On August 25, 2021 EDAP TMS SA (Nasdaq: EDAP) (the "Company"), a global leader in robotic energy-based therapies, reported unaudited financial results for the second quarter of 2021 and provided an update on strategic and operational developments (Press release, EDAP TMS, AUG 25, 2021, View Source [SID1234586931]).

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Marc Oczachowski, EDAP’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: "We were very pleased during the second quarter to see continued strong growth in U.S. Focal One treatment volumes, a metric that we believe reflects accelerating HIFU adoption as a prostate cancer treatment alternative. While the ongoing COVID pandemic continues to weigh on hospital capital spending, we nonetheless continued to build a robust pipeline of Focal One and ExactVu pipeline opportunities, and we are optimistic that we will close additional high-profile sales this year."

"On the reimbursement front, just a few days ago, the CMS HOP panel voted unanimously in favor of increasing reimbursement for HIFU prostate ablation to APC Level 6 next year from Level 5 currently. Even if the HOP panel has only an advisory role to CMS, we believe this is a strong signal and further recognition of the value of HIFU in this indication. We hope this will be taken into account by CMS when building the final rule, which will be published in December of this year. If this is the case, reimbursement for Focal One HIFU would increase from an average of approximately $4,500 per procedure this year to an average of approximately $8,500 per procedure in 2022. This increase, if implemented, could be a significant catalyst to accelerating Focal One sales in 2022 and beyond."

"Importantly, our U.S. expansion plans, led by new U.S. subsidiary CEO Ryan Rhodes, are progressing and we are well financed with more than $53 million on our balance sheet. I believe we are poised for a strong back half of the year and accelerating HIFU momentum heading into 2022."

For the first six months 2021 Results

Total revenue for the first half of 2021 was EUR 20.7 million (USD 24.8 million), an increase of 22.5% compared to total revenue of EUR 16.9 million (USD 18.7 million) for the same period in 2020.

Total revenue in the HIFU business for the first six months of 2021 was EUR 3.8 million (USD 4.6 million), a decline of 15.1% as compared to EUR 4.5 million (USD 4.9 million) for the first six months of 2020.

Total revenue in the LITHO business for the first six months of 2021 was EUR 5.2 million (USD 6.2 million), a decline of 11.8% from EUR 5.9 million (USD 6.5 million) for the first six months of 2020.

Total revenue in the Distribution business for the first six months of 2021 was EUR 11.7 million (USD 14.0 million), a 79.0% increase compared to EUR 6.5 million (USD 7.2 million) for the first six months of 2020.

Gross profit for the first six months of 2021 was EUR 8.6 million (USD 10.3 million), compared to EUR 7.4 million (USD 8.2 million) for the year-ago period. Gross profit margin on net sales was 41.6% in the first six months of 2021, compared to 43.9% in the year-ago period. The decrease in gross profit year-over-year was due to lower sales effect on fixed costs, particularly in the HIFU business.

Operating expenses were EUR 8.8 million (USD 10.5 million) for the first six months of 2021, compared to EUR 8.5 million (USD 9.5 million) for the same period in 2020.

Operating loss for the first six months of 2021 was EUR 0.2 million (USD 0.2 million), compared to an operating loss of EUR 1.2 million (USD 1.3 million) for the same period in 2020.

Net income for the first six months of 2021 was EUR 0.4 million (USD 0.4 million), or EUR 0.01 per diluted share, as compared to a net loss of EUR 1.5 million (USD 1.6 million), or EUR (0.05) per diluted share in the year-ago period.

As of June 30, 2021, the company held cash and cash equivalents of EUR 45.0 million (USD 53.3 million), as compared to EUR 24.7 million (USD 30.2 million) as of December 31, 2020.

Second Quarter 2021 Results

Total revenue for the second quarter 2021 was EUR 10.4 million (USD 12.4 million), an increase of 11.8% compared to total revenue of EUR 9.3 million (USD 10.3 million) for the same period in 2020.

Total revenue in the HIFU business for the second quarter 2021 was EUR 2.0 million (USD 2.4 million), a decline of 21.8% as compared to EUR 2.6 million (USD 2.8 million) for the second quarter of 2020.

Total revenue in the LITHO business for the second quarter 2021 was EUR 2.3 million (USD 2.7 million), a decline of 22.6% from EUR 2.9 million (USD 3.2million) for the second quarter of 2020.

Total revenue in the Distribution business for the second quarter 2021 was EUR 6.1 million (USD 7.3 million), a 61.6% increase compared to EUR 3.8 million (USD 4.2 million) for the second quarter of 2020.

Gross profit for the second quarter 2021 was EUR 4.2 million (USD 5.1 million), compared to EUR 4.3 million (USD 4.8 million) for the year-ago period. Gross profit margin on net sales was 40.7% in the second quarter of 2021, compared to 46.8% in the year-ago period.

Operating expenses were EUR 4.6 million (USD 5.6 million) for the second quarter of 2021, compared to EUR 4.0 million (USD 4.5 million) for the same period in 2020.

Operating loss for the second quarter of 2021 was EUR 0.4 million (USD 0.5 million), compared to an operating profit of EUR 0.3 million (USD 0.3 million) in the second quarter of 2020.

Net loss for the second quarter of 2021 was EUR 0.4 million (USD 0.5 million), or EUR (0.01) per diluted share, as compared to a net loss of EUR 0.2 million (USD 0.2 million), or EUR (0.01) per diluted share in the year-ago period.

Conference Call

An accompanying conference call and webcast will be conducted by management to review the results. The call will be held at 8:30am EDT tomorrow, August 26, 2021. Please refer to the information below for conference call dial-in information and webcast registration.

On August 25, 2021 INmune Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: INMB) (the, "Company"), a clinical-stage immunology company focused on developing treatments that harness the patient’s innate immune system to fight disease, reported that the first patient who received INKmune as a potential treatment for high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) has successfully shown the NK activation and functional differentiation predicted by previously published in vitro experiments (Press release, INmune Bio, AUG 25, 2021, View Source [SID1234586926]).

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NK cells need multiple activating signals to progress from a resting state to the triggering of cytolysis and cytokine secretion. INmune Bio has studied these pathways extensively and demonstrated that binding of NK cells with INKmune provides multiple activating signals and drives resting NK to the phenotype of memory-like NK (mlNK) cells with enhanced cancer-killing function. The company believes that this is the first ever successful generation of mlNK cells in patients.

"The INmune Bio team has been developing the concept of tumor cell-primed NK cells since 2004 with the creation of the first pharmaceutical-grade tumor line for NK priming a critical first step in testing whether these primed, memory-like NK cells could be generated in vivo." said Dr. Lowdell PhD, chief scientific officer of INmune Bio. "In the lab, INKmune binds to multiple NK ligands and initiates the activation of over 3,000 genes associated with function, trafficking, proliferation, and survival to form memory-like NK cells, which have superior cancer killing function. In our hands, no single cytokine has such broad physiological effects on NK cells compared to INKmune-primed NK cells, and this has inspired us to refer to INKmune as a pseudokine."

Preliminary data from the first patient shows that formation of mlNK cells can be achieved in vivo and without toxicity. INKmune was delivered in three doses on days one, eight and 15. INKmune therapy cause proliferation of NK cells with a doubling of the number of peripheral blood NK cell numbers on day 8. Over 50% of the expanded NK cells had an activated profile (CD69+/CD25+) on days eight and 15 and increased to over 70% by day 29. More than 80% of the activated NK cells expressed markers associated with a memory-like NK cell (CD57++, NKG2D+, NKG2A-ve, NKp46-ve). In vitro, the INKmune activated NK cells were better at killing cancer cells than the patient’s own NK cells prior to treatment, with an 82% increase in lysis of K562 leukemia cells and a 47% increase in lysis of NK-resistant RAJI lymphoma cell tumor cells as early as day eight. Despite this high level of activated NK cells and tumor killing, the patient showed no symptoms of Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS).

"We are always cautious of single patient data but seeing these significant changes in peripheral blood NK cell populations in a patient treated at the lowest dose of INKmune is encouraging and identical to what we observed in pre-clinical studies," added Dr. Lowdell.

"Data from this patient demonstrates that INKmune can produce memory-like NK cells in patients," said RJ Tesi, M.D., chief executive officer of INmune Bio. "These biomarker data demonstrate that, even in a heavily pre-treated patient, INKmune can cause proliferation of the patients NK cells and convert them into the type of NK cells that are superior at killing cancer cells."

At least nine additional patients with high-risk MDS will be enrolled in the ongoing Phase I trial. A video overview of the INKmune platform can be found by clicking here.

About INKmune

INKmuneTM is a pharmaceutical-grade, replication-incompetent human tumor cell line which conjugates to resting NK cells and delivers multiple, essential priming signals akin to treatment with at least three cytokines in combination. INKmune is stable at -80oC and is delivered by a simple IV infusion. The INKmune:NK interaction ligates multiple activating and co-stimulatory molecules on the NK cell and enhances its avidity of binding to tumor cells; notably those resistant to normal NK-mediated lysis. Tumor-primed NK (TpNK) cells can lyse a wide variety of NK-resistant tumors including leukemias, lymphomas, myeloma, ovarian cancer, breast cancer.

On August 25, 2021 Iotron Medical Inc. (Iotron) and Canadian Isotope Innovations Corp. (CIIC) reported a collaboration to produce the radioisotope copper-67 (Cu-67) for new cancer therapies (Press release, Iotron Medical, AUG 25, 2021, View Source;a-new-collaboration-to-produce-copper-67-301362227.html [SID1234586898]). This investment will increase the production capacity of the CIIC-operated facilities in Saskatoon, making Cu-67 more widely available to international cancer researchers.

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Iotron Medical, a spin-out business of Iotron Industries, has been providing innovative solutions using electron beam technology for more than 25 years. CIIC is a startup company, producing medical radioisotopes using a novel linear accelerator-based method initially developed at the Canadian Light Source.

Cu-67 has long been known for its excellent properties for personalized cancer therapy but has been extremely difficult to produce with sufficient quantity and purity using nuclear reactors or cyclotrons. Lack of an adequate and reliable supply of this radioisotope has prevented medical researchers from exploring the potential of Cu-67 in new targeted cancer therapies.

"Iotron is excited about the future for Cu-67 and the opportunity to work with CIIC to make the benefits of this radioisotope available to the wider market, and positively impact the lives of so many people," said Mike Scott, Iotron Board Chair.

CIIC and Iotron are proud to establish the world’s first private sector producer and supplier of this valuable radioisotope, building on the application innovations and accelerator expertise of both parties. This novel production method for high purity Cu-67 is needed by researchers and pharmaceutical companies developing new drugs for a variety of cancers including neuroendocrine tumors, prostate and neuroblastoma. When linked to a suitable targeting agent, Cu-67 delivers highly localized radiation to tumor cells.

"CIIC looks forward to working with our partner Iotron to bring this important radioisotope to market and to produce it in the volume needed for researchers and the broader pharmaceutical community," said Dr. Mark de Jong, Chief Technical Officer of CIIC.

Iotron and CIIC have committed to a five-year agreement that will establish a stable and reliable source of Cu-67, with plans to expand production further as market demand grows. The first shipments of Cu-67 have been made to a US research group in July demonstrating the ability of Iotron-CIIC to make and supply this critical isotope. Batches of Cu-67 are being produced biweekly for researchers, and by the end of 2021, more will be available to support clinical trials in North America and around the world.

For more information about the CIIC-Iotron collaboration or to order Cu-67 radioisotope please refer to the website at www.copper67.com.

On August 25, 2021 Senhwa Biosciences, Inc. (TPEx: 6492), a drug development company focused on first-in-class therapeutics for oncology, rare diseases, and novel coronaviruses, reported the initiation of Dose Escalation within the Phase I Investigator Initiated Trial (IIT) of Pidnarulex for the treatment of advanced hematological malignancies (Press release, Senhwa Biosciences, AUG 25, 2021, View Source [SID1234586897]). After evidence of human efficacy was observed in patients with specific biomarkers and resistant to standard treatments, including chemotherapeutics, the Phase I study was redesigned to further determine the Recommended Phase II Dose.

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This open-label dose escalation Phase I IIT study of Pidnarulex is sponsored by the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center (PMCC), in Australia, focusing on various haem cancers, including multiple myeloma, T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, acute myeloid leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndrome. Senhwa is providing the study supplies and the Investigational Product, Pidnarulex, which is intravenously administered on 4-week cycles.

The preliminary results from the preceding portion of the Phase I study, completed in 2017, demonstrated that among the 16 evaluable patients, one patient experienced a partial response after the Pidnarulex treatment, while five patients had stable disease. The PMCC was invited to the 59th American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper) annual meeting on 11th December, 2017, and presented a poster on these findings.

"The multiple myeloma patients enrolled in the initial portion of the Phase I study were resistant to other therapies; however, fifty percent of the multiple myeloma patients treated with Pidnarulex were able to stabilize their conditions. We here at Senhwa will continue to work at providing alternative therapeutics for treatment resistant cancers," said Dr. John Soong, Chief Medical Officer of Senhwa Biosciences.

"We look forward to the outcome of this study and we hope that the findings may inspire more collaborative opportunities to determine if Pidnarulex is effective in treating various forms of haem cancers," said Tai-Sen Soong, the Chief Executive Officer of Senhwa Biosciences.

Hematological cancers affect populations worldwide, notably, there are more than 160,000 new cases of multiple myeloma worldwide per year. The global drug market for multiple myeloma is expected to reach USD 37.5 billion by 2024, according to the forecast of Grand View Research, a leading market research firm.

About Pidanrulex (CX-5461)

Specific mutations within the Homologous Recombination (HR) pathway may be exploited by Pidnarulex through a synthetic lethality approach by targeting the DNA repair defects in Homologous Recombination Deficiency (HRD) tumors. Specifically, Pidnarulex is designed to stabilize DNA G-quadruplexes of cancer cells which leads to disruption of the cell’s replication fork. While acting in concert with HR pathway deficiencies, such as BRCA1/2 mutations, replication forks stall and cause DNA breaks, ultimately resulting in cancer cell death. On the other hand, PMCC postulates a different mechanism of action. Specifically, it is thought that Pidanrulex acts as a RNA Pol I Inhibitor.

On August 25, 2021 BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) reported that management will participate in three upcoming virtual investor conferences (Press release, BioMarin, AUG 25, 2021, View Source [SID1234586896]). An audio webcast of the presentations will be available live. You can access the webcasts at: View Source An archived version of the remarks will also be available through the Company’s website for a limited time following the conference.

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