On January 13, 2021 Exact Sciences Corp. (Nasdaq: EXAS) reported that it has acquired a worldwide exclusive license to the proprietary TARDIS technology from The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope (Press release, Exact Sciences, JAN 13, 2021, View Source [SID1234573960]). This compelling and technically distinct approach will help expand Exact Sciences’ leadership in precision oncology and offers a differentiated patient-specific solution in minimal residual disease testing.

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Analysis of DNA shed into a patient’s blood stream can provide a noninvasive means of detecting the presence of a tumor. Patients who have undergone initial treatment may only have small amounts of tumor DNA in their blood, which can be difficult to detect with conventional technology. TARDIS was developed to be highly sensitive and customizable for each patient, including those with only a trace amount of tumor remaining following surgery or other localized treatment that is undetectable by imaging.i

"Exact Sciences is uniquely positioned to lead cancer diagnostics with our broad foundation and the talented team that created Cologuard and Oncotype DX," said Kevin Conroy, chairman and CEO of Exact Sciences. "We’re excited to work with TGen and City of Hope to bring the incredible TARDIS technology to physicians and patients and deliver a better solution in minimal residual disease to improve cancer patient outcomes."

In a study published in Science Translational Medicine, TARDIS demonstrated high accuracy in assessing molecular response and residual disease during neoadjuvant therapy to treat breast cancer. TARDIS achieved up to 100-fold improvement beyond the current limit of circulating tumor DNA detection.i

"Blood-based diagnostics are critical to the future of cancer care, and licensing TARDIS to an industry leader like Exact Sciences speaks volumes about its potential to positively impact the field," said Jeffrey M. Trent, Ph.D., TGen president and research director. "The scale and reach Exact Sciences brings to the market means greater access — and new hope — for patients faced with a cancer diagnosis."

TGen became a part of City of Hope in 2016 to accelerate the speed at which scientists and medical staff convert research discoveries into cures for patients. City of Hope is a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, making it a national leader in advancing research and treatment protocols.

"We are proud of the innovation driven by TGen in the development of TARDIS technology and are excited about the licensing agreement with Exact Sciences as its leadership in screening and diagnostics combined with this novel approach will address a very important clinical challenge in cancer care," said Robert Stone, president and CEO, City of Hope. "This is another example of City of Hope working with a leading organization around a joint vision to develop truly world-class solutions to transform the treatment of cancer patients."

XMS Capital is serving as financial advisor to Exact Sciences, and K&L Gates is serving as legal advisor. Citi is serving as financial advisor to TGen and City of Hope, and Jones Day is serving as legal advisor.

On January 13, 2021 Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: APDN) (the "Company"), a leader in Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based DNA manufacturing,reported the closing of its previously announced registered direct offering with a group of institutional investors of 1,810,000 shares of common stock at a price of $8.30 per share, priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules, resulting in total gross proceeds of approximately $15 million, before deducting the placement agent’s fees and other estimated offering expenses (Press release, Applied DNA Sciences, JAN 13, 2021, View Source [SID1234573959]).

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The Company currently intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital, for research and development, and to advance the adoption of its LinearDNA manufacturing platform.

Roth Capital Partners served as sole placement agent for the transaction.

The offering was made pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-238557) (including a prospectus) previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on May 21, 2020, and declared effective by the SEC on June 1, 2020. A prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to and describing the terms of the offering was filed with the SEC and is available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies of the prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to the offering may also be obtained by contacting Roth Capital Partners, LLC, 888 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach, California 92660, by calling (800) 678-9147 or by e-mail at [email protected].

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

On January 13, 2021 UroGen Pharma Ltd. (Nasdaq: URGN), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to building and commercializing novel solutions that treat specialty cancers and urologic diseases, and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported a strategic three-year collaboration agreement to advance combinatorial intravesical immunotherapy, which is delivered directly into the bladder, for the treatment of high-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (HG-NMIBC) (Press release, UroGen Pharma, JAN 13, 2021, View Source [SID1234573958]). UroGen’s approach involves the local delivery of potent immunomodulators (UGN-201, a TLR 7/8 agonist and UGN-301, an anti-CTLA-4 antibody). UGN-301, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, is delivered using UroGen’s proprietary RTGel platform to increase dwell time, which has been shown to significantly improve the effectiveness of intravesical therapy.

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"We are pleased to enter into this collaboration with MD Anderson and its immunotherapy platform, which brings unique translational and clinical expertise in immuno-oncology," said Mark Schoenberg, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of UroGen Pharma. "This agreement will help UroGen potentially bring next-generation immunotherapy to bladder cancer patients with a significant unmet need and limited clinical options other than bladder removal."

Under the agreement, MD Anderson and UroGen will collaborate on the design and conduct of non-clinical and clinical studies with oversight from a joint steering committee. UroGen will provide funding, developmental candidates, and other support.

UroGen’s investigational candidates, UGN-201 and UGN-301, are being developed to ablate tumors by non-surgical means in the treatment of HG-NMIBC. Non-clinical data suggest treatment with the combination of UGN-201 and an anti-CTLA4 antibody, delivered using UroGen’s proprietary RTGel platform, may result in improved survival and decreased tumor size.

"Immune checkpoint inhibitors have become important treatment options for many patients with bladder cancer, and we look forward to working with UroGen to advance new immunotherapy strategies with intravesical delivery," said James Allison, Ph.D., chair of Immunology, executive director of the immunotherapy platform and co-director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at MD Anderson. "This novel delivery approach has the potential to limit the adverse events seen with systemic immunotherapy treatment while providing clinical benefit, which would represent a major advancement to patient care."

On January 13, 2021 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information services, reported that it will report fourth quarter and full year 2020 results on Thursday, February 4, 2021, before the market opens (Press release, Quest Diagnostics, JAN 13, 2021, View Source [SID1234573957]). It will hold its quarterly conference call to discuss the results beginning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on that day.

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The conference call can be accessed by dialing 888-455-0391 within the U.S. and Canada, or 773-756-0467 internationally, using the passcode: "7895081." The earnings release and live webcast will be posted on www.QuestDiagnostics.com/investor. The company suggests participants dial in approximately 10 minutes before the call.

A replay of the call may be accessed online at www.QuestDiagnostics.com/investor or by phone at 866-461-2735 for domestic callers or 203-369-1352 for international callers; no passcode is required. Telephone replays will be available from approximately 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time on February 4, 2021 until midnight Eastern Time on February 18, 2021.

Anyone listening to the call is encouraged to read the company’s periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the discussion of risk factors and historical results of operations and financial condition in those reports.

On January 13, 2020 Genmab A/S (Nasdaq: GMAB) reported that it has reached the first milestone in its collaboration with AbbVie (Press release, Genmab, JAN 13, 2021, View Source [SID1234573956]).. A USD 40 million milestone payment was triggered by the first patient dosed in the Phase 3 study of subcutaneous epcoritamab versus investigator’s choice of chemotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

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"We are very pleased that the first Phase 3 study of epcoritamab has been activated at multiple clinical sites and the first cancer patient has been dosed. We look forward to continued rapid progress in this exciting and rapidly broadening development program," said Jan van de Winkel, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Genmab.

Epcoritamab is being co-developed by Genmab and AbbVie.

The milestone will be reflected in Genmab’s 2021 guidance, which will be published on February 23, 2021.

About the Study
The Phase 3, open-label, randomized study (GCT3013-05, NCT04628494) will include approximately 480 patients with relapsed or refractory DLBCL who failed or are ineligible for autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT). Patients will be randomized to receive either subcutaneous epcoritamab or one of two chemotherapy regimens as per investigator’s choice, either rituximab, gemcitabine and oxaliplatin (R-GemOx) or bendamustine and rituximab (BR). The primary endpoint of the study is overall survival.

About Epcoritamab
Epcoritamab is an investigational IgG1-bispecific antibody created using Genmab’s proprietary DuoBody technology. Genmab’s DuoBody-CD3 technology is designed to direct cytotoxic T cells selectively to tumors to elicit an immune response towards malignant cells. Epcoritamab is designed to simultaneously bind to CD3 on T cells and CD20 on B cells and induces T cell mediated killing of lymphoma B cells.1 CD20 is a clinically validated therapeutic target, and is expressed on many B-cell malignancies, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.2,3 Epcoritamab is being co-developed by Genmab and AbbVie as part of the companies’ broad oncology collaboration.