On October 26, 2022 Oncopeptides AB (publ) (NASDAQ Stockholm: ONCO), a biotech company focused on research and development of therapies for difficult-to-treat hematological diseases, reported that data from the phase 3 LIGHTHOUSE study that further confirms the clinical benefit of melflufen in patients with relapsed refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) (Press release, Oncopeptides, OCT 26, 2022, View Source [SID1234622411]). The LIGHTHOUSE study investigated the efficacy and safety of the combination of melflufen plus daratumumab subcutaneous (sc) plus dexamethasone in comparison with daratumumab sc. (with supportive dexamethasone) in patients who were refractory to at least an immunomodulatory agent and a proteasome inhibitor or have received at least three prior lines of therapy including a proteasome inhibitor and an immunomodulatory agent.

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LIGHTHOUSE is a randomized, open label phase 3 trial, designed as a confirmatory study in addition to the phase 3 OCEAN study. The primary endpoint was progression free survival (PFS). The study started in December 2020 and was planned to include 240 patients. In July 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requested a partial clinical hold of all studies with melflufen. Consequently, patient recruitment in LIGHTHOUSE was halted after 54 patients had been randomized. The clinical study was prematurely terminated in February 2022. Twenty-seven patients were randomized to each treatment arm. Patient characteristics were balanced between the two study arms. The observed efficacy and safety profile for the daratumumab sc. control arm in LIGHTHOUSE was in line with the approval labels in EU and USA with numerically higher PFS and Overall Response Rate (ORR).

Despite the small number of patients enrolled in LIGHTHOUSE at the time of study termination (n=54), the PFS in the ITT population was superior for the melflufen treatment arm in comparison with the control arm with a hazard-ratio (HR) of 0.18 and a nominal p-value of 0.0032. The ITT ORR was superior with a nominal p-value of 0.030, and the ITT Overall Survival (OS) HR was 0.47 with a nominal p-value of 0.37.

"Data from the phase 3 LIGHTHOUSE study are very encouraging and clearly indicate that the combination of melflufen and daratumumab has a clinical benefit in patients with RRMM," says María-Victoria Mateos, MD, PhD, from Salamanca’s University Hospital Haematology Department, and Lead Investigator of the LIGHTHOUSE study. "Multiple myeloma is still an incurable disease for most patients, and we welcome additional evidence on how to combine treatment options with different mode of actions in clinical practice."

In the patient population where the European Medicines Agency (EMA) confirmed melflufen clinical benefit based on the OCEAN trial, the LIGHTHOUSE study (n=29) demonstrated superior PFS with a HR of 0.062 with a nominal p-value of 0.0005, superior ORR with a nominal p-value of 0.0051, and superior OS with a HR of 0.00 with a nominal p-value of 0.037. This patient population excludes patients with post-ASCT time-to-progression <36 months.

"LIGHTHOUSE is the second phase 3 study to confirm the clinical benefit of melflufen in multiple myeloma patients with a treatment history with no stem-cell transplant or a successful prior stem-cell transplant in line with the recent full European approval," said Jakob Lindberg, CEO, Oncopeptides. "In addition, the LIGHTHOUSE data support the EMA conclusion that there is no indication of absolute overall survival harm from treatment with melflufen."

The safety profile of the melflufen and daratumumab sc combination was in line with what was observed in the phase 1/2 ANCHOR study, with predominantly clinically manageable cytopenias. The ANCHOR study was evaluating safety and efficacy of melflufen plus dexamethasone in combination with either daratumumab sc or bortezomib in patients with RRMM.

The information in the press release is information that Oncopeptides is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person above, on October 26, 2022, at 08:00 (CET).

On October 26, 2022 Ascendis Pharma A/S (Nasdaq: ASND) reported that the company will hold a conference call and live webcast on Wednesday, November 2, 2022, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) to review its third quarter 2022 financial results and provide a business update (Press release, Ascendis Pharma, OCT 26, 2022, View Source [SID1234622410]).

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Those who would like to participate may access the live webcast here, or register in advance for the teleconference here. The link to the live webcast will also be available on the Investors & News section of the Ascendis Pharma website at View Source A replay of the webcast will be available on this section of our website shortly after conclusion of the event for 30 days.

On October 26, 2022 Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND) reported that Janssen Biotech, Inc. (Janssen) has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for TECVAYLI (teclistamab) for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) multiple myeloma (Press release, Ligand, OCT 26, 2022, View Source [SID1234622409]). Teclistamab is a T-cell redirecting, bispecific antibody targeting both B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) and CD3 discovered and developed by Janssen scientists using OmniAb’s OmniRat antibody discovery technology.

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Under the terms of the licensing agreement with an affiliate of Janssen, OmniAb is eligible to receive a $25 million milestone payment upon the first commercial sale of teclistamab in the United States.

"We are delighted Janssen’s TECVAYLI has been approved by the FDA, which follows its approval by the European Commission. This first FDA approval of an OmniAb-derived antibody is a major milestone for OmniAb as we continue to build momentum in the business," said Matt Foehr, President and COO of Ligand and planned CEO of OmniAb, Inc. following spin-off from Ligand. "Our strategic partners and collaborators have now received regulatory approvals for three different OmniAb-derived antibodies in three major geographies that include the U.S., Europe and China. We continue to see use of our platform increase for a variety of novel modalities, and are proud of the role we play within the industry and the contribution our technologies and team make to the discovery of therapeutics to improve human health on a global level."

The spin-off of OmniAb from Ligand remains on track with an expected closing on November 1, 2022, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of closing conditions for the business combination (Business Combination) of Avista Public Acquisition Corp. II (APAC) (NASDAQ: AHPA) and OmniAb. The record date for the dividend of shares of common stock of OmniAb to be distributed to Ligand shareholders (Distribution) is October 26, 2022, and the Distribution is expected to be made on November 1, 2022 immediately prior to the Business Combination, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of closing conditions. Following the closing of the Business Combination, OmniAb will begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the stock ticker symbol "OABI." Under the terms of the separation and distribution agreement between Ligand and OmniAb, the milestone payments related to the first commercial sale of TECVAYLI will remain with OmniAb regardless of timing and achievement of the milestone and the timing of the closing of the Business Combination. The license agreement with an affiliate of Janssen does not include royalty payments, and OmniAb will not receive royalties on sales of TECVAYLI.

About OmniAb

OmniAb’s discovery platform provides pharmaceutical industry partners access to the diverse antibody repertoires and high-throughput screening technologies to enable discovery of next-generation therapeutics. At the heart of the OmniAb platform is the Biological Intelligence (BI) of our proprietary transgenic animals, including OmniRat, OmniChicken and OmniMouse that have been genetically modified to generate antibodies with human sequences to facilitate development of human therapeutic candidates. OmniFlic (transgenic rat) and OmniClic (transgenic chicken) address industry needs for bispecific antibody applications though a common light chain approach, and OmniTaur features unique structural attributes of cow antibodies for complex targets. We believe the OmniAb animals comprise the most diverse host systems available in the industry and they are optimally leveraged through computational antigen design and immunization methods, paired with high-throughput single B cell phenotypic screening and mining of next-generation sequencing datasets with custom algorithms to identify fully human antibodies with superior performance and developability characteristics. An established core competency focused on ion channels and transporters further differentiates our technology and creates opportunities in emerging target classes. OmniAb antibodies have been leveraged across modalities, including bispecific antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates and others. The OmniAb suite of technologies span from BI-powered repertoire generation to cutting edge antibody discovery and optimization offering a highly efficient and customizable end-to-end solution for the growing discovery needs of the global pharmaceutical industry.

On October 26, 2022 Theratechnologies Inc. ("Theratechnologies" or the "Company") (TSX: TH) (NASDAQ: THTX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies reported that data from a tissue microarrays (TMAs) study demonstrating high expression of sortilin 1 (SORT1) in several solid tumors when compared to normal tissues, to be presented as a poster at the 34th European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Symposium on molecular targets and cancer therapeutics being held October 26-28, 2022, in Barcelona, Spain (Press release, Theratechnologies, OCT 26, 2022, View Source [SID1234622408]). The data highlight the potential of SORT1 as a new target for internalization of anticancer therapy and will be used to support the ongoing preclinical and clinical programs of Theratechnologies’ SORT1+ Technology platform.

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SORT1 is a receptor protein that binds to circulating proteins and peptides prior to their intracellular internalization. It is involved in the rapid transport of molecules across the cell membrane. SORT1 internalization function can be exploited to internalize a peptide-drug conjugate (PDC) to which docetaxel is attached and potentially inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells . Up to now, the pattern and prevalence of SORT1 expression in different healthy tissues have not been well understood, but SORT1 has been shown to be highly expressed in certain malignancies such as breast and ovarian cancers.

"Our study, the first to assess SORT1 expression across a variety of tissue microarrays representing several malignancies, shows that this receptor is highly expressed in cancer compared to normal tissues," said Christian Marsolais, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Theratechnologies. "To our knowledge, no other group has conducted such an extensive screening of tumor or normal tissue biopsies to evaluate the level of SORT1 expression, which is elevated in multiple tumor types and maintained in stages 1 to 4. That makes SORT1 an attractive receptor for targeted delivery and rapid internalization of cancer therapeutic agents."

Researchers reported data on a total of 1,446 cancer cores, using the same immunohistochemistry (IHC) method and scored them using an H-score (an accurate method of describing reactivity in homogeneous tissue such as cancer) ranging from 0 to 300, whereby 0 corresponds to no cell stained for SORT1 and 300 corresponds to strong SORT1 staining in all cells.

The investigators observed high SORT1 expression in multiple solid tumors, as illustrated in the following table:

Interestingly, across 257 normal or adjacent tissue evaluable cores, SORT1 staining was either negative (null) or low for most healthy tissues including lung, stomach, liver, ovary, prostate, lymph node, esophagus, small intestine, cervix, skin, spleen, bone marrow, and thymus. Some healthy tissues had moderate or strong staining in >10% of cells, including the colonic mucosa, rectal epithelium, pancreatic islets and vessels, breast lobules, testicular spermatids and Sertoli cells, kidney tubules, and cerebral neuronal cells and astrocytes. The full poster can be found on Theratechnologies’ website.

"These findings further strengthen the evidence to support the development of our SORT1+ Technology platform, including our ongoing first-in-human study of TH1902, a SORT1-targeted PDC, currently in eight solid tumor types," added Dr. Marsolais. "They could also lay the groundwork for additional PDCs that are in early development."

The Company intends to further evaluate additional tissue microarrays to increase the biopsy sample size and to broaden the range of tumor types and sub-types that may be susceptible to SORT1, such as in prostate, small-cell lung carcinoma and thyroid cancers.

About TH1902 and SORT1+ Technology

Theratechnologies is currently developing a platform of proprietary peptides called SORT1+ TechnologyTM for cancer drug development targeting SORT1 receptors. The SORT1 receptor plays a significant role in protein internalization, sorting and trafficking. It is highly expressed in cancer cells compared to healthy tissue, which makes SORT1 an attractive target for cancer drug development. Expression of SORT1 is associated with aggressive disease, poor prognosis and decreased survival. It is estimated that the SORT1 receptor is expressed in 40% to 90% of cases of endometrial, ovarian, colorectal, triple-negative breast and pancreatic cancers.

TH1902 is currently Theratechnologies’ lead investigational PDC candidate for the treatment of cancer derived from its SORT1+ Technology. It is the Company’s proprietary peptide linked to docetaxel – a commonly used cytotoxic agent used to treat many cancers. The U.S. FDA granted fast track designation to TH1902 as a single agent for the treatment of all sortilin-positive recurrent advanced solid tumors that are refractory to standard therapy.

On October 26, 2022 Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (Nasdaq: ABUS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leveraging its extensive virology expertise to develop novel therapeutics that target specific viral diseases, reported that it has scheduled its third quarter 2022 financial results and corporate update for Wednesday, November 9, 2022 (Press release, Arbutus Biopharma, OCT 26, 2022, View Source [SID1234622407]). The schedule for the press release and conference call/webcast are as follows:

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To dial-in for the conference call by phone, please register using the following link: Registration Link. A live webcast of the conference call can be accessed through the Investors section of Arbutus’ website at www.arbutusbio.com.

An archived webcast will be available on the Arbutus website after the event.