On April 15, 2021 NKGen Biotech, a biotechnology company harnessing the power of the body’s immune system through the development of Natural Killer (NK) cell therapies, reported that it has appointed Steven Cha, M.D. as its Chief Medical Officer (Press release, NKGEN Biotech, APR 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234578709]). Dr. Cha will oversee the clinical development of NKGen Biotech’s lead product SNK01 as well as its pipeline of other novel NK cell therapies.

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"We are extremely pleased to have Steven join the NKGen Biotech team during this rapid growth phase for the Company," said Stephen Chen, Chief Operating Officer. "His broad expertise and leadership in oncology, early and late-stage drug development, and proficiency with business development transactions make him an ideal fit for NKGen Biotech," he concluded.

Dr. Cha has 15 years of R&D industry experience encompassing both large and small pharmaceutical companies. Since 2018 he has served as Vice President of Oncology at Samumed LLC, a privately held clinical-stage biotechnology company. Prior to that Dr. Cha was Senior Director, Global Clinical Lead at Pfizer focused on early oncology development. In his earlier roles Dr. Cha was Head of the metastatic breast cancer franchise at Puma Biotechnology, Senior Medical Director, Clinical Development at MEI Pharma, Medical Director at Allergan where he worked on Botox in urologic disorders, and Medical Director at Amgen where he was primarily focused on Nplate and blinatumomab.

Dr. Cha joins NKGen Biotech during an exciting period as the Company advances its allogeneic program towards IND filing while continuing work on SNK01 in refractory solid tumors in both monotherapy and combination therapy partnered programs.

"NK cell therapy represents a highly promising novel treatment paradigm in oncology," said Dr. Cha. "I am extremely enthusiastic about joining the NKGen Biotech team to work on SNK01 and the follow-on allogeneic and CAR-NK programs, which I believe have the potential to become best-in-class NK cell therapies for oncology patients."

Dr. Cha completed a BS in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from the University of California, San Diego and obtained his M.D. from the Tufts University School of Medicine. He has also completed fellowships in Hematology and Blood and Marrow Transplant at Stanford University.

On April 15, 2021 Biomea Fusion, Inc. ("Biomea") (Nasdaq: BMEA), a preclinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of irreversible small molecules to treat patients with genetically defined cancers, reported the pricing of its initial public offering of 9,000,000 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $17.00 per share (Press release, Biomea Fusion, APR 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234578177]). All of the shares of common stock are being offered by Biomea. The gross proceeds from the offering, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by Biomea, are expected to be $153.0 million. Biomea’s common stock is expected to begin trading on The Nasdaq Global Select Market on April 16, 2021, under the ticker symbol "BMEA." The offering is expected to close on April 20, 2021, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. In addition, Biomea has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,350,000 shares of common stock at the initial public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions.

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J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Jefferies LLC and Piper Sandler & Co. are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.

Registration statements relating to the securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and was declared effective on April 15, 2021. The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus, copies of which may be obtained from, when available from: J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, by telephone at (866) 803-9204, or by email at [email protected]; Jefferies LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department, 520 Madison Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10022, by telephone at (877) 821-7388, or by email at [email protected]; or Piper Sandler & Co., 800 Nicollet Mall, J12S03, Minneapolis, MN 55402, Attn: Prospectus Department, by telephone at (800) 747-3924, or by email at [email protected].

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

On April 15, 2021 Race Oncology Limited ("Race") reported to share details of a recent scientific publication in the prestigious journal Nature Communication, confirming Bisantrene is a highly effective inhibitor of the Fat Mass and Obesity associated protein (FTO)1 (Press release, Race Oncology, APR 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234578162]).

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This independent work was performed by a research team at the University of Chicago led by prominent Professors Chuan He and Yu-Ying He, and builds on the original identification of Bisantrene as a potent FTO inhibitor by Professor Chen and his team at the City of Hope Hospital in 20202. Prof. Chuan He’s team was the first to identify FTO as a m6A RNA demethylase3 and its involvement in many cancers.

In this new work, the University of Chicago team has identified that FTO plays a critical role in the development of skin cancers caused by low-level arsenic exposure (which promotes tumour growth) and that Bisantrene-targeted inhibition of FTO limits the growth of these skin cancers in both cell culture and mice.

The importance of this work is highlighted by the ongoing replication crisis in cancer research where many of the most exciting discoveries have not been able to be repeated in independent laboratories4. Independent confirmation of Bisantrene’s ability to target FTO further supports the clinical potential of Race’s Pillar 1 program (ASX announcements: 30 November 2020).

On April 15, 2021 Alchemab Therapeutics, a biotech company developing novel products for patients with hard-to-treat diseases by harnessing the power of naturally protective antibodies, reported the completion of a £60 million ($82 million) Series A financing round (Press release, Alchemab Therapeutics, APR 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234578119]).

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The international investment syndicate is led by RA Capital Management, with participation from Lightstone Ventures, Data Collective VC (DCVC), DHVC, SV Health Investors and the Dementia Discovery Fund. The company was created by SV Health Investors who led the Seed round in 2019.

The proceeds will be used to advance Alchemab’s unique target-agnostic drug discovery platform. The approach interrogates the entire antibody repertoires of individuals from well-defined groups who show unexpected resistance to disease despite genetic disposition or other risk factors predicative of a poor prognosis. Using insights gained, Alchemab can identify naturally protective antibodies with therapeutic potential. Alchemab’s primary focus is the development of novel therapeutics for hard-to-treat neurodegenerative diseases and cancers, and the Company currently has several programs at the preclinical stage.

Alchemab’s approach was developed with support from scientific founders at Oxford University, Johns Hopkins University and Mount Sinai Hospital. Alchemab is amongst the first commercial group to access Illumina’s Cambridge, UK Accelerator.

"Our aim is to become a major player in the identification of novel targets and antibodies in the areas of neurodegeneration and cancer," noted Alex Leech, CEO at Alchemab. "The substantial financial commitment by this high-caliber group of US and European investors is a strong endorsement of our science and team."

His colleague and co-founder, Dr Jane Osbourn OBE, CSO at Alchemab, added: "Our approach to understanding the natural immunological response to disease and why some people are able to stay well has huge potential to identify antibody therapies across a range of indications. The Series A financing offers a great opportunity to accelerate our efforts to positively impact the lives of patients.

Dr Houman Ashrafian, Managing Partner at SV Health Investors, commented: "Alchemab is a brilliant company driven by science. The Company combines elements of traditional drug discovery techniques with advanced analytics, and in doing so turns the conventional biotech model upside down."

Dr Andrew Levin, Managing Director at RA Capital, added: "It is a privilege to work with this exceptional team. Alex, Jane and the scientists at Alchemab are offering a truly innovative, disease-agnostic approach that we believe has great potential for the development of novel therapeutics."

Last month, Alchemab announced the award of an Innovate UK grant to support the development of a novel disease-modifying antibody therapy for Huntington’s disease, in collaboration with the Medicines Discovery Catapult.

On April 15, 2021 Bioneer reported that we will be participating in the Nordic Life Science Days 2021, from April 20th to 23rd (Press release, Bioneer, APR 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234578116]).

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Nordic Life Science Days is the largest Nordic partnering conference dedicated to the life science industry. This year the event will be in a digital format, where Bioneer will have a virtual booth, where you will find all information about our company and our high quality service.

You can book a meeting with our Sales and Business Development Manager Lovisa Sunesson ([email protected]) on the Nordic Life Science Days platform or contact us via the available online chat.

Moreover you will be able to hear more about our company and specifically our disease modelling in our company presentation featuring Christian Clausen, Chief Scientific Officer at Bioneer.