On April 15, 2021 AltruBio Inc. ("AltruBio" or "the Company"), a clinical stage biotech company, reported the completion of a $63 million Series A financing round (Press release, AltruBio, APR 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234578066]). The round was led by aMoon with new investors including BVF Partners L.P. (BVF), CAM Capital, and other new and existing investors joining the syndicate.

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AltruBio’s President & CEO, Dr. Judy Chou stated: "We are honored to have this strong group of investors join us, marking our steady growth and transformation into a truly promising biotech company with great chances of creating value for patients and all our stakeholders. The investors’ experience and support will enable the Company to leverage our PSGL-1 immune checkpoint regulator program across multiple indications, realizing our ‘pipeline in a product’ vision, and accelerating our ability to bring solutions to patients in need. The strength of this financing validates the renewal and rebuilding of the Company and further validates our science within the biotech industry."

The Company has successfully executed on a strategic shift over the past year, recruiting a new Board of Directors comprised of internationally recognized biotech industry luminaries with experience across the board in drug development and transitioning the leadership to a new President & CEO, in industry veteran Dr. Judy Chou, who joined the company after leaving Bayer where she was the global head of biotech. Under her leadership, AltruBio has implemented a new focus on its novel PSGL-1 program for immunological diseases, and the Company has now secured the funds to continue advancing the program. Recently, the company has received Fast Track Designation from the FDA for the lead asset neihulizumab (AbGn-168H) in steroid refractory acute graft-versus-host disease (SR-aGVHD).

Dr. Gur Roshwalb, MD, MBA, aMoon’s partner leading the investment added, "We view this as a great opportunity to invest in experienced leadership and unique and proven science. With the backing of an all-star board of directors, Dr. Chou has been taking all the right steps to refocus and lead the company towards a new strategic direction. The PSGL-1 program has the potential to serve as a platform to treat many different T-cell mediated, immunological diseases, offering a new solution to patients without adequate options."

On April 15, 2021 BioLineRx Ltd. (NASDAQ: BLRX) (TASE: BLRX), a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical Company focused on oncology, reported that the Company has presented a poster at the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting, which is being held April 10-15 on a virtual basis (Press release, BioLineRx, APR 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234578065])."

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The poster, entitled: "A Multi-Center Phase 2a Trial of the CXCR4 inhibitor Motixafortide (BL-8040) in Combination with Pembrolizumab and Chemotherapy, in Patients with Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma, the COMBAT Study," includes new analyses from the Company’s Phase 2a COMBAT/KEYNOTE-202 triple combination study of motixafortide in metastatic pancreatic cancer, further detailing the clinical effect of the combination in patients with and without liver metastases.

The COMBAT/KEYNOTE-202 study evaluated BioLineRx’s lead clinical candidate, motixafortide, in combination with KEYTRUDA and chemotherapy in patients with advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, or PDAC. Top-line results from the study were announced in December 2020.

"Liver metastases are a critical factor driving poor prognoses for patients with metastatic PDAC," stated Dr. Abi Vainstein, Chief Medical Officer of BioLineRx. "We are very pleased to present this additional analysis, which further strengthens the results reported from the COMBAT/KEYNOTE-202 trial in December 2020, since not only were substantially all patients initially diagnosed with stage 4 disease, but the vast majority (~80%) of the patients had liver metastases, emphasizing the extremely difficult patient population in this study. These data should be further confirmed in a randomized trial, and we continue to work diligently to define next steps for the program with potential collaboration partners."

"We believe these incremental data provide strong support for continued development of motixafortide as the backbone of a new regimen for the treatment of PDAC and will likely prove beneficial as we advance discussions with potential collaboration partners," stated Philip Serlin, Chief Executive Officer of BioLineRx. "At the same time, we are very much looking forward to final data from our Phase 3 GENESIS study in stem cell mobilization in the next few weeks, which we hope will give us a clear pathway to potential registration and highlight the versatility of motixafortide across both hematological and solid tumor cancer types."

A copy of the poster is now available on the Company’s website, www.biolinerx.com.

On April 15, 2021 Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ: TECH) reported that Advanced Cell Diagnostics (ACD), a Bio-Techne brand, completed an extensive rebranding effort in response to increased demand for its Assay Services offered at its Newark, CA laboratory (Press release, Bio-Techne, APR 15, 2021, View Source;dedicated-source-for-rna-in-situ-hybridization-assays-in-spatial-gene-expression-analysis [SID1234578064]). At the heart of this re-launch is a name change from Pharma Assay Services to Professional Assay Services, with an expansion of offerings to global academic and clinical institutions, building on 10 years of experience providing services to our global pharma and biotech partners. Bio-Techne’s Professional Assay Services provide in situ hybridization (ISH) gene expression analysis for target discovery, biomarker validation, drug safety assessment, and assay prototype development directly from the RNAscope technology experts.

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In addition to providing the full line of RNAscope, BaseScope, and miRNAscope ISH assays, our Professional Assay Services also offers tissue procurement and processing, high resolution whole slide scanning, image analysis and digital pathology, as well as custom assay development. We have an expert multi-disciplinary team that includes Ph.D. scientists and M.D.s, who serve our clients as technical experts, image analysis specialists and board-certified pathologists, spanning a broad array of scientific disciplines. With direct access to the developers of the technology, the Assay Services team provides unparalleled expertise in Bio-Techne’s ISH platforms and delivers fast, high quality data designed to meet study objectives and timelines. The projects executed by our team follow Good Clinical Laboratory Practices (GCLP) based on guidelines from the World Health Organization.

"We are excited to announce the rebranding of our award-winning services to "Professional Assay Services", in line with the broadened access, expanding beyond biopharma partners, to include academic, health and clinical institutions," commented Kim Kelderman, President of Bio-Techne’s Diagnostics and Genomics Segment. "As leaders in RNAscope services, our goal is to facilitate target discovery and drug development with shortened timelines and in a cost-efficient manner. Now more labs can use this service to unlock the power of RNA in any target-any species-any gene with RNAscope to complement their single cell RNA sequencing, qPCR, or immunohistochemistry data."

The assay services team brings years of experience in custom assay development and optimization, as seen in the comments here from the R&D team at Exicure, "Our experience working with Advanced Cell Diagnostics has been all-around excellent. With their expertise and through clear communication, we developed several assays to detect both RNA and short oligonucleotides in tissue. Compared to standard complementary probes, the signal we obtained using these services was evident and specific. After seeing the first images, we immediately knew we wanted to use these techniques more frequently."

By partnering with the Professional Assay Services scientific team for the full suite of service offerings, customers can be confident in the science and be satisfied with actionable results in weeks rather than months.

On April 15, 2021 Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AUPH / TSX: AUP) (the "Company") reported that members of the executive management team will participate in a fireside chat during the 2021 Bloom Burton & Co. Healthcare Investor Conference on Tuesday, April 20, 2021 at 2:30 p.m. ET (Press release, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, APR 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234578063]).

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In order to participate in the audio webcast, interested parties can access the live webcast under "News/Events" through the "Investors" section of the Aurinia corporate website at www.auriniapharma.com. A replay of the webcast will be available on Aurinia’s website.

On April 15, 2021 Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AGIO), a leader in the field of cellular metabolism to treat genetically defined diseases, reported that the company will host a conference call and live webcast on Thursday, April 29, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. ET to report its first quarter 2021 financial results and other business highlights (Press release, Agios Pharmaceuticals, APR 15, 2021, https://investor.agios.com/news-releases/news-release-details/agios-webcast-conference-call-first-quarter-2021-financial [SID1234578062]).

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A live webcast can be accessed under "Events & Presentations" in the Investors section of the company’s website at www.agios.com. The conference call can be accessed by dialing 1-877-377-7098 (domestic) or 1-631-291-4547 (international) and referring to conference ID 4497151. The webcast will be archived and made available for replay on the company’s website beginning approximately two hours after the event.