On April 15, 2021 Alligator Bioscience (Nasdaq Stockholm: ATORX) reported that it has entered into a joint research collaboration with MacroGenics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGNX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer (Press release, Alligator Bioscience, APR 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234578105]). The research collaboration will lead to the expansion of Alligator’s proprietary patient specific immunotherapy Neo-X-Prime by incorporating MacroGenics’ proprietary DART and TRIDENT multi-specific platforms against two undisclosed targets.

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Under the joint research collaboration agreement, which covers activities from candidate drug generation up until IND-enabling studies, each company will be responsible for its own costs. The parties may continue further development of the resulting bispecific molecule under a separate co-development collaboration and licensing agreement.

"We are truly excited to start this collaboration with MacroGenics, validating the Neo-X-Prime drug concept. The aim is to create a drug candidate that takes advantage of a unique mechanism of a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer. We look forward to working collaboratively to expand the Neo-X-Prime concept with MacroGenics’ antibodies, their proven DART technology, and extensive capabilities," says Malin Carlsson, interim CEO of Alligator Bioscience.

The Chairman of Alligator Bioscience, Peter Benson stated "MacroGenics is widely viewed as a leader in the antibody field as evidenced by their extensive pipeline of antibody-based molecules in clinical testing that are based on various platform technologies. Furthermore, MacroGenics’ capabilities are an excellent fit with Alligator’s strategy to develop next generation tumor specific immunotherapies to improve the lives of cancer patients."

Neo-X-Prime is a drug concept for more personalized immunotherapy, launched by Alligator in 2020. The concept builds on bispecific antibodies that physically link circulating tumor material to the immune system, to allow neoantigen-specific T cell priming with potential for superior anti-tumor efficacy.

MacroGenics’ DART and TRIDENT multi-specific platforms enable the creation of potential medicines comprised of a single molecule designed to simultaneously bind to two or more targets, each with antibody-like specificity, with the goal of creating a more significant biological effect.

On April 15, 2021 IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDYA), a synthetic lethality-focused precision medicine oncology company committed to the discovery and development of targeted therapeutics, reported First-Patient-In (FPI) in the Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating IDE397 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04794699) (Press release, Ideaya Biosciences, APR 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234578104]). IDE397 is a potential best-in-class methionine adenosyltransferase 2a (MAT2A) inhibitor being evaluated in cancer patients harboring methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP) deletion.

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"We are excited to dose the first patient in the evaluation of IDE397 targeting MAT2A in MTAP deletion patients. IDE397 has the potential to be broadly impactful for cancer patients with MTAP deletion, which is prevalent in approximately 15% of solid tumors," said Anthony Tolcher, M.D., Director of Clinical Research, Founder and CEO at NEXT Oncology.

IDE397 is an internally discovered potential best-in-class MAT2A inhibitor that received IND-clearance from the U.S. FDA to initiate Phase 1 in Q1 2021. As reported at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) 2021, IDE397 demonstrated significant single-agent anti-tumor activity in a 40-plus MTAP-deletion study, including tumor regressions, across major solid tumor types, such as NSCLC, gastric, esophageal, bladder, among others. In addition to IDE397 monotherapy, IDEAYA is evaluating multiple potential combinations preclinically, including in the PRMT pathway and with taxanes, among others. Multiple clinical trial sites are being activated across the U.S. to evaluate IDE397 clinically, and MTAP-deletion patients will be identified for study enrollment through commercially available Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) platforms and with an MTAP-IHC assay which IDEAYA has developed in collaboration with Ventana.

"We believe that IDE397 is a differentiated small molecule MAT2A inhibitor, with the potential for monotherapy clinical development in genetically defined MTAP deleted cancers," said Matthew Maurer, M.D., Vice President, Head of Clinical Oncology and Medical Affairs at IDEAYA Biosciences. "Dosing our first patient for IDE397 in our Phase 1 MTAP-deletion solid tumor trial is a substantial company milestone. IDEAYA is targeting to advance our next two Synthetic Lethality programs in PARG and Pol Theta to development candidate stage in 2021 and advancing our internal pipeline in the MTAP-deletion synthetic lethality space to complement our Phase 1 MAT2A inhibitor IDE397," said Yujiro S. Hata, President and Chief Executive Officer, IDEAYA Biosciences.

On April 15, 2021 Second Genome, a tech-enabled biotechnology company that extracts microbial genetic insights to make transformational precision therapies and biomarkers, reported that Karim Dabbagh, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, will present and participate in a fireside chat at the virtual Jefferies Microbiome-Based Therapeutics Summit on April 22, 2021 (Press release, Second Genome, APR 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234578103]).

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The prerecorded presentation and fireside chat will be available on Thursday, April 22, 2021, at 8:00 a.m. ET and can be accessed by visiting the "News" section of the Company’s website at www.secondgenome.com and selecting the Events tab on the News page. A replay of the webcast will be archived there following the presentation date.

On April 15, 2021 Sutro Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: STRO), a clinical-stage drug discovery, development and manufacturing company focused on the application of precise protein engineering and rational design to create next-generation cancer and autoimmune therapeutics, reported that Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, will make to Sutro a $15 million milestone payment for the initiation of an IND enabling toxicology study for the first program in its collaboration to develop novel cytokine derivative therapeutics for cancer and autoimmune disorders (Press release, Sutro Biopharma, APR 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234578102]). In July 2018, Sutro entered into a collaboration with Merck to jointly discover and develop best-in-class immune-modulating cytokine derivatives for both oncology and autoimmune indications.

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"The advancement of this first candidate into an IND enabling toxicology study represents an important preclinical milestone in our collaboration, led by Merck’s deep understanding and leadership within immuno-oncology and Sutro’s strength in precise protein design and optimization through its proprietary cell-free synthesis approaches," said Bill Newell, Chief Executive Officer of Sutro. "We are pleased with the continued progress in our collaboration with Merck and will continue our efforts towards developing novel therapeutics to improve outcomes and expand much-needed treatment options for cancer patients."

Under the terms of the 2018 Merck collaboration agreement, Sutro has been primarily responsible for preclinical research and development of cytokine derivatives utilizing Sutro’s proprietary cell-free protein synthesis and site-specific conjugation platforms, XpressCF and Xpress CF+. Merck has exclusive worldwide rights to therapeutic candidates derived from the collaboration. In March 2020, Merck exercised its option to extend the first research term of the program by one year, which generated a payment of $5.0 million to Sutro.

On April 15, 2021 IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDYA), a synthetic lethality-focused precision medicine oncology company committed to the discovery and development of targeted therapeutics, reported that the company plans to issue a pre-market press release and conduct a webcast on Friday, April 16, 2021, to discuss clinical data from the ongoing Phase 1/2 trial evaluating darovasertib (IDE196) as monotherapy and darovasertib and binimetinib combination in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma (MUM) (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03947385) (Press release, Ideaya Biosciences, APR 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234578101]).

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IDEAYA will host a Darovasertib Investor Day, including a conference call and webcast with participation of leading clinical investigators, at 8:00 a.m. ET on Friday, April 16, 2021. The link to the webcast of the conference call will be posted on the Investor Relations Events section of the Company’s website at: View Source The update may also be accessed by dialing 1-866-248-8441 (domestic) or 1-720-452-9102 (international) five minutes prior to the start of the call and providing the passcode 2793795. An archived replay will be accessible for 90 days following the event.

IDEAYA also announced the International Nonproprietary Name (INN) for IDE196 is "darovasertib" as registered with the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Programme and Classification of Medical Products.