On November 17, 2022 RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: RAPT) ("RAPT" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage, immunology-based biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing oral small molecule therapies for patients with significant unmet needs in inflammatory diseases and oncology, reported the pricing of its previously announced underwritten public offering of 4,054,055 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $18.50 per share. All of the shares of common stock are being offered by RAPT (Press release, RAPT Therapeutics, NOV 17, 2022, https://investors.rapt.com/news-releases/news-release-details/rapt-therapeutics-announces-pricing-public-offering-common-0 [SID1234624228]). Gross proceeds to RAPT from the offering are expected to be $75 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses. In addition, the underwriters have been granted a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 608,108 shares of common stock at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. The offering is expected to close on November 22, 2022, subject to customary closing conditions.

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J.P. Morgan, Evercore ISI, Guggenheim Securities and Cantor are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.

The offering is being made pursuant to a shelf registration statement, including a base prospectus, filed by RAPT with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which was declared effective by the SEC on November 16, 2020. The offering may be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus. A preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to the offering have been filed with the SEC and are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. When available, electronic copies of the final prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus may also be obtained from: J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, by email at [email protected] or by telephone at (866) 803-9204; Evercore Group L.L.C., Attention: Equity Capital Markets, 55 East 52nd Street, 36th Floor, New York, NY 10055, by telephone at (888) 474-0200, or by email at [email protected]; Guggenheim Securities, LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Department, 330 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10017, by telephone at (212) 518-9544 or by email at [email protected]; or Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Attention: Capital Markets, 499 Park Avenue, 6th Floor, New York, New York 10022, or by email at [email protected].

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, 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 November 17, 2022 MacroGenics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGNX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the approval of the Biologics License Application (BLA) for teplizumab, an anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody that was previously developed by MacroGenics (Press release, MacroGenics, NOV 17, 2022, View Source [SID1234624227]). Teplizumab was acquired by Provention Bio, Inc. in May 2018 pursuant to an asset purchase agreement.

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"We are very pleased to see the culmination of years of effort by Provention, MacroGenics, and tireless champions in academia and government, with the achievement of the approval of teplizumab," said Scott Koenig, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of MacroGenics. "We applaud this outcome, which represents an advancement for individuals and their families dealing with the risks and consequences of type 1 diabetes."

Under the agreement, Provention is obligated to pay MacroGenics contingent milestone payments totaling $170 million upon the achievement of certain regulatory approval milestones, including $60 million for the approval of a BLA for a first indication in the United States. In addition, Provention is obligated to make contingent milestone payments to MacroGenics totaling $225 million upon the achievement of certain sales milestones as well as a single-digit royalty on net sales of the product.

Based on MacroGenics’ cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities balance as of September 30, 2022, plus projected and anticipated payments from partners, including timely receipt of the milestone payment from Provention, MacroGenics currently anticipates having a cash runway into late 2024.

On November 17, 2022 The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), based in Brussels, Belgium, and the King Hussein Cancer Centre (KHCC) in Amman, Jordan reported the signing of an agreement to develop, conduct, and promote translational and clinical cancer research in the Middle East region (Press release, EORTC, NOV 17, 2022, View Source [SID1234624226]). The KHCC will act as the Middle East Co-ordinating Office (MECO) and will provide support to EORTC for its activities. This is the first EORTC collaboration in the region and will form an important part of its effort to develop cancer research in middle-income countries where many patients have not yet had the opportunity to take part in clinical trials.

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Welcoming the signing, EORTC and EORTC Cancer Research Fund (ECRF) Honorary President, HRH Princess Dina Mired of Jordan, said: "The MECO agreement demonstrates how the EORTC stays true to its mission of improving survival and quality of life for all cancer patients. Access to clinical cancer research means a step forward to closing the gap in cancer patient treatment and care. As a Jordanian and Honorary President of the EORTC/ECRF I am proud of the joint initiative between the EORTC and the KHCC."

Dr Lacombe_EORTC_ Dr Mansour_KHCC
The KHCC has successfully contributed to six EORTC clinical trials since 2017 and has a representation of 13 members covering all EORTC research groups. The establishment of the MECO will enable the further development of joint activities with collaborators in the Middle East region. Among the first collaborative activities will be a Clinical Trials Statistics course co-organised by the partners. This will take place in Amman from 15-17 November, taught by an EORTC faculty of statisticians.

Dr Denis Lacombe, EORTC Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are delighted that this collaboration will allow us to expand in the Middle East and bring our expertise to help cancer patients in this part of the world. EORTC is a European organisation, but with an international outlook and a mission to improve the lives of cancer patients worldwide. The agreement with the KHCC brings us a step closer to the achievement of this mission."

Dr Mansour, Chief Executive Officer of the KHCC, said: "We are very excited to start this new era of clinical cancer research in the Middle East, and confident that through the activities of "MECO", we will find synergies with collaborators from this region to conduct cutting-edge research projects and clinical trials that will help us understand how we can embrace and optimize all the advancements taking place in cancer diagnosis and treatment to the benefit of each individual patient, and provide our patients with more opportunities to take part in clinical trials and access newly developed life-saving drugs that may not be available outside the research setting".

On November 17, 2022 KAHR, a clinical-stage biotech company developing a novel, bi-specific CD47x4-1BB targeting immunotherapy that activates innate and adaptive immunity to treat solid tumors and blood cancers, and the Myeloma Investment Fund (MIF), the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation’s (MMRF) venture philanthropy subsidiary, reported that the MIF has invested in KAHR to explore the potential of DSP107, KAHR’s lead immunotherapy drug candidate, for the treatment of multiple myeloma (Press release, KAHR Medical, NOV 17, 2022, View Source [SID1234624225]).

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"We are thrilled to partner with KAHR to help advance DSP107 as a potential drug candidate for multiple myeloma," said Peter Kosa, Ph.D., Managing Director of the Myeloma Investment Fund. "This investment reinforces our commitment to drive the development of the most innovative treatment approaches for myeloma patients."

"We are excited to have the Myeloma Investment Fund join our syndicate of investors," said Yaron Pereg, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of KAHR. "This vote of confidence helps us advance the clinical development of our lead product candidate, DSP107, which is being tested in multiple clinical studies for the benefit of patients who are non-responsive or refractory to existing therapies."

Together with the current investment, KAHR has raised a total of $59 million since June 2021 in private placements supported by aMoon Fund, Flerie Invest AB, Peregrine Ventures, BVF Partners LP, DAFNA Capital Management LLC, Consensus Business Group, Hadasit Bio Holdings Ltd (HBL), Mirae Asset, Shavit Capital, Pavilion Capital, Cancer Focus Fund and Remedii.

About DSP107
DSP107 is a dual-targeting fusion protein that activates innate and adaptive immunity by blocking CD47 on cancer cells and utilizing 4-1BB conditional co-stimulatory activation of T-cells. By binding both cancer cells and immune cells, DSP107 combines checkpoint inhibition with tumor localized immune cell activation to bolster anti tumor immunity. DSP107 binds to and inhibits CD47, an immune checkpoint protein overexpressed in many cancers that enables the tumor to evade immune recognition and attack by macrophages. Simultaneously, when anchored to the tumor, DSP107 binds 4-1BB, a co-stimulatory receptor expressed on T-cells, recruits them to the tumor microenvironment and stimulates their activation. These activities result in targeted macrophage and T-cell mediated immune activation and tumor destruction.

DSP107 has demonstrated an excellent safety profile, no binding to red blood cells, biological activity, and high disease control rates in a Phase I trial of patients with advanced solid tumors. DSP107 is also being tested in combination with Atezolizumab in a Phase I/II trial in patients with advanced solid tumors and in combination with standard of care therapies for relapsed/refractory AML and MDS patients in a Phase Ib study.

On November 17, 2022 Evogene Ltd. (Nasdaq: EVGN) (TASE: EVGN), a leading computational biology company targeting to revolutionize life-science based product discovery and development utilizing cutting edge computational biology technologies, across multiple market segments, reported its financial results for the third quarter, ended September 30, 2022 (Press release, Evogene, NOV 17, 2022, View Source [SID1234624224]).

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Mr. Ofer Haviv, Evogene’s President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Reviewing our developments in 2022, the activities of Evogene and our subsidiaries are advancing well, and we have met important milestones. Each one, whose technology leverages Evogene’s AI tech engines, is generating significant value for the Evogene Group, and I am very pleased with our progress.

"An example for such milestone progress can be seen in our clinical trial for subsidiary Biomica’s microbiome-based immuno-oncology drug candidate, which was launched earlier this year and developed using Evogene’s MicroBoost AI tech engine. In recent weeks, we progressed to our third patient out of twelve, and we aim to have our first data readout in spring 2023, as these first few patients conclude their treatment programs. Another important milestone achieved recently by our subsidiary Lavie Bio, was the submission of the registration package to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in October, for its novel bio-fungicide product, developed using Evogene’s MicroBoost AI tech engine. We expect this process to take around 18 months. Our goal is a soft launch for the 2024 growing season, pending the regulatory approval."

Continued Mr. Haviv, "In these challenging times in the capital markets, it’s important to emphasize that we maintain a strong consolidated cash position of approximately $38 million, which based on our business plan, we expect will be enough to take us towards late 2024. Furthermore, with the strategic steps we continue to pursue, the fundraising at our subsidiary level, as well as the collaborations with non-dilutive payments, we believe we will extend this runway out further.

"The strategic collaboration and $10 million investment in the quarter by ICL, a leading specialty minerals company, into our subsidiary, Lavie Bio, is a great example of the successful execution of this strategy. It brought a new and additional source of capital to that subsidiary, it brought a value-adding partner to the subsidiary, which has a strong share in the ultimate success and upside in that subsidiary, and it also demonstrated the inherent financial value of the subsidiary and ultimately Evogene’s share in it. We continue to work hard in identifying additional value-adding partners and investors and bringing them into our subsidiaries."

Added Mr. Haviv, "In parallel, we continue to pursue collaborations which can add new revenue streams for both Evogene and its subsidiaries, built upon the successful products all developed using Evogene’s underlying AI tech-engines. A recent example for this strategy was the announcement made by our subsidiary Casterra, focusing on castor seed technology development. They signed a royalty agreement with Zambian company, Titan, for sales of castor oil produced by Titan, which are based on Casterra’s castor seeds and developed using Evogene’s GeneRator AI tech engine.

"Another collaboration we are proud of was announced by our subsidiary Canonic, developing cannabis products, leveraging Evogene’s GeneRator AI tech engine. They announced a new licensing and royalty agreement signed with GroVida, a Portuguese cannabis cultivation company, in European markets for two of our new cannabis lines. Europe is a first and key target market for Canonic beyond our local market in Israel, with total medical cannabis market sales estimated at approximately €400 million."

Concluded Mr, Haviv, "These represent some of the initial fruits of our focus on this strategy and I look forward to further such deals in the coming months."

Consolidated Financial Results Summary

Cash position: Evogene continues to maintain a solid financial position for its activities with approximately $38 million in consolidated cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of September 30, 2022. Approximately $11.9 million of Evogene’s consolidated cash is appropriated to its subsidiary, Lavie Bio.

During the third quarter, the consolidated cash usage was approximately $7.3 million, or approximately $4.7 million, excluding Lavie Bio.

Revenues: Revenues for the third quarter of 2022 were $466 thousand, in comparison to $151 thousand in the same period the previous year and were primarily due to revenues recognized per the collaboration agreement of Evogene’s subsidiary AgPlenus with Corteva.

R&D expenses for the third quarter of 2022, which are reported net of non-refundable grants received, were $5.0 million, in comparison to $5.8 million in the same period the previous year. The main contributors to R&D expenses were Lavie Bio’s activities supporting the production and commercialization of its inoculant product and Evogene’s ongoing development of its technology engines.

Business Development expenses were approximately $0.9 million for the third quarter of 2022, in comparison to $0.8 million in the same period the previous year.

General and Administrative expenses were $1.6 million in the third quarter of 2022, in comparison to $2.0 million in the same period in the previous year.

Operating loss: Operating loss for the third quarter of 2022 was $7.1 million in comparison to $8.6 million in the same period in the previous year.

Financing expenses for the third quarter of 2022 were $61 thousand, in comparison to financing income of $221 thousand in the same period in the previous year. The difference between periods was mainly due to U.S. Dollar and New Israeli Shekel exchange rate differences between periods and a change in the value of marketable securities.

Net loss: Net loss for the third quarter of 2022 was $7.2 million, in comparison to a net loss of $8.3 million in the same period in the previous year.

The Company’s investor presentation can be viewed at the above link, which is in the investor relations section of the company website.

Replay Information: A replay of the conference call will be available approximately two hours following the completion of the call.

To access the replay, please dial 1-888-326-9310 toll free from the United States, or +972-3-925-5901 internationally. The replay will be accessible following the call for three days. An archive of the webcast will be available on the Company’s website.