On July 6, 2021 Immunome, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMNM), a biopharmaceutical company that utilizes its human memory B cell discovery engine platform to discover and develop first-in-class antibody therapeutics, reported that Purnanand Sarma, Ph.D., Immunome’s President and CEO, will present at the Ladenburg Thalmann 2021 Healthcare Conference on Tuesday, July 13, 2021, at 10:30 a.m. ET (Press release, Immunome, JUL 6, 2021, View Source [SID1234584625]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Interested parties can access the live audio webcast for this conference from the Investor Relations section of the company’s website at www.immunome.com. The webcast replay will be available after the conclusion of the live presentation for approximately 30 days.

On July 6, 2021 4D pharma plc (AIM: DDDD, NASDAQ: LBPS), a pharmaceutical company leading the development of Live Biotherapeutic products (LBPs), a novel class of drug derived from the microbiome, reported the publication of pre-clinical research relating to its second-generation immuno-oncology LBP MRx1299 improving the activity of CAR-T (Press release, 4d Pharma, JUL 6, 2021, View Source [SID1234584624]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

The research, conducted in collaboration with the Philipps-University Marburg, Germany, and Universitätsklinikum Würzburg, Germany, and published in Nature Communications, demonstrates the ability of the bacterium Megasphaera massiliensis or its short chain fatty acid (SCFA) metabolite pentanoate to enhance the anti-tumor activity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) and CAR-T therapies in animal models of cancer, resulting in better tumor clearance.

4D pharma identified M. massiliensis MRx1299 using its MicroRx platform and previously showed MRx1299 to have specific histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitory activity and be a rare prolific producer of pentanoate. This led to discussions with the lab of Dr. Alexander Visekruna, corresponding author on the recent publication, due to their work investigating the effects of SCFAs on immune cell subsets.

"Our existing clinical oncology programs, such as the study of MRx0518 and Keytruda in refractory patients, have shown the important role our live biotherapeutics have to play in the fight against cancer in combination with immunotherapies. Using the MicroRx platform we have now shown we have the potential to improve the efficacies of cell therapies such as CAR-T," commented Dr. Imke Mulder, Research Director, 4D pharma. "This demonstrates not only the importance of Live Biotherapeutics as a new modality poised to revolutionize the treatment of a wide range of cancers, but also the power of our MicroRx platform to continue making significant discoveries and advances in this field."

"Collectively, these results suggest that low-abundant commensal bacterial species such as M. massiliensis and their selective metabolites such as pentanoate, rather than broadly distributed and abundant commensals, may be used as specific microbial biotherapeutics to enhance anti-tumor immunity and increase the efficacy of CAR-T therapy for treating tumors," commented Dr Alexander Visekruna of the Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene at Philipps-University Marburg. "Combined therapies including immune checkpoint inhibitors or CAR-T and simultaneous provision of low-abundant bacteria synthesizing specific metabolites as an adjunctive agent may be therapeutically useful."

Luu et al., Nature Communications, ‘Microbial short-chain fatty acids modulate CD8+ T cell responses and improve adoptive immunotherapy for cancer’ View Source

On July 6, 2021 MiNA Therapeutics Limited ("MiNA" or the "Company"), the pioneer in small activating RNA therapeutics, reported that Eli Lilly and Company has entered into a definitive agreement under which it will make a direct equity investment in MiNA (Press release, MiNA Therapeutics, JUL 6, 2021, View Source [SID1234584623]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

The equity investment of approximately $15m follows the recent agreement between the two companies to develop novel drug candidates using MiNA’s proprietary small activating RNA (saRNA) technology platform, announced on 11 May 2021.

Proceeds from the equity investment will be used to advance and expand MiNA’s internal pipeline of saRNA therapeutics, which is initially focused on immuno-oncology and genetic diseases.

Robert Habib, CEO of MiNA Therapeutics, commented:
"We welcome Lilly as an important shareholder in MiNA. This investment from Lilly, together with our recently announced multi-target research collaboration, represents an important endorsement of our saRNA platform."

On July 6, 2021 Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ: AGEN), an immuno-oncology company with an extensive pipeline of agents which includes checkpoint antibodies, cell therapies, adjuvants, and vaccines designed to activate immune response to cancers and infections, reported the closing of its global exclusive license with Bristol Myers Squibb for Agenus’ proprietary bispecific antibody program, AGEN1777, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for this therapy (Press release, Agenus, JUL 6, 2021, View Source [SID1234584622]). AGEN1777 is an Fc-enhanced antibody in late preclinical development designed to target major inhibitory receptors expressed on T and NK cells to improve anti-tumor activity.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

"TIGIT is becoming an increasingly important immunotherapy target, and the Fc-enhanced and bispecific design of AGEN1777 could offer improved benefit, including the potential for both single-agent and combination activity," said Garo Armen, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Agenus. "Together with our partner Bristol Myers Squibb, we look forward to advancing this agent into clinical studies with the goal of providing a meaningful new option for cancer patients."

Bristol Myers Squibb intends to advance the research and development of AGEN1777 in immuno-oncology for high priority tumor indications including non-small cell lung cancer.

Phase 1 dosing for AGEN1777 is expected to begin during the third quarter of 2021. This dose escalation study is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and preliminary clinical activity of AGEN1777 as a single agent and in combination with a PD-1 inhibitor in patients with advanced solid tumors.

Under the terms of the agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb, Agenus receives a $200 million upfront payment in connection with the closing. The agreement also includes up to $1.36 billion in development, regulatory and commercial milestones in addition to tiered double-digit royalties on net product sales. Bristol Myers Squibb will become solely responsible for the development and any subsequent commercialization of AGEN1777 and its related products worldwide. Agenus will retain options to conduct clinical studies under the development plan, to conduct combination studies with certain other Agenus pipeline assets, and also, upon commercialization, to co-promote AGEN1777 in the US.

About AGEN1777
AGEN1777 is a potentially first-in-class bispecific anti-TIGIT antibody engineered with an enhanced Fc region for high binding affinity and improved T and NK cell activation.

On July 6, 2021 Molecular Templates, Inc. (Nasdaq: MTEM, "Molecular Templates" or "MTEM"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of proprietary engineered toxin bodies (ETBs), which are differentiated, targeted, biologic therapeutics for cancer and other serious diseases, reported that it will provide a corporate update and participate in 1-on-1 investor meetings at the Ladenburg Thalmann 2021 Healthcare Conference, to take place July 13-14, 2021 (Press release, Molecular Templates, JUL 6, 2021, View Source [SID1234584621]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Presentation details can be found below.

Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2021
Time: 4:00 PM ET
A live webcast of the presentation will be available in the "News and Events" section of the MTEM website at www.mtem.com. Additionally, a replay of the webcast will be available on MTEM’s website following the conference.