1 in patients with COPD.

The NSCLC study was controlled with carboplatin/pemetrexed (SOC) and at 3 months showed an improvement in PR, less DP and a significant (p=0.02) improvement in ORR compared to SOC.

The ARDS clinical study compares BIO-11006 to placebo in established ARDS patients who are on a ventilator. This study has almost completed enrollment and clinical data is expected Q1, 2020

The safety profile of BIO-11006 is very encouraging with only cough and headache occurring in <5% of patients.

About BIO-11006
BIO-11006 is a novel patented peptide that inhibits the MARCKS protein. Phosphorylation of the MARCKS protein has been shown to stimulate cell division and movement. BIO-11006 is part of a portfolio of over 100 patented compounds owned by Biomarck.

Serimmune and Atreca, Inc. Establish Research Collaboration Agreement in Oncology

On January 10, 2020 Serimmune, a leader in understanding the functional antibody repertoire’s role in human disease, reported that they have entered into an agreement with Atreca, a biotechnology company focused on developing novel cancer therapeutics based on interrogation of the active human immune response (Press release, Serimmune, JAN 10, 2020, View Source [SID1234553005]).

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Under the agreement, Serimmune will apply its Serum Epitope Repertoire Analysis (SERA) platform, which maps the antigenic targets of antibody repertoires to identify the targets of selected therapeutic antibody candidates for oncology generated by Atreca.

"We are excited that Atreca has chosen to collaborate with Serimmune to leverage the strengths of our proprietary platform for identifying the specific antigenic epitopes of antibody response," said Noah Nasser, CEO of Serimmune. "Atreca’s antibody discovery platform provides a wealth of therapeutic candidates, and we look forward to providing valuable target information to help them select and advance those candidates."

Serimmune’s SERA technology platform reveals the diverse antigens that stimulate immunity. Serimmune is using this platform to create a growing database that can be interrogated to uncover disease information. The company is actively pursuing commercial partnerships for the SERA platform and has a number of ongoing collaborations with government, academic and commercial organizations.

Jubilant Therapeutics to Present at Biotech Showcase 2020 on January 13, 2020

On January 10, 2020 Jubilant Therapeutics Inc., a patient focused bio-pharmaceutical company focused on addressing unmet needs in Oncology and Auto-immune disorders reported that Syed Kazmi, President & CEO of Jubilant Therapeutics will present at Biotech Showcase 2020 (Press release, Jubilant Therapeutics, JAN 10, 2020, View Source [SID1234553004]).

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Date: Monday, January 13, 2020
Time: 3:45 p.m. PST
Location: Hilton San Francisco Union Square Hotel, 333 O’Farrell Street, San Francisco
Track: Franciscan B (Ballroom Level)

To schedule a meeting with Jubilant Therapeutics during the event, please make a request by email at [email protected]

Neptune Provides Corporate Updates and Discusses 2020 Initiatives

On January 10, 2020 Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc. ("Neptune" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: NEPT) (TSX: NEPT), a health and wellness company focused on extraction, purification and formulation of cannabinoids, reported that would like to provide the following corporate updates and outlook ahead of its participation at the Annual ICR Conference in Orlando, Florida being held on January 13-15, 2020, where Neptune’s CEO, Michael Cammarata, will present and meet with investors (Press release, Neptune Technologies et Bioressources inc, JAN 10, 2020, View Source [SID1234553003]).

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Consumer Brands Initiatives
Several efforts have been deployed internally to accelerate the Company’s growth in the B2C markets. The official launch of the Forest Remedies brand is expected to occur in February 2020, supported by a public relations campaign and a marketing campaign under our partnership with American Media LLC. The launch will consist of hemp-derived wellness products including ingestibles, such as soft gels and oils, topicals and a pet soother. The Forest Remedies brand launch will also include aromatherapy products developed in collaboration with International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. ("IFF"). Neptune will first launch Forest Remedies online and expects the brand to be available at U.S. retailers shortly thereafter. A media event will be held this spring at IFF’s headquarters to celebrate the brand’s debut.

Neptune is also rebranding OCEANO³ to Ocean Remedies, under which the Company’s omega-3 products will be commercialized. Other product launches under the Ocean Remedies brand are expected this year.

Health Canada License Amendments
At our Sherbrooke facility, the expansion of Neptune’s packaging and warehousing capabilities is tracking as planned. Neptune expects to request an amendment to include these packaging and warehousing areas under the Company’s license granted by Health Canada, in the near future. Licensing these additional areas is expected to significantly increase Neptune’s capabilities to provide turnkey solutions to its customers such as formulation, purification, blending, manufacturing and packaging services. Neptune will also seek to add significant warehouse space, which can be kept at sub-zero temperatures and which should improve logistics to store cannabis biomass and finished products.

Neptune is also in the process of applying to receive permission to sell cannabis products from Health Canada. Upon the addition of the authorization to sell cannabis to the conditions of its license, the Company will be able to sell finished products directly to licensed cannabis distributors and retailers, enabling Neptune to position itself closer to the end customer. Neptune initially expects to launch cannabis products in Canada under its Forest Remedies, Ocean Remedies and Neptune brands.

The Company will utilize some of its future capacity which has recently become available, due in part to delays in the ramp-up of the Canadian cannabis market, to produce its own finished products.

Production Update
In light of the new cannabis product forms recently allowed in Canada, Neptune is progressing well to broaden its product offering into turnkey solutions for Canadian License Holders ("LHs"). The Company recently produced and shipped cannabinoid-infused powder sachets to a LH customer. In addition, Neptune, in combination with this LH customer, has completed development of cannabinoid-infused teas and commercial production is expected to start soon. These finished products are manufactured at our Sherbrooke facility and several other product forms, including but not limited to, sprays, vape pens, capsules and tinctures are expected to be produced this year.

In recent weeks, following the optimization of our extraction parameters on Neptune’s Phase I CO2 extraction equipment, extraction yields at Neptune’s Sherbrooke facility have increased by more than 10 percentage points to reach levels above 95% and allowed the team to increase process throughput.

Our Phase II equipment for ethanol extraction represents an improvement over CO2 extraction and allows us to winterize oils through an inline process, eliminating an additional manufacturing step. Management decided to upgrade the coolant system utilized in the Phase II extraction process to be consistent with the Company’s standards regarding organic processes and highest possible production standards and is looking at environmentally-friendly alternatives, such as liquid nitrogen, to maintain the intended cold temperatures throughout the manufacturing process. This decision has led to a small delay in reaching Phase II’s full extraction capacity. Future capacity utilization will be dependent on market conditions, the pace of growth of the Canadian cannabis market and the success our customers have with the rollout of their cannabis 2.0 products.

The capacity expansion at Neptune’s North Carolina SugarLeaf facility is nearing completion, as expected and on budget. With a second centrifuge installed, Neptune will be able to run multiple batches concurrently, providing more flexibility and reducing downtime. Management is putting the final touches to get the facility ready for a Good Manufacturing Practice ("GMP") pre-inspection audit which should occur in the coming weeks. A GMP certification will enable Neptune to broaden its client base. Recently, the R&D teams from both production facilities collaborated to develop an in-house technology to make a water solubility emulsion of cannabinoids. While testing is still undergoing, the initial stability tests were very positive.

Management Additions
Neptune is pleased to welcome Denis Maranda as head of production for the Sherbrooke facility. Mr. Maranda has a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University and a Master’s degree in Total Quality, from Concordia’ John Molson School of Business. He was previously a Plant Manager at Thyssenkrupp Aerospatiale and worked at Dart Aerospace.

Eric Dodge recently joined Neptune in the role of Senior Brand Manager, with responsibilities to oversee the growth of Forest Remedies and other Neptune’s brands. Mr. Dodge holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics as well as a Master of Business Administration specializing in Brand and Product Management from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He was most recently Brand Manager – Oral Care Innovation at Tom’s of Maine, a subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive.

To support the Company’s consumer brands, Neptune recently hired Tyler Segel as Creative Manager. Mr. Segel will be responsible for creative work on all of Neptune’s brands. He previously held the position of Creative Director for Factory North where he worked on the development of the Schmidt’s Naturals brand. Mr. Segel holds an Associate Degree in Graphic Design from Portland Community College.