On January 7, 2021 Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), the developer of innovative cancer therapies and diagnostics based on its proprietary Affimer and pre|CISION platforms, reported that it has entered into a license agreement with POINT Biopharma Inc. ("POINT"), to provide access to Avacta’s pre|CISION technology for the development of tumour-activated radiopharmaceuticals (Press release, Avacta, JAN 7, 2021, View Source [SID1234573648]).

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The radiopharmaceutical market is expected to grow to $15 billion by 20251 and there is a substantial opportunity to grow much faster if safety and tolerability of these effective treatments can be improved. POINT Biopharma is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing radioligands2 as precision medicines for the treatment of cancer.

Avacta’s proprietary pre|CISION chemistry can be used to modify a radioligand drug to form a tumour-activated prodrug. The prodrug form is inactive in circulation until it enters the tumour micro-environment where it is activated by an enzyme called fibroblast activation protein (or FAP) that is present in high abundance in most solid tumours but not in healthy tissue. Avacta’s pre|CISION technology therefore has the potential to improve the tolerability and achieve better clinical outcomes for patients compared with standard radiopharmaceuticals by targeting the radioligand treatment more specifically to cancer cells.

The agreement provides POINT with an exclusive license to the pre|CISION technology for use in the first radiopharmaceutical prodrug the company intends to develop, and a non-exclusive license to the pre|CISION platform for the development of a broader pipeline of FAP-activated radiopharmaceuticals.

Under the terms of the agreement, Avacta will receive an upfront fee and development milestones for the first radiopharmaceutical prodrug totaling $9.5 million. Avacta will also receive milestone payments for subsequent radiopharmaceutical prodrugs of up to $8 million each, a royalty on sales of FAP-activated radiopharmaceuticals by POINT and a percentage of any sublicensing income received by POINT.

Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Avacta Group, commented: "I am very pleased to have established this partnership with POINT that allows Avacta to exploit its pre|CISION platform in a therapeutic area outside of our in-house focus on chemotherapy prodrugs.

The clinical and commercial rationale for our pre|CISION prodrug platform is to improve the safety and efficacy of many existing drugs, as well as generating a pipeline of new and novel cancer therapies. In oncology, we believe that this approach will result in better response rates for monotherapies, and a greater safety margin, to enable their use with a larger patient population and as part of combination therapies.

The in-house development of AVA6000 Pro-doxorubicin, the first of our pre|CISION chemotherapy prodrugs for which we have recently submitted a CTA filing in the UK to begin clinical trials in 2021, has already generated significant interest and this is highlighted by the agreement with POINT announced today.

The potential of the pre|CISION platform to significantly improve outcomes for patients treated with existing cancer therapies through improved safety, tolerability and dosing regimens is enormous. In addition, Avacta is combining the pre|CISION technology with the Affimer platform to create an entirely new class of proprietary TMAC drug conjugates.

I look forward to updating the market on further progress on these and the diagnostic programmes across the Group in the near term."

On January 7, 2021 Pacira BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: PCRX), the leading provider of innovative non-opioid pain management options, reported preliminary unaudited net revenue of $429.6 million for 2020, a 2.0% increase compared with net revenue of $421.0 million reported for 2019 (Press release, Pacira Pharmaceuticals, JAN 7, 2021, View Source [SID1234573646]). The company’s total revenues include net product sales of EXPAREL and iovera°, which were $125.3 million and $2.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2020 and $46.5 million and $0.6 million for the month of December 2020, respectively. EXPAREL average daily sales were 112 percent, 103 percent, and 111 percent of the prior year for the months of October, November, and December, respectively.

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"We are pleased with the solid performance EXPAREL delivered in 2020, with the fourth quarter and full-year 2020 posting record product sales despite ongoing pandemic-related challenges. EXPAREL weekly sales growth continues to outperform the elective surgery market, which we attribute to its critical role in reducing or eliminating the need for opioids and enabling the shift of complex surgical procedures to the 23-hour stay environment. EXPAREL utilization also continues to grow in non-elective procedures, such as cesarean section, oncology, and cardiothoracic surgeries. As we look forward to 2021, the deployment of COVID-19 vaccinations should further support the recovery of elective surgery volumes. EXPAREL remains well positioned for more robust growth as it plays a critical role in revolutionizing the practice of regional anesthesia and enables the ongoing migration of procedures to the ambulatory setting." said Dave Stack, chairman and chief executive officer of Pacira BioSciences.

2020 Full Year & Fourth Quarter Revenue Highlights

Fourth quarter net product sales of EXPAREL/bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension were $127.3 million in 2020, compared to $118.6 million in 2019.
Fourth quarter EXPAREL net product sales were $125.3 million in 2020, compared to $116.9 million in 2019. Sales of bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension to a third-party licensee for use in veterinary practice were $2.0 million in 2020, compared to $1.7 million in 2019.
Full-year EXPAREL net product sales were $413.3 million in 2020, compared to $407.9 million in 2019. Sales of bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension to a third-party licensee for use in veterinary practice were $4.5 million in 2020, compared to $3.2 million in 2019.
Full-year iovera° net product sales were $8.8 million in 2020, compared to $7.9 million in 2019. Pacira began recognizing sales of iovera° in April 2019 after completing its acquisition of MyoScience, Inc., a privately held medical technology company.
Fourth quarter royalty revenue was $1.2 million and full-year was $3.0 million in 2020; compared to $0.6 million and $2.1 million in 2019, respectively.
The company’s 2020 product sales were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which mandated significant postponement or suspension in the scheduling of elective surgical procedures resulting from public health guidance and government directives. Elective surgery restrictions began to lift on a state-by-state basis in April 2020. In order to provide greater transparency, the company will continue to report monthly intra-quarter unaudited net product sales until it has gained enough visibility around the impacts of COVID-19. The financial information included in this press release is preliminary, unaudited and subject to adjustment. It does not present all information necessary for an understanding of the company’s fourth quarter and full-year 2020 financial results. Pacira expects to report its complete financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2020 in the first quarter of 2021.

About Pacira BioSciences

Pacira BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: PCRX) is the leading provider of non-opioid pain management and regenerative health solutions dedicated to advancing and improving outcomes for health care practitioners and their patients. The company’s long-acting local analgesic, EXPAREL (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension) was commercially launched in the United States in April 2012. EXPAREL utilizes DepoFoam, a unique and proprietary product delivery technology that encapsulates drugs without altering their molecular structure, and releases them over a desired period of time. In April 2019, Pacira acquired the iovera° system, a handheld cryoanalgesia device used to deliver precise, controlled doses of cold temperature only to targeted nerves. To learn more about Pacira, including the corporate mission to reduce overreliance on opioids, visit www.pacira.com.

About EXPAREL

EXPAREL (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension) is indicated for single-dose infiltration in adults to produce postsurgical local analgesia and as an interscalene brachial plexus nerve block to produce postsurgical regional analgesia. Safety and efficacy have not been established in other nerve blocks. The product combines bupivacaine with DepoFoam, a proven product delivery technology that delivers medication over a desired time period. EXPAREL represents the first and only multivesicular liposome local anesthetic that can be utilized in the peri- or postsurgical setting. By utilizing the DepoFoam platform, a single dose of EXPAREL delivers bupivacaine over time, providing significant reductions in cumulative pain scores with up to a 78 percent decrease in opioid consumption; the clinical benefit of the opioid reduction was not demonstrated. Additional information is available at www.EXPAREL.com.

Important Safety Information for Patients

EXPAREL should not be used in obstetrical paracervical block anesthesia. In studies where EXPAREL was injected into the wound, the most common side effects were nausea, constipation, and vomiting. In studies where EXPAREL was injected near a nerve, the most common side effects were nausea, fever, and constipation. EXPAREL is not recommended to be used in patients younger than 18 years old or in pregnant women. Tell your healthcare provider if you have liver disease, since this may affect how the active ingredient (bupivacaine) in EXPAREL is eliminated from your body. EXPAREL should not be injected into the spine, joints, or veins. The active ingredient in EXPAREL: can affect your nervous system and your cardiovascular system; may cause an allergic reaction; may cause damage if injected into your joints.

About iovera°

The iovera° system is used to destroy tissue during surgical procedures by applying freezing cold. It can also be used to produce lesions in peripheral nervous tissue by the application of cold to the selected site for the blocking of pain. It is also indicated for the relief of pain and symptoms associated with osteoarthritis of the knee for up to 90 days. In one study, the majority of the patients suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee experienced pain and system relief beyond 150 days.1 The iovera° system’s "1×90" Smart Tip configuration (indicating one needle which is 90 mm long) can also facilitate target nerve location by conducting electrical nerve stimulation from a separate nerve stimulator. The iovera° system is not indicated for treatment of central nervous system tissue.

Important Safety Information

The iovera° system is contraindicated for use in patients with the following: Cryoglobulinemia; Paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria; cold urticaria; Raynaud’s disease; open and/or infected wounds at or near the treatment line. Potential complications: As with any surgical treatment that uses needle-based therapy, there is potential for temporary site-specific reactions, including but not limited to: bruising (ecchymosis); swelling (edema); inflammation and/or redness (erythema); pain and/or tenderness; altered sensation (localized dysesthesia). Typically, these reactions resolve with no physician intervention. Patients may help the healing process by applying ice packs to the affected sites, and by taking over-the-counter analgesics.

On January 7, 2021 Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: RIGL) reported that Raul Rodriguez, the company’s president and chief executive officer, is scheduled to present a company overview at the 39th Annual J.P. Morgan Virtual Healthcare Conference on Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time (Press release, Rigel, JAN 7, 2021, View Source [SID1234573645]).

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To access the live and subsequently archived webcast, go to the Investor Relations section of the company’s website at www.rigel.com. Please connect to Rigel’s website several minutes prior to the start of the live webcast to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be necessary.

On January 7, 2021 Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTLA), a leading genome editing company focused on developing curative therapeutics using CRISPR/Cas9 technology both in vivo and ex vivo, reported its expected 2021 milestones and the following strategic priorities (Press release, Intellia Therapeutics, JAN 7, 2021, View Source [SID1234573644]):

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Clinical validation: Evaluate the clinical profile of NTLA-2001 as a single-course therapy for transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) and Intellia’s in vivo non-viral, lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-based CRISPR/Cas9 delivery system as a platform for achieving clinically-relevant protein reduction for patients;
Full-spectrum pipeline advancement: Rapidly progress in vivo and engineered cell therapy candidates for genetic diseases and cancers towards the clinic; and
Platform innovation: Extend Intellia’s continued scientific leadership across genome editing, delivery and cell engineering capabilities.
"Since our founding, we set out to develop modular platform components that could serve as the engine powering an expansive portfolio of curative therapeutics. We have paved a rapid and reproducible development path for both in vivo and engineered cell therapies to address serious genetic diseases and cancers," said Intellia President and Chief Executive Officer John Leonard, M.D. "Over the next 12 months, we will evaluate the clinical profile of NTLA-2001, both as a one-time treatment option for ATTR patients and as a validation of our non-viral approach to in vivo delivery. In addition, we anticipate first-in-human regulatory submissions for NTLA-5001 and NTLA-2002, at least one new development candidate and new platform innovations to create the next wave of genomic medicines. These priorities for 2021 reflect our long-term vision for Intellia: to unlock genome editing’s full therapeutic potential."

Anticipated 2021 Milestones:

NTLA-2001 for ATTR: NTLA-2001 is the first systemically delivered CRISPR-based therapy dosed in a patient, and could potentially be the first curative treatment for ATTR. By applying the Company’s in vivo LNP technology, NTLA-2001 offers the possibility of halting and reversing the disease with potent, lifelong transthyretin (TTR) protein reduction after a single course of treatment. NTLA-2001 is part of a co-development/co-promotion agreement between Intellia, the lead party, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Regeneron).
Intellia is continuing to enroll patients in the global Phase 1 study of NTLA-2001 in adults with hereditary ATTR with polyneuropathy (hATTR-PN) in order to establish an optimal dose. Later this year, the Company plans to provide guidance around timing of the first expected data readout, with the goal of demonstrating clinical proof-of-concept for its modular LNP delivery platform.
Intellia intends to evaluate NTLA-2001 in a broader ATTR population of both polyneuropathy and cardiomyopathy patients following its Phase 1 safety assessment and dose optimization.

NTLA-5001 for AML: NTLA-5001 is a potential best-in-class engineered T cell therapy designed to treat all genetic subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). This investigational candidate is a T cell receptor (TCR)-T cell therapy targeting the Wilms’ Tumor 1 (WT1) antigen utilizing Intellia’s proprietary cell engineering process.
Intellia plans to submit an Investigational New Drug (IND) or equivalent regulatory application for NTLA-5001 in mid-2021. The first-in-human trial is expected to evaluate the safety and activity of NTLA-5001 in patients with persistent or recurrent AML who have previously received first-line therapies.
The Company is also evaluating the potential use of NTLA-5001 to treat WT1-positive solid tumors in preclinical studies.

NTLA-2002 for HAE: NTLA-2002 aims to prevent attacks and eliminate the current, significant treatment burden for people living with hereditary angioedema (HAE) after a single course. Intellia is applying its modular LNP delivery system to develop NTLA-2002 to knock out the KLKB1 gene in the liver to permanently reduce plasma kallikrein activity.
Intellia plans to submit an IND or equivalent regulatory application in the second half of 2021.
The Company is applying insights gained from NTLA-2001 to expedite clinical development of NTLA-2002.

Pipeline Expansion: Intellia is focused on advancing its differentiated genome editing, delivery and cell engineering strategies to broaden in vivo and ex vivo applications for wholly owned and partnered programs. The Company continues to progress its robust research efforts and modular platform to develop new therapeutic candidates for genetic diseases requiring removal and/or restoration of a protein, as well as the next generation of engineered cell therapies for cancers.
Intellia reported plans to nominate at least one additional development candidate in 2021.
Intellia, in partnership with lead party Regeneron, is also continuing to advance hemophilia A and B therapeutic programs toward IND-enabling studies using their jointly-developed in vivo targeted insertion technology.
The Company plans to present at upcoming scientific conferences, with updates on multiple in vivo targets in the liver and other tissues and an allogeneic solution that enables the next generation of engineered cell therapies.
Cash Position and Financial Guidance

Intellia ended the fourth quarter of 2020 with approximately $597 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. Intellia expects that its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of December 31, 2020 will enable the Company to fund its anticipated operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 24 months. This expectation excludes any strategic use of capital not currently in the Company’s base-case planning assumptions.

On January 7, 2021 Moleculin Biotech, Inc., (Nasdaq: MBRX) (Moleculin or the Company), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company with a broad portfolio of drug candidates targeting highly resistant tumors and viruses, reported that members of management will present at the virtual H.C. Wainwright BioConnect 2021 Conference being held January 11-14, 2021 (Press release, Moleculin, JAN 7, 2021, View Source [SID1234573643]).

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Moleculin Biotech, Inc. is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development of a broad portfolio of oncology drug candidates for the treatment of highly resistant tumors. (PRNewsfoto/Moleculin Biotech, Inc.)

H.C. Wainwright BioConnect 2021 Conference:

Date:

Monday, January 11th, 2021

Time:

6:00 AM ET

Link:

View Source

The webcast will be available on demand starting Monday, January 11th, 2021 at 6:00 AM ET. Replays of the presentation will be available for 90 days following the event.