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On May 11, 2022 Shanghai Henlius Biotech, Inc. (2696.HK) reported it has entered into a license and collaboration agreement with Eurofarma Laboratórios SA ("Eurofarma"), a leading Brazilian pharmaceutical company with considerable experience in introducing and marketing innovative medical products throughout Latin America, for the development, manufacturing and commercialization in 16 Latin American countries of Henlius’ independently developed HANLIKANG (rituximab biosimilar), HANQUYOU (trastuzumab biosimilar, trade name in Europe: Zercepac), and HANBEITAI (bevacizumab biosimilar) (Press release, Shanghai Henlius Biotech, MAY 11, 2022, View Source [SID1234614786]). This collaboration is not only an endorsement of Henlius’ product quality and operational strength, but also a continuation of the company’s goal of advancing its worldwide footprint, building momentum for the company’s evolution from biotechnology to biopharma.

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Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

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Under the agreement terms, Henlius will receive up to a total of $50.5 million, including a $4.5 million upfront payment. Meanwhile, Eurofarma will acquire exclusive rights to rituximab HANLIKANG in 12 countries, including Mexico, Guatemala and Panama, as well as trastuzumab HANQUYOU in 11 countries, including Mexico, Chile and Ecuador, and bevacizumab HANBEITAI in 15 countries, including Mexico, Argentina and Chile. In addition, Eurofarma will obtain semi-exclusive rights to the three products in Brazil.

Mr. Jason Zhu, President of Henlius, said, "We feel really honored to partner with Eurofarma. Henlius has always adhered to our intention to improve patients’ lives by timely providing them with quality and affordable protein therapeutics. Eurofarma has one of the largest sales teams in Latin America. Its robust business network and resources will effectively promote the commercialization of Henlius products in Latin America and the availability to patients. It is hoped that our three products can become effective treatment options for more patients in Latin American countries and light up their lives."

"We are extremely proud of this new partnership, which marks our more robust coverage in biosimilars and confirms our recent moves and work to provide Latin America with the greatest products of the world. We are putting together two of our main strategies to achieve our goals: expanding our presence regionally to increase the revenues from international operations and deploying new technology to the medicine, that definitely helps us become a reference in innovative matter", says Martha Penna, Vice President of Innovation at Eurofarma.

Bearing patients’ needs in mind, Henlius has actively expanded the global markets by leveraging its strong product development, manufacturing and quality systems, and commercialization capabilities, as well as joining hands with partners in the value chain. HANQUYOU (trade name in Europe: Zercepac), the first Chinese mAb biosimilar approved in both Europe and China, and HANBEITAI are commercialized by the company’s in-house team in China market. At present, both 150mg and 60mg dosage forms of HANQUYOU have been included in China’s National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL), benefiting over 50,000 patients to date. HANLIKANG (rituximab injection) is the first-ever China-manufactured biosimilar approved by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). As of now, it has benefited more than 100,000 Chinese patients. Meanwhile, Henlius has aggressively pursued international commercialization of HANQUYOU and HANLIKANG. The company actively collaborated with global partners such as Accord Healthcare, Cipla, Mabxience, and the Jacobson Group to bring its HANQUYOU to patients in the United States, Canada, Europe, and other emerging markets, covering over 80 countries and regions worldwide. Zercepac is now available in around 20 European nations and regions, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Ireland, Hungary, and Switzerland. Moreover, the company has also reached a cooperation agreement with Colombian pharmaceutical company Farma de Colombia to promote the commercialization of HANLIKANG in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela. Including the cooperation with Eurofarma, Henlius’ products have reached 19 populous countries in Latin America, covering more than 90% of the Latin American population.

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On May 11, 2022 Enveric Biosciences (NASDAQ: ENVB) ("Enveric" or the "Company"), a neuroscience-focused biotechnology company developing next-generation, psychedelic-inspired mental health medicines, reported plans to transfer and spin-off its cannabinoid clinical development pipeline assets to a wholly-owned subsidiary, Acanna Therapeutics Inc. ("Acanna"), by way of dividend to Enveric shareholders (Press release, Enveric Biosciences, MAY 11, 2022, View Source [SID1234614276]). The spin-off transaction will be subject to various conditions, including Acanna meeting the qualifications for listing on The Nasdaq Stock Market, and if successful, would result in two standalone public companies.

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Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

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Dr. Joseph Tucker, CEO of Enveric Biosciences, commented, "In these challenging markets, the Board and Management team have spent considerable time evaluating the best way to create additional value for all stakeholders – patients, shareholders, and employees. We believe it would be in the best interest of our shareholders to spin-off 100% equity ownership of our cannabinoid clinical development pipeline. Upon completion of the proposed transaction, each resulting public company would be able to focus all its resources on the development of its respective pipeline assets, enabling, we anticipate, greater opportunity for product development success."

Acanna has secured an initial $1MM from an investor in a Series A Convertible Preferred Stock and Warrant financing. Under the terms of the investment, Acanna will, subject to certain other conditions, receive an additional $4MM upon completion of the spin-off into an independent, separately traded public company listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market. Following the spin-off and the investment of an aggregate of $5MM, that investor is expected to hold 25% of Acanna and warrants to acquire additional shares. Palladium Capital Group acted as a financial advisor to Enveric. Please see the Current Report on Form 8-K filed by Enveric on May 11, 2022, for further details.

Dr. Tucker continued, "For Enveric and Acanna, this spin-off transaction would allow each company to commit 100% of its efforts and capabilities towards developing its respective drug candidate portfolio. For Enveric, going forward, we intend to focus on mental health. We believe that Enveric’s achievements in the last year, including preparations for a clinical trial, positive preclinical data, and ongoing expansion of our drug candidate portfolio, the Psybrary, position us well for the future."

Strategic Rationale for Spinoff
The Company believes that spinning off the cannabinoid assets will allow Enveric and Acanna to maximize long-term value for all stakeholders. Following the proposed transaction, both Enveric and Acanna intend to:

Have separate, focused management teams with the knowledge and skills to deploy appropriate strategies and meet the unique requirements for each company’s operations.
Allocate capital more efficiently and strategically to develop their respective assets further.
Provide unique investment characteristics of interest to the capital markets.

On May 11, 2022 Vaccitech plc (NASDAQ: VACC) reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022, and provided an overview of the Company’s recent corporate developments (Press release, Vaccitech, MAY 11, 2022, View Source [SID1234614262]). Vaccitech is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of novel immunotherapeutics and vaccines for the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases, autoimmunity, and cancer .

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"We’ve already made solid progress across the Company this year and are excited to share our plans to advance our recently acquired SNAPvax platform into the clinic in multiple disease indications including HPV cancer and celiac disease," said Bill Enright, Vaccitech’s CEO. "These are devastating diseases where we believe this novel platform provides a unique opportunity for potential cures. In addition, we expect to announce efficacy data in our chronic infectious disease programs in both HBV and HPV later this year. Finally, the royalty and milestone payments that we have begun to receive related to the sales of AstraZeneca’s SARS CoV2 vaccine will contribute non-dilutive capital to these efforts."

First Quarter 2022 and Recent Corporate Developments

·On April 6, 2022, the Company announced the notification of the commencement of royalty payments relating to commercial sales of Vaxzevria. The Company’s share of milestone and royalty payments received by OUI from AstraZeneca in the first quarter of 2022 amounted to $15.0 million.

·In April, the Company launched a program in HPV-associated cancer utilizing the SNAPvax platform and moved forward with an immunotherapeutic designed to induce regulatory T cells in patients with celiac disease. IND applications are expected to be filed for both programs during the first quarter of 2023.

·On April 29, 2022, the Company received scientific advice from the EMA defining a licensure pathway for the candidate MERS vaccine, VTP-500, which allows the Company to estimate expenses of the development pathway more accurately.

Upcoming Milestones

·In the second quarter of 2022, the Company expects to present additional Phase 1b/2a interim efficacy data on VTP-300 in patients with chronic HBV infection at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) International Liver Congress on June 22 to 26, 2022, which is also expected to be followed by full efficacy data in the second half of this year.

·In the third quarter of 2022, the Company expects to initiate dosing in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of VTP-850 in patients with prostate cancer.

·In the fourth quarter of 2022, the Company intends to conduct an interim efficacy review of HPV001, a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial of VTP-200, a potential non-invasive treatment for low grade HPV-related cervical lesions.

First Quarter 2022 Financial Highlights:

·Cash position: As of March 31, 2022, cash and cash equivalents were $200.6 million, compared to $214.1 million as of December 31, 2021. The decrease in cash was primarily due to $6.6 million of net cash being used in operating activities and a $5.6 million negative effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents.

·Research and development expenses: Research and development expenses were $10.7 million in the first quarter of 2022 compared to $4.6 million in the comparable period of the prior year. The increase in R&D expenses was primarily due to increased spending on the development of VTP-200, VTP-300, VTP-850 and VTP-600 and an increase in R&D personnel-related costs.

·General and administrative expenses: General and administrative expenses were $3.7 million in the first quarter of 2022 compared to $1.8 million in the comparable period of the prior year. The first quarter of 2022 includes $4.3 million of personnel expenses, including a share-based payment charge of $3.1 million, and a $5.3 million unrealized foreign exchange gain on revaluation of Company’s cash balances. Net of this gain, the increase in general and administrative expenses between the periods was mainly attributable to higher personnel costs, reflecting an increase in the Company’s headcount over the period, and higher insurance costs associated with operating as a public company.

·Net Income: For the first quarter of 2022, the Company generated a net income of $2.6 million, or $0.07 per share on both basic and fully diluted bases, compared to a net loss of $15.4 million, or $1.90 per share on both basic and fully diluted bases, for the comparable period of the prior year.