On April 16, 2021 Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) reported that it has successfully completed its previously announced tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of common stock of Five Prime Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FPRX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing immuno-oncology and targeted cancer therapies, for $38.00 per share in cash (Press release, Amgen, APR 16, 2021, View Source [SID1234578114]). The aggregate consideration to be paid by Amgen to complete the tender offer and the subsequent merger is approximately $1.9 billion without giving effect to related transaction fees and expenses.

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"Five Prime fits squarely within Amgen’s leading oncology portfolio and includes bemarituzumab, a Phase 3 trial-ready, first-in-class program for gastric cancer, the third leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide," said Robert A. Bradway, chairman and chief executive officer at Amgen. "Working with the dedicated professionals joining us from Five Prime, we plan to quickly move bemarituzumab into a Phase 3 study, bringing it one step closer to helping patients suffering from gastric cancer."

Amgen’s existing and complementary development capabilities in metastatic gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancers together with its biologics manufacturing expertise and global commercial footprint will help bemarituzumab reach patients in markets such as Japan, South Korea, and Latin America, where the prevalence of gastric cancer is high. Amgen will continue to review additional Five Prime oncology assets for the Amgen pipeline.

As of the expiration of the tender offer, approximately 40,392,569 shares were validly tendered and not properly withdrawn in the tender offer, representing approximately 87.8% of Five Prime’s outstanding shares, according to the depositary of the tender offer. The condition to the tender offer that at least one share more than 50% of Five Prime’s issued and outstanding shares be validly tendered and not properly withdrawn prior to the expiration of the tender offer has been satisfied. As a result, Amgen has accepted for payment all such validly tendered shares and will promptly (and in any event within two business days) pay for all such validly tendered shares.

Following the completion of the tender offer, Franklin Acquisition Sub, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Amgen, merged with and into Five Prime, with Five Prime surviving the merger. As a result of the merger effected today, all remaining eligible Five Prime shares have been converted into the right to receive $38.00 per share in cash, minus any applicable withholding taxes and without interest, the same price that was paid in the tender offer (eligible shares exclude those for which holders properly demanded and perfected appraisal rights under Delaware law and those held by Amgen or its wholly owned subsidiaries or Five Prime). Following completion of the merger, Five Prime shares have ceased trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market.

On April 15, 2021 Juniper Biologics, a science-led healthcare company focused on researching, developing & commercialising novel therapies, reported the appointment of celebrated pharmaceutical executive Raman Singh to the role of Chief Executive (Press release, Juniper Biologics, APR 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234615018]).

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Juniper Biologics will be focused on researching, developing and commercialising innovative medications in the areas of Oncology, Rare/Orphan Diseases and Gene Therapy. The company is headquartered in Singapore.

Juniper Biologics was founded on a vision to provide the next generation of life-changing treatments for unmet needs focused on specialist therapy areas in which it can make the most difference. The company has the goal of bringing in cutting edge innovation and improving the quality of life of the human race and especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr Singh’s plan is to do this by focusing exclusively on much neglected therapy areas, specific biological targets and unique formulations with strong value proposition.

‘’The opportunity to lead Juniper Biologics is one I could not pass up. There is a tremendous global need for effective therapies and preventions for Oncology, Rare/Orphan Diseases and Gene Therapy. Success would mean alleviation of a lot of human suffering,’’ said Raman Singh, CEO, Juniper Biologics.

Mr Singh brings over 25 years of experience from the pharmaceutical industry, most recently as CEO of Mundipharma for its Pharmaceutical & Consumer Business where he grew the emerging markets operations from USD$45 million to close to USD$1billion in eight years. Under Mr Singh’s leadership, Mundipharma signed over 60 in-licensing/acquisition deals across multiple therapy areas, covering pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter medicines and fast- moving consumer products.

Prior to joining Mundipharma, Mr. Singh served as Vice-President of commercial operations for emerging markets at GSK. In his role, he oversaw all aspects of the brand’s commercial operations across its emerging markets. Mr. Singh previously held positions at Abbott as the regional director in Australia and New Zealand, and General Manager for Korea, as well as various sales, marketing and strategy positions at Bayer.

More recently during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Singh spearheaded R&D efforts to investigate how Mundipharma’ s consumer products could help the developing and developed world impacted by the pandemic, manage the spread of the virus. Laboratory tests with Duke-NUS and other labs worldwide

were initiated to determine the efficacy of certain Betadine products against the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Mr Singh’s support of Singapore as a strong global business hub has been highlighted across international print and broadcast media. He was also featured as a brand ambassador in the Singapore Tourism Board and Economic Development Board’s POSSIBLE global brand campaign in 2017.

Mr Singh’s many accolades include being named among the Most Powerful People in Healthcare from 2015-2019 by Medicine Maker, Executive of the Year 2017-2019 by SBR Management Excellence Awards and Executive of the Year 2018 at the Scrip Awards.

Mr Singh also sits on the board for Liquidia, a late-stage clinical bio pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialisation of novel products. He is the only non-US based Board Member. During his term, he successfully oversaw the IPO in NASDAQ in 2016 as well as the acquisition of RareGen LLC, a portfolio company of PBM Capital Group. A champion of digital healthcare, Mr Singh also sits on the boards of Biofourmis Healthcare and Neuroglee Therapeutics.

On his appointment at Juniper Biologics, Mr Singh added "There is a great unmet need in the treatment of Oncology, Rare/Orphan Diseases and Gene Therapy and it is our responsibility as a company to provide patients with easier access to therapeutic strategies to improve the quality of their lives. Our mission at Juniper Biologics reinforces the drive to deliver new possibilities in treatments, focusing on the best interest of patients and those who care for them.’’

On April 15, 2021 Biosplice Therapeutics, Inc. ("Biosplice"), a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering therapeutics based on alternative pre-mRNA splicing for major diseases, reported it has closed $120 million in equity financing from a new biotechnology investment syndicate (Press release, Biosplice Therapeutics, APR 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234607835]). Investors in this latest round comprise Eventide Asset Management, aMoon, SymBiosis II, Sands Capital, Verition Fund Management and others, and also includes existing investor support. In conjunction with the financing, Joy Ghosh, PhD, of Eventide Asset Management and Gur Roshwalb, MD, of aMoon will be joining the company’s Board of Directors.

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"We are delighted to align with our new investors and board behind the immense therapeutic potential of Biosplice," said Cevdet Samikoglu, Chief Executive Officer of Biosplice. "This investment round positions us to accelerate the development and launch of lorecivivint, our groundbreaking Phase 3 program in osteoarthritis. In addition, we expect to realize the tremendous potential of our oncology program, as well as neurology and other areas of significant unmet need."

Joy Ghosh, PhD, of Eventide Asset Management, added, "Biosplice’s alternative splicing platform has enormous potential to address critical needs in osteoarthritis, oncology and neurology, among others. We are particularly excited by lorecivivint, which has the potential to be a first-in-class medicine that could confer both symptomatic and disease-modifying benefits to hundreds of millions of osteoarthritis sufferers worldwide."

On April 15, 2021 Panbela Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: PBLA), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing disruptive therapeutics for the treatment of patients with cancer reported the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has lifted the partial clinical hold on the company’s Phase 1 first-line study of SBP-101 when used in combination with standard of care agents gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel for treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) (Press release, Panbela Therapeutics, APR 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234583757]). SBP-101 is the company’s first polyamine metabolic inhibitor therapeutic candidate.

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The company has agreed to include in the design of all future studies the exclusion of patients with a history of retinopathy or at risk of retinal detachment and scheduled ophthalmologic monitoring for all patients. Additionally, in future dose-finding studies screening for retinal toxicity will be included.

About SBP-101

SBP-101 is a proprietary polyamine analogue designed to induce polyamine metabolic inhibition (PMI) by exploiting an observed high affinity of the compound for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and other tumors. The molecule has shown signals of tumor growth inhibition in clinical studies of US and Australian metastatic pancreatic cancer patients, suggesting potential complementary activity with an existing FDA-approved standard chemotherapy regimen. In data evaluated from clinical studies to date, SBP-101 has not shown exacerbation of bone marrow suppression or peripheral neuropathy, which can be chemotherapy-related adverse events. Recently observed serious visual adverse events are being evaluated and patients with a history of retinopathy or at risk of retinal detachment are excluded from SBP-101 studies. The safety data and PMI profile observed in the current Panbela sponsored clinical trial provides support for continued evaluation of SBP-101 in a randomized clinical trial. For more information, please visit View Source .

On April 15, 2021 Iktos’s AI technology, reported that based on deep generative models, helps bring speed and efficiency to the drug discovery process (Press release, Iktos, APR 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234580475]). Iktos’ technology automatically designs virtual novel molecules that have all of the characteristics of a successful drug molecule.

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Iktos AI is the first company to release user-friendly and high-performance de novo design software for multi-parameter optimization that can be used by any medicinal or computational chemist, whatever their level of expertise, in deep learning and computer programming.

BioExcel is partnering with Iktos on the application of advanced molecular modelling and simulation techniques to expedite drug design.