On May 17, 2021 Hummingbird Bioscience, an innovative clinical-stage biotech company focused on developing precision therapies against hard-to-drug targets to improve treatment outcomes, reported the close of its US$125 million Series C financing round (Press release, Hummingbird Bioscience, MAY 17, 2021, View Source [SID1234580169]). The financing was led by Novo Holdings, with significant participation from new investors including Frazier Healthcare Partners, Octagon Capital, EDBI, AMGEN Ventures, DROIA Ventures, Morningside Ventures, Pureos Bioventures, Polaris Partners, Affinity Asset Advisors, Ally Bridge Group and Altrium Capital Management. Existing investors including SK Inc, Heritas Capital, and Mirae Asset Venture Capital also joined the round.

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"We are delighted to have the support and confidence of leading global healthcare investors to advance the development of our unique pipeline of precision therapies against important, yet hard-to-drug targets. We have made tremendous progress since closing our Series B in 2019 and this financing reflects strong support for our platform, people, and development strategy," said Piers Ingram, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, Hummingbird Bioscience. "With our world-class team of researchers and proprietary technologies, Hummingbird is at the cutting-edge of scientific discovery. These new funds give us further resources to invest in our early stage pipeline, as well as supporting the clinical development of our two lead programs that we believe can deliver very meaningful benefit for patients."

Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance the clinical development of Hummingbird’s lead assets including HMBD-001, a best-in-class HER3 antibody for NRG1-fusion and HER3-driven tumors, and HMBD-002, a first-in-class anti-VISTA neutralizing antibody for advanced solid tumors. The funds will also be used to expand the capabilities of Hummingbird’s proprietary Rational Antibody Discovery platform and progress the development of its next-generation pipeline of precision therapeutics including HMBD-009, a BCMA-TACI dual-specific T cell engager.

"We are delighted to lead this financing in Hummingbird and pleased to have attracted a syndicate of sophisticated investors to enable the acceleration of the company’s clinical development activities. We believe that Hummingbird’s novel data-driven, systems biology approach brings new precision to the field of antibody drug discovery and development, and we are proud to support the team in realizing their vision," said Kenneth Harrison, Partner, Novo Ventures.

Kenneth Harrison along with Dan Estes, General Partner, Frazier Healthcare Partners, and Kiel Kim, Vice President, SK Inc., will join Hummingbird’s board of directors.

"Hummingbird is at an exciting point, on the cusp of starting clinical studies for both HMBD-001 and HMBD-002. I look forward to working with the Hummingbird team in developing and building out its portfolio of drug candidates that have transformative potential for patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases," said Dan Estes.

Kiel Kim said: "There is significant potential for novel antibody-based therapeutics and through Hummingbird’s Rational Antibody Discovery platform, we can now discover high value antibodies for challenging targets. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Hummingbird to solve complex challenges in antibody development, and deliver highly differentiated therapies to patients in need."

On May 17, 2021 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute reported the most ambitious fundraising campaign in its history, and the largest campaign ever in New England focused entirely on cancer (Press release, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, MAY 17, 2021, View Source [SID1234580166]). The Dana-Farber Campaign is a multi-year fundraising effort to raise $2 billion to accelerate the Institute’s strategic priorities by supporting revolutionary science, extraordinary care, and exceptional expertise.

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More than 1,000 people joined Dana-Farber for a special one-hour virtual event on Monday night to kick off the campaign and embraced the Institute’s vision to prevent, treat, and Defy Cancer. The event featured Journalist and Author Tom Brokaw; Dana-Farber Cancer Institute President and CEO Laurie H. Glimcher, MD; Chairman of the Dana-Farber Board of Trustees and Co-chairman and Managing Director of Bain Capital Josh Bekenstein; and Chair of The Dana-Farber Campaign, Institute Trustee, and Founding Partner and Managing Director of Charlesbank Capital Partners Michael Eisenson; along with inspiring patient stories, and special guests including musician Andy Grammer, actress Amy Poehler, actor Pierce Brosnan, and more.

This campaign comes at a crucial time, when scientific progress in oncology is advancing dramatically, yet the need for innovations in research and care to help more cancer patients is still great, according to Glimcher.

"We have made groundbreaking discoveries in cancer, and today, thanks to the support from a generous community of donors, we know more about this terrible disease than ever before," said Glimcher. "While discoveries and new therapies are increasing at a rapid pace, many cancers remain difficult to diagnose early and hard to treat. Cancers are striking younger people more frequently, and many barriers to equitable care still exist. The Dana-Farber Campaign will marshal the resources necessary to support our strategic initiatives and to Defy Cancer."

From chemotherapy discovered by Sidney Farber, MD, to targeted drugs for immunotherapies, to the 2019 Nobel Prize winning research of William Kaelin, MD, and throughout its seven-decade history, Dana-Farber discoveries have changed the lives of patients everywhere. Starting with scientific breakthroughs against childhood leukemia at the Institute’s founding in 1947, and many times since, Dana-Farber has advanced the standard of cancer care.

"Cancer isn’t one disease. It is many different diseases and different for each patient. But just as cancer continues to change, Dana-Farber needs resources to continue to evolve, advance, adapt, and accelerate our efforts if we are to ultimately defeat cancer for everyone – forever," said Bekenstein.

The Dana-Farber Campaign is a multi-year fundraising effort to increase philanthropic support to accelerate success against cancer focusing on three pillars: revolutionary science, extraordinary care, and exceptional expertise:

Revolutionary Science: Science at Dana-Farber is rapidly transforming what is known about how cancer develops and how to treat it. While Institute findings have led to new therapies and helped many people, some cancers still elude early detection and treatment. Gifts to The Dana-Farber Campaign will support crucial research areas including cancer prevention and early detection; data science, including artificial intelligence and machine learning; precision immunotherapy; and more.
Extraordinary Care: Dana-Farber’s integrated approach to care is a unique model, and its standards and protocols have been adopted around the world. Most Dana-Farber clinicians also conduct research, providing patients with ready access to more than 1,000 therapeutic and non-therapeutic trials and speeding the pathway "from bench to bedside" and back again. Campaign funds will spark innovations in research-based care, expand access to the high-quality care Dana-Farber is known for by reaching more patients and families in underserved populations, help address cancer disparities, and more.
Exceptional Expertise: Dana-Farber is committed to providing its expert scientists and clinicians with the resources they need to provide world-class care and pursue innovative research. Gifts to the Campaign will enable Dana-Farber to continue attracting and retaining the best talent, allow scientists to explore new ideas that could lead to the next cure, and provide clinicians more time with their patients.
Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund have always relied on generous donors and grassroots fundraisers to make huge strides against cancer, giving more "Jimmys" a hopeful future. Every step walked or race run; each mile on a bike or swing of the club; every donation to honor a loved one; every dollar makes a powerful difference because it is not a single act—it is part of a movement and an entire community coming together to fund cancer research and care at Dana-Farber.

"The Dana-Farber Campaign is ambitious and important. Each gift will make a difference in the lives of pediatric and adult patients around the world," said Michael Eisenson. "Together, we can make monumental strides to Defy Cancer."

Working closely with Eisenson is Vice Chair of The Dana-Farber Campaign, Monica Chandra, an Institute Trustee and Managing Partner of 3EDGE Asset Management.

The Dana-Farber Campaign began its quiet phase in October 2017 and the Institute has received commitments for approximately 60 percent of the goal to date.

Last week, Judith B. Hale, her son, Robert T. Hale, Jr., and his wife, Karen Hale, pledged a $50 million gift to support The Dana-Farber Campaign by enabling a wide range of ambitious work in two main areas of pancreatic cancer research: early detection and prevention, and precision medicine and biology. The gift will launch teams of scientists to leverage health system data to identify those at highest risk for pancreatic cancer, detect it earlier through new imaging approaches and blood tests, and develop new treatments for pre-invasive and early invasive pancreatic cancers.

The campaign is anticipated to close in September 2024.

On May 17, 2021 AngioDynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGO), a leading provider of innovative, minimally invasive medical devices for vascular access, peripheral vascular disease, and oncology, reported that Jim Clemmer, President and Chief Executive Officer, will present at the UBS Virtual Global Healthcare Conference at 12:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 25, 2021 (Press release, AngioDynamics, MAY 17, 2021, View Source [SID1234580165]).

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A live webcast of the presentation will be accessible through the "Investors" section of the Company’s website at www.angiodynamics.com and will be available for replay following the event.

On May 17, 2021 Boundless Bio, a next-generation precision oncology company developing innovative therapeutics directed against extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) in aggressive cancers, reported that scientific founders, Paul Mischel, M.D., Roel Verhaak, Ph.D., and Howard Chang, M.D., Ph.D., will participate in an educational session at the 2021 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting (Press release, Boundless Bio, MAY 17, 2021, View Source [SID1234580164]). The scientists will deliver a series of presentations on Extrachromosomal DNA in Cancer. The session is available to registered conference attendees.

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The session details are as follows:

Session Title: Extrachromosomal DNA in Cancer
Chairperson: Paul Mischel, M.D.
Session Category: ED004
Date and Time: May 21, 2021, 1:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. ET

Title: Introduction: Where things are matters: The role of extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) in cancer
Presenter: Paul Mischel, M.D., Professor and Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Pathology and Institute Scholar of ChEM-H at Stanford University

Title: Uneven segregation and clustering of extrachromosomal DNA elements
Presenter: Roel Verhaak, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Director of Computational Biology at The Jackson Laboratory

Title: Control of cancer genes beyond chromosomes
Presenter: Howard Chang, M.D., Ph.D., Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Cancer Genomics and Genetics at Stanford University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator

Title: Plasticity of extrachromosomal and intrachromosomal BRAF amplifications in mediating targeted therapy dosage challenges
Presenter: Thomas Graeber, Ph.D., Professor of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology and Director of the Metabolomics Center at UCLA

About ecDNA
Extrachromosomal DNA, or ecDNA, are distinct circular units of DNA lacking centromeres but containing functional genes, including oncogenes, that are separated from tumor cell chromosomes. ecDNA replicate within cancer cells and can be passed to daughter cells asymmetrically during cell division, thereby constituting a primary driver of focal gene amplification and copy number heterogeneity in cancer. By leveraging the plasticity afforded by ecDNA, cancer has the ability to increase or decrease copy number of select oncogenes located on ecDNA to enable survival under selective pressures, including chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, or radiation, making ecDNA one of cancer cells’ primary mechanisms of recurrence and treatment resistance. ecDNA are not found in healthy cells but are present in many solid tumor cancers. They are a key driver of the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat cancers, specifically those characterized by high copy number amplification of oncogenes.

On May 17, 2021 Personalis, Inc. (Nasdaq: PSNL), a leader in advanced genomics for cancer, reported that the company will present at Biomarkers Week Online 2021 (Press release, Personalis, MAY 17, 2021, View Source [SID1234580163]).

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The presentation, titled "ImmunoID NeXT Platform for comprehensive tumor immunogenomics and advanced biomarker discovery," will describe the Personalis universal cancer immunogenomics platform, ImmunoID NeXT. Erin Newburn, MS, PhD, will present for Personalis. Dr. Newburn will provide an overview of the platform, which combines highly sensitive, exome-scale DNA and RNA sequencing with advanced analytics to provide a multidimensional view of the tumor and the tumor microenvironment (TME) from a single sample preparation. Dr. Newburn will review a case study in a cohort of 51 late-stage melanoma patients that demonstrates how the integration of neoantigen burden, HLA LOH, and Antigen Presentation Machinery (APM) mutational data formed a composite biomarker that more accurately predicted response to checkpoint blockade than other markers. Additionally, Dr. Newburn will highlight our NeXT Liquid Biopsy, an exome-wide liquid biopsy approach combined with ImmunoID NeXT, to further explore critical areas of tumor biology.

ImmunoID NeXT is the first platform to enable comprehensive analysis of both a tumor and its immune microenvironment from a single sample. The ImmunoID NeXT Platform can be used to investigate the key tumor- and immune-related areas of cancer biology, consolidating multiple oncology biomarker assays into one and maximizing the biological information that can be generated from a precious tumor specimen.

Personalis is a co-sponsor of Biomarkers Week and will have representatives available to answer questions about the company’s cancer immunogenomics capabilities.