On February 16, 2022 Electra Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company developing antibody therapies that target signal regulatory proteins (SIRP), reported a $84 million Series B financing co-led by Westlake Village BioPartners and OrbiMed (Press release, Electra Therapeutics, FEB 16, 2022, View Source [SID1234608197]). Other participating investors include Redmile Group, Cormorant Asset Management, Cowen Healthcare Investments, RA Capital, and New Leaf Venture Partners. Electra was previously funded by its parent company, Star Therapeutics.

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Electra is building a pipeline of novel therapies targeting SIRP, a family of cell surface receptors on various immune cell types. The company is taking a first-in-class approach to engage SIRP beyond the current drug development efforts in cancer, by targeting specific SIRP proteins to deplete targeted pathological immune cells. ELA026, the company’s lead product candidate, exhibits this novel mechanism of action and is currently in Phase 1 clinical studies, including a trial in secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (sHLH), a life-threatening inflammatory disease. ELA026 is also advancing in other immunological diseases. In addition, the company’s pipeline includes preclinical programs in immunology and immuno-oncology.

"We are thrilled to introduce Electra and share our novel approach to targeting SIRP," said Adam Rosenthal, PhD, CEO and Co-founder of Electra. "Our team has made rapid progress advancing our lead product candidate, ELA026, from an idea to the clinic in less than 3 years, and we are excited by each of our three pipeline programs targeting numerous diseases with significant unmet need."

Proceeds from the financing will be used to continue advancing ELA026 in clinical trials for sHLH and other immunological diseases. The funding will also support advancement of an additional preclinical pipeline program targeting SIRP in immunology, as well as Electra’s immuno-oncology platform that leverages SIRP to promote targeted depletion of tumor cells.

"It is inspiring to see the rapid progress and success of Electra’s pioneering work in targeting SIRP to develop therapies for immunological diseases. ELA026 represents a novel mechanism for targeting diseases driven by aberrant myeloid and T cell activity, and has enormous potential to address life-threatening diseases like sHLH, as well as other severe inflammatory diseases," said Beth Seidenberg, MD, Founding Managing Director at Westlake Village BioPartners.

Electra’s Board of Directors consists of Beth Seidenberg, MD, Founding Managing Director at Westlake Village BioPartners; Carl Gordon, PhD, CFA, Managing Partner at OrbiMed; Nancy Stagliano, PhD, Executive Board Chair, and Adam Rosenthal, PhD, CEO and Co-founder of Electra. Electra’s Board observers are Amrit Nagpal, Managing Director at Redmile Group and Vijay Lathi, Managing Director at New Leaf Venture Partners.

"We are impressed by the bold vision of the Electra team which has deep insights into drug discovery and development, and we are pleased to support Electra as they translate their approach with SIRP to patients in need of innovative treatment options," said Carl Gordon, PhD, CFA, Managing Partner at OrbiMed.

About Secondary Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (sHLH)

Secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (sHLH) is a life-threatening hyperinflammatory condition for which there is no approved treatment. sHLH can be triggered by cancer, immunotherapy, infection, or an autoimmune disease. Once triggered, sHLH requires immediate intervention. Without treatment, it can rapidly progress from symptoms such as persistent fever, hepatomegaly and/or splenomegaly, and cytopenias, to multi-organ failure and death. Even with the current use of off-label treatments that have toxicity challenges and limited efficacy, sHLH remains fatal in approximately 60% of adults within 3.5 years.

On February 16, 2022 Pebble Global Holdings (aka "Pebble Life Sciences" or "Pebble"), a privately held Texas-based leader in non-psychotropic cannabinoid research for drug development, reported that a sponsored research program entitled "Evaluation of Multi-Cannabinoid Formulations in Ovarian Cancer" was initiated in 2020 and presently exists between Pebble and MD Anderson Cancer Center ("MD Anderson") (Press release, MD Anderson, FEB 16, 2022, View Source [SID1234608196]). MD Anderson is one of the world’s most respected centers devoted exclusively to cancer patient care, education, prevention, research and ranked No. 1 in cancer in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2021-2022 annual "Best Hospitals."

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Despite being one of the most researched, ovarian cancer is the leading cause of gynecological cancer in the US and second most globally. It is the fifth leading cause of cancer death in US women, with 22,000 diagnosed in 2021, resulting in 14,000 deaths. 75% of patients are "advanced" at initial diagnosis, with 1 in 6 dying within 90 days and treatment limited by severe adverse effects from the current standard of care.

"Our team has thoroughly enjoyed working with MD Anderson the past two years on this novel therapy. We’re excited to continue with MD Anderson, to improve cancer treatment standard of care. Pebble’s non-THC, non-psychotropic approach permits a regulatory drug pathway that allows both domestic and global distribution, so we can help as many suffering women as possible," says Pebble Founder & CEO – Patrick Moran.

On February 16, 2022 Puma Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBYI), a biopharmaceutical company, reported that it will host a conference call at 1:30 p.m. PST/4:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, March 3, following release of its fourth quarter and full year 2021 financial results (Press release, Puma Biotechnology, FEB 16, 2022, View Source [SID1234608195]).

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The call may be accessed by dialing 1-877-709-8150 (domestic) or 1-201-689-8354 (international). Please dial in at least 10 minutes in advance and inform the operator that you would like to join the "Puma Biotechnology Conference Call." A live webcast of the conference call and presentation slides may be accessed on the Investors section of the Puma Biotechnology website at View Source A replay of the call will be available approximately one hour after completion of the call and will be archived on Puma’s website for 90 days.

On February 16, 2022 ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM), a leading radiopharmaceutical biotech company and Grand Pharmaceutical Group Limited (GP), a diversified global pharmaceutical company listed in Hong Kong, reported that ITM and a subsidiary of GP have entered into a definitive agreement under which GP will make a EUR 25 million (USD 28 million) equity investment in ITM (Press release, ITM Isotopen Technologien Munchen, FEB 16, 2022, View Source [SID1234608194]). The agreement will further deepen the strategic collaboration between the two companies and support ITM to further expanding its broad pipeline of precision oncology treatments and diagnostics in Greater China.

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The equity investment follows the recent licensing agreement between the two companies which provides GP with exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize ITM’s precision oncology radiopharmaceutical candidates, ITM-11 (n.c.a. 177Lu-edotreotide) and ITM-41 (n.c.a. 177Lu-zoledronate) as well as ITM-11’s companion diagnostic, TOCscan (68Ga-edotreotide) in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

"We believe GP’s investment reinforces our global leadership position as a radiopharmaceutical developer and manufacturer while providing us with additional strategic support in expanding our presence in Asia with a recognized leader by our side," commented Steffen Schuster, Chief Executive Officer of ITM. "While we focus on advancing the late-stage development of our lead candidate, ITM-11 in GEP-NET patients, we look forward to further enhancing our global footprint to meet the needs of a growing patient population requiring precision oncology treatments."

"Targeted Radionuclide Therapies and Diagnostics are a core focus area for us. We believe that ITM, as one of the largest medical radioisotope manufacturers with a broad clinical pipeline and a deep understanding of the clinical landscape, has the ability to usher in a new era of precision medicine," said Frank Zhou, Chief Executive Officer of GP. "This second agreement is a testament to the strong relationship we have formed, sharing the common goal of providing innovative and high-quality radiopharmaceuticals to the patients we serve."

ITM is built on longstanding experience in the production and supply of high-quality medical radioisotopes for cancer treatment and diagnosis with an established global supply network. The company has forward-integrated to develop a broad pipeline of Targeted Radionuclide Diagnostics and Therapeutics designed to provide medical benefit for hard-to-treat cancer indications. The company’s lead candidate, ITM-11 (n.c.a. 177Lu-edotreotide) is being developed for the treatment of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) and is currently undergoing two phase III clinical trials, COMPETE for patients with grade 1 and grade 2 GEP-NETs and COMPOSE for grade 2 and grade 3 GEP-NETs. TOCscan (68Ga-edotreotide) is the companion diagnostic to ITM-11 for the diagnosis and staging of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). ITM-41 (n.c.a. 177Lu-zoledronate) is in preclinical development for the treatment of osteosarcoma and bone metastases.

About Targeted Radionuclide Therapy

Targeted Radionuclide Therapy is an emerging class of cancer therapeutics, which seeks to deliver radiation directly to the tumor while minimizing radiation exposure to normal tissue. Targeted radiopharmaceuticals are created by linking a therapeutic radioisotope to a targeting molecule (e.g., peptide, antibody, small molecule) that can precisely recognize tumor cells and bind to tumor-specific entities such as receptors which are expressed on the cell surface. As a result, the radioisotope accumulates at the tumor site and decays, releasing a small amount of ionizing radiation, thereby destroying tumor tissue. The highly precise localization of the radioisotope potentially enables targeted treatment with minimal impact to healthy surrounding tissue.

On February 16, 2022 Walking Fish Therapeutics, a leader in B cell therapeutics, reported the completion of an oversubscribed Series A financing, raising a total of $73 million (Press release, Walking Fish Therapeutics, FEB 16, 2022, View Source [SID1234608193]). The additional investment, co-led by Northpond Ventures and First Spark Ventures, with support from Terra Magnum Capital Partners, will be used to advance a pipeline of B cell therapeutics for oncology, rare disease, regenerative medicine, autoimmune disease, and recombinant antibody production. Walking Fish Therapeutics made its debut in September 2021 with the launch of Series A financing led by Emerson Collective, Illumina Ventures, and Quan Capital. Daniel Janse, Ph.D. from Northpond Ventures and Manish Kothari, Ph.D. from First Spark Ventures will be joining the board of directors.

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"Dr. Williams has an inspiring vision to bring B cell therapies to the forefront of medicine," said Daniel Janse, Ph.D., Director at Northpond Ventures. "Our financial investment reflects the fund’s broad commitment to identify and empower scientific breakthroughs that will transform healthcare. Northpond is united with Walking Fish’s mission and technological approach to engineer and develop new B cell therapies for patients with unmet needs."

Since the launch of Series A financing in September, Walking Fish’s platform for protein factories and oncology applications has continued to demonstrate positive preclinical data across multiple indications. The additional proceeds will accelerate platform development and further establish Walking Fish as the leader in the rapidly emerging B cell therapeutics field.

"Our decision to join Walking Fish’s Series A investment pool was an easy one," said Manish Kothari, Ph.D., Partner at First Spark Ventures. "Dr. Williams’ and his team’s extensive experience in exploring, expanding, and commercializing first-in-class therapies gave us the utmost confidence in our investment. We share their fundamentals-driven approach to develop truly breakthrough solutions for patients, and we look forward to our ongoing partnership."

"Our team at Walking Fish welcomes Northpond Ventures and First Spark Ventures to an already world-class team of investors," says Co-Founder and CEO, Dr. Lewis "Rusty" Williams. "Recent Walking Fish innovations in B cell engineering and manufacturing have enabled expansion of our pipeline to include new product opportunities. We believe strongly in the power of B cell therapeutics in applications spanning oncology to protein deficiency diseases, and we are confident the support of our new investors will enable us to further advance this emerging field of treatments."