On July 19, 2022 PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. (NASDAQ: PMCB), a biotechnology company focused on developing cellular therapies for cancer, diabetes, and malignant ascites using its signature live-cell encapsulation technology, Cell-in-a-Box, reported that it has achieved positive interim results in its study to establish a malignant ascites mouse model which will form the basis for further testing of the effectiveness of its CypsCapsTM plus ifosfamide pancreatic cancer therapy for the treatment of malignant ascites (Press release, PharmaCyte Biotech, JUL 19, 2022, View Source [SID1234616759]).

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The study is being conducted by Heidelberg Pharma, a leading German biotechnology company focused on cancer therapies, using colon carcinoma cells from a Master Cell Bank established by Austrianova implanted in genetically susceptible mice. Primary objectives include establishing parameters with respect to (i) optimum tumor cell inoculation dose; (ii) timing curve with respect to tumor growth; and (iii) the most accurate method to assess tumor burden. The last point is particularly important because it provides a gauge to measure the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions.

Initial data in the study indicate that a measure of overall tumor volume is likely a more accurate way of tracking tumor burden when compared to measuring labeled tumor cell fluorescence. Tumor volume in the study is being reported using an adaptation of the Sugarbaker-index. The Sugarbaker-index is a widely used and accepted quantitative prognostic indicator for patients with malignant ascites.

PharmaCyte’s Chief Executive Officer, Kenneth L. Waggoner, said, "We are highly encouraged that Heidelberg Pharma’s work with this study to establish a malignant ascites mouse model is proceeding exactly as we had hoped and that it has yielded valuable information as we work diligently to advance our therapy for malignant ascites. We are confident that all our objectives in this study will be achieved. We will continue to keep our shareholders informed as work progresses at Heidelberg Pharma."

Malignant ascites is caused by an accumulation of fluid in the peritoneum causing the abdomen to swell as a result of cancer. It is often associated with ovarian, uterine, cervical, colorectal, stomach, pancreatic, breast and liver cancers. Malignant ascites can result in significant impairment to the quality of life of a cancer patient and reduce survival. Currently, available treatments are mainly supportive and palliative. In most patients, development of malignant ascites is a sign of advanced disease and poor prognosis.

PharmaCyte expects its treatment to offer cancer patients a therapy that slows down or eliminates the production and accumulation of malignant ascites fluid. There is currently no such treatment on the market.

On July 19, 2022 Nascent Biotech, Inc. (OTCQB:NBIO) ("Nascent Biotech", "Nascent", or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biotechnology Company pioneering the development of monoclonal antibodies targeting treatment of various cancers and viral infections, reported that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the "USPTO") has issued a Notice of Allowance for claims related to the Company’s lead candidate Pritumumab (Press release, Nascent Biotech, JUL 19, 2022, View Source [SID1234616758]).

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A Notice of Allowance is issued after the USPTO makes the determination that a patent should be granted from an application.

The allowed patent application, which is titled, "KITS AND CONTAINERS FOR TREATING VIMENTIN EXPRESSING TUMORS" (US Patent Application No. 17/515,010), provides broad protection for Pritumumab ("PTB") and the storage conditions related to its use in clinical applications.

Dr. Ivan Babic, in charge of Nascent’s R&D, and the inventor listed on the patent, stated, "Allowance of the Pritumumab patent highlights the uniqueness of this naturally-derived antibody and the importance of the right experimental and storage conditions for maintaining its potency."

"This notice of allowance provides further validation of our novel approach to treat brain cancers with Pritumumab, a unique natural antibody capable of crossing the blood brain barrier," said Sean Carrick, CEO of Nascent. "This patent represents a critical step in protecting our technology and establishing Nascent as the leader in treating vimentin-expressing tumors."

A patent from the recently allowed application is pending issuance and is expected to be issued in the near future.

PTB is a natural human antibody that works by binding to Cell surface Vimentin (also referred to as ectodomain vimentin, or EDV), a protein expressed on the surface of epithelial cancers. PTB is used as a targeted immunotherapy because it targets only cancer cells without damaging healthy cells, unlike chemotherapy.

On July 19, 2022 Cartography Biosciences, a precision medicine company creating therapeutics guided by the first-ever comprehensive antigen atlas for immuno-oncology targets, reported that launched with $57 million in initial funding (Press release, Cartography Biosciences, JUL 19, 2022, View Source [SID1234616757]). 8VC led the company’s Series A financing with strong participation from existing investors Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), which led Cartography’s seed financing, and Wing VC, which was also a seed investor. The Series A financing was joined by new investors Catalio Capital Management, ARTIS Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, AME Cloud Ventures, the Cancer Research Institute, and Gaingels. The company plans to use the proceeds to advance a pipeline of therapeutics designed to broaden the reach of next-generation cancer therapies, as well as conduct a breadth of discovery programs designed to identify novel, best-in-class target antigens across a range of cancer indications.

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Cartography is led by CEO Kevin Parker, Ph.D., who founded the company alongside noted Stanford University physician-scientist-entrepreneurs Ansu Satpathy, M.D., Ph.D., and Howard Chang, M.D., Ph.D., who each head world-renowned genomics laboratories. Cartography’s platform integrates cutting-edge computational and experimental techniques, including single-cell genomics and proteomics, with high-throughput binder discovery capabilities. The company has already profiled millions of cells across thousands of samples from both cancerous and healthy tissue. Their robust, cell-by-cell atlas identifies optimal antigens by predicting both efficacy and off-target effects for binders against that target.

"Immunotherapies can only be as effective as the antigens they target. In order to bring the tremendous potential of immunotherapy to otherwise untreatable cancers, we first need to identify precise antigen targets for those cancers," Parker said. "Cartography is building a platform and atlas to reveal the targets that will most directly benefit patients by analyzing cancers through the lens of antigen expression rather than histology or genetic mutations. We’re pleased to have the backing of world-class investors to support our first-principles approach to the development of precise, effective immunotherapies."

Cartography is using its modality-agnostic antigen profiling platform as a roadmap to create novel immunotherapies by identifying the targets that maximize efficacy while minimizing potentially toxic side effects. With processes driven by advanced computation and genomics workflows, Cartography condenses the timeline from sample intake to novel target discovery to a span of less than 6 months.

"Cartography has developed the most sophisticated methodology in the field of immunotherapy for expanding the reach of cell therapy and next-generation antibody approaches," said David Moskowitz, Ph.D., Principal at 8VC. "The massive strides over the last decade have established effective modalities, and now it is the time to act with urgency to deliver on that promise. In 2021, over 600,000 people succumbed to cancer in the U.S. alone1, while only a small fraction of those patients were eligible for FDA-approved CAR T therapies. Cartography is charting the course for curing the long tail of disease."

"Fueled by the need to improve how cancer is classified and therefore treated, Cartography is generating comprehensive data about target expression across cell types with a level of depth and precision we’ve never previously been able to produce," said Jorge Conde, General Partner at a16z. "It’s an exciting opportunity to bring a focused, data-driven approach to a longstanding biological problem and create powerful therapeutics from a resource that will drive precision medicine development for many years to come."

Cartography’s founding scientific team includes Maxwell Mumbach, Ph.D., Caleb Lareau, Ph.D., and Jeffrey Verboon. The company’s Scientific Advisory Board is led by Carl June, M.D., along with Emma Lundberg, Ph.D., Angela Shen, M.D., M.B.A., and Joseph Fraietta, Ph.D.

"The Cartography team is taking head-on the challenging problem of target selection for immunotherapies in a groundbreaking way that is applicable to many therapeutic modalities," June said. "Given the significant unmet needs we can address by expanding the promise of immunotherapy, I’m excited for the company’s pipeline of therapies to grow and reach patients."

On July 19, 2022 Hoffmann-La Roche reported to invite you to a virtual analyst and investor event on Tuesday, 26 July 2022, to discuss Roche’s Diagnostics Division, in conjunction with the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) Annual Meeting and Clinical Lab Exposition in Chicago, Illinois (July 24-28, 2022) (Press release, Hoffmann-La Roche, JUL 19, 2022, View Source [SID1234616756]). Please note that since the overwhelming majority of registrations was for a virtual participation, it has been decided to switch the event to a virtual format only (no on site event).

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AACC brings together the global leaders in clinical chemistry, molecular diagnostics and lab management, and is the largest dedicated exhibition of equipment, instruments and services for clinical laboratories in the world.

The webinar will start with a presentation on the Diagnostics Division and on AACC highlights followed by a Q&A session (live access to the speakers). The presentation slides will be available for download from the IR website at 5:00pm CDT on the day of the event. > click here.

On July 19, 2022 Antengene Corporation Limited ("Antengene" SEHK: 6996.HK), a leading innovative, commercial-stage global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing first-in-class and/or best-in-class therapeutics in hematology and oncology, reported that it has entered into a pre-clinical research collaboration with Celularity Inc. (NASDAQ: CELU) (Celularity), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing placental-derived allogeneic cell therapies (Press release, Antengene, JUL 19, 2022, View Source [SID1234616754]). Antengene and Celularity will evaluate the potential therapeutic synergy combining Antengene’s bispecific antibody with Celularity’s cryopreserved human placental hematopoietic stem cell-derived natural killer (NK) cell therapy platform.

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Dr. Jay Mei, Antengene’s Founder, Chairman and CEO said, "Evaluating new technologies that may have the potential to improve cancer care, either as monotherapy or in synergistic combination with programs, is essential to Antengene’s mission. After a careful and comprehensive evaluation, Antengene is very pleased to initiate its first research collaboration in the important field of cellular medicine with Celularity."

Dr. Mei continued, "Celularity’s proprietary, novel, allogenic, cryopreserved, off-the-shelf placental-derived cellular medicine platform is very exciting to Antengene. We look forward to collaborating with the company to explore the potential synergies from the combination of Antengene’s bispecific antibody, and Celularity’s investigational NK cell therapy programs, together or in combination with other agents such as antibodies that target tumor associated antigens (TAA). We are hopeful that this collaboration will yield potential new combination therapies that will improve the treatment of patients with hematological and solid tumor cancers."

Dr. Bo Shan, Antengene’s Chief Scientific Officer said, "We are pleased to partner with Celularity’s NK cell platform. The rationale for our collaboration is based on two hypotheses, formed from a foundation of preclinical and clinical research. First, that our bispecific antibody, potentially activating NK cells upon immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) crosslinking in the tumor microenvironment (TME), can synergize with TAA antibodies to enhance the anti-tumor response. Second, that our bispecific antibody may enhance the proliferation of NK cells and increase their persistence in TME."

Robert J. Hariri, M.D., Ph.D., founder, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of Celularity, added, "We are excited to enter into this research collaboration with Antengene to forge new therapeutic strategies for both solid tumors and hematological malignancies using our placental-derived cell therapy platform. There is an immense potential for combining two novel approaches to enhance tumor targeting while also enhancing allogeneic NK cell activation and activity within the tumor microenvironment. This strategy may identify novel therapeutic options targeting a wide range of cancers."