On March 1, 2021 Modulus Discovery, Inc., a preclinical-stage computation-driven drug discovery firm, reported the successful closing of its Series C funding round in the amount of 2.34B JPY (approximately $20.4M USD) (Press release, Modulus Discovery, MAR 1, 2022, View Source [SID1234609202]). Series C investors include Green Coinvest Investment Limited Partnership., SBI Group., Heights Capital Management, Inc., and existing shareholders including UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd., JAFCO Group Co., Ltd., Keio Innovation Initiative, Inc. (KII), and Fast Track Initiative, Inc. Modulus has raised to date, a total of 5.86B JPY (approximately $51M USD).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Modulus will use the proceeds to further its portfolio of R&D programs driven by its proprietary computational drug discovery platform and globally networked operational model. In addition to accelerating its existing pipeline of over 10 R&D programs, the company aims to significantly increase its business value through expansion of its platform infrastructure, collaborations with industry and academic partners, and increase personnel in R&D and operations to deliver innovative drug candidates through clinical partnerships and additional drug discovery collaborations.

Comment from S. Roy Kimura, Ph.D., Co-founder and CEO:
"We are very excited to announce the close of our Series C round, including follow-on investments from our existing shareholders and participation from new investors. We’d like to thank our current shareholders who have supported us over the years, and welcome our new investors who share our vision to sustainably discover and deliver multiple game-changing therapeutic candidates. With the support of our shareholders over the last 5 years, we have built, validated, and applied our versatile and efficient simulation-driven platform. Since the launch of our discovery portfolio in 2018, we have achieved positive results in multiple in vivo disease model proof-of-concept studies for 3 of our most advanced lead programs. Our next step is to launch first-in-human clinical trials for these candidates in close collaboration with our partners. We look forward to continuing our mission with our shareholders to accelerate the delivery of much needed new medicines for patients and their families worldwide."

Comment from Yusuke Matsumoto, SBI Group.:
"While the cost and time required for research and development of new drugs are increasing, Modulus has successfully created a business model from scratch for generating multiple clinical candidates with a small team of drug discovery simulation experts. We also believe that Modulus is well-positioned to expand its business globally and hope to support Modulus’ business expansion by making full use of SBI Group’s rich industry relationships."

Comment from Takahiro Mizumoto, UTokyo Innovation Platform Co., Ltd.:
"We are pleased to participate in this Series C, our second investment in the company. Modulus is a rare drug discovery venture in Japan, through a fabless, in silico drug discovery model, combined its top-notch science and management team. Through its strong ties to academia, Modulus is engaged in collaboration with the University of Tokyo in Cryo Electron Microscope as well as Tokyo Institute of Technology’s TSUBAME (a large-scale supercomputer), in addition to securing drug discovery seeds from other academic institutions. We believe that Modulus’ R&D approach can be a model case for future industry-academic collaborations. We are so thrilled to be part of Modulus’ mission in the discovery of new medicines and treatments for more patients in need."

On March 1, 2022 Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Kenji Yasukawa, Ph.D. "the Company") reported the status of acquisition of its own shares as stated below (Press release, Astellas, MAR 1, 2022, View Source [SID1234609201]). The acquisition was implemented pursuant to the provision of its Articles of Incorporation in accordance with Article 459, paragraph 1 of the Companies Act.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Particulars

Class of shares acquired: Common stock of the Company

Total number of shares acquired: 14,838,800 shares

Total amount of acquisition cost: 29,357,828,600 yen

Period of acquisition: From February 3, 2022 to February 28, 2022

Method of acquisition: Purchased on the Tokyo Stock Exchange

(Reference)

Details of the resolution at the meeting of the Board of Directors (announced on February 2, 2022)
　- Class of shares to be acquired: Common stock of the Company
　- Total number of shares to be acquired: Up to 29 million shares
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(Ratio to the total number of shares outstanding
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　[excluding treasury stock]: 1.57%)

Accumulated Company’s own shares acquired through February 28, 2022, pursuant to the above board resolution
　- Total number of shares acquired: 14,838,800 shares
　- Total amount of acquisition cost: 29,357,828,600 yen

On February 28, 2022 Hangzhou Sumgen Biotech Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Sumgen Biotech") and Shanghai Escugen Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Escugen") reported the companies entered into a strategic collaboration agreement to jointly develop a next-generation novel antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) (Press release, Sumgen Biotech, FEB 28, 2022, View Source;a=nav&id=343 [SID1234656268]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

According to the agreement both parties will jointly own the intellectual property generated through this collaboration world-widely and bear the costs of developing and commercializing specific products as well, exerting the full potential of the discovery.

Dr. Qing Zhou, founder and CEO of Escugen, said: "Escugen focuses on the research and development of monoclonal antibodies and innovative antibody-drug conjugates. Guided by clinical needs, we continuously create innovative products through a combination of target innovation, technical differentiation, and diversified clinical development paths. In the past few years, Escugen has accumulated extensive technical expertise and talent reserves in the ADC field. The company has conducted in-depth research in the area of novel antibody-drug conjugates and has advanced its ADC pipeline to the clinical research and development stage. Sumgen Biotech has keen insights into antibody pipeline planning and has accumulated substantial technical expertise. The collaboration between Escugen and Sumgen Biotech in the field of ADCs will expand our innovative achievements in the ADC field to a broader range of targets and clinical indications."

Dr. Ming Lv, founder and CEO of Sumgen Biotech, said: "Sumgen Biotech has always adhered to the principle of technology-driven product innovation. Based on our own innovations, we are as well actively introducing external state of art technologies to broaden the scope of our innovation. The collaboration with Escugen isan important milestone for Sumgen Biotech’s strategic layout in the track of ADC. We have high expectations for Escugen’s ADC technical know-how and R&D capabilities. The exploration of developing next-generation antibody therapies by both parties will provide more and better treatment options for patients worldwide."

On February 28, 2022 Defence Therapeutics Inc. ("Defence" or the "Company"), a pre-clinical biotechnology company developing various products for the immuneoncology space, is pleased to reported the publication of its first peer-reviewed study on the potency of AccuVAC-D001L (Press release, Defence Therapeutics, FEB 28, 2022, View Source [SID1234626248]). AccuVAC-D001L is one of Defence’s dendritic cell (DC) vaccine products designed to treat established T-cell lymphoma developed from Defence’s patented AccumTM technologies. This study, which was published in the prestigious journal of Cell Reports Medicine, is entitled, "Promoting antigen escape from dendritic cell endosomes potentiates anti-tumoral immunity", and can be directly accessed at the following address: View Source;

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

There is currently only one FDA-approved DC vaccine available on the market and it is dedicated to the treatment of prostate cancer. However, the vaccine did not deliver the hoped-for clinical outcome due to major hurdles related to antigen presentation by DCs to responding T cells. This is where AccumTM technology shows itself as a major advantage, as it provides the cues needed to bypass the number one enemy of any given antigen: endosomal entrapment.

The study, which was led by the VP of research and development at Defence, Dr. Rafei, presents insights of how Accum-linked antigens escape DC endosomes, which results in their efficient processing by the proteasomal complex. T cells are thus effectively activated culminating in potent control of established tumors or even their complete regression in certain cases. A more detailed analysis of treated tumors further revealed re-activation of the host immune system within the tumor microenvironment resulting in the recruitment of potent effector cells such as CD8 lymphocytes, NK cells, as well as endogenous DCs. The latter population is particularly important as it may further amplify the triggered anti-tumoral response by participating in capturing and presenting additional tumor-derived antigens.

Compared to the existing standard DC vaccine, Defence’s intratumoral delivery of AccuVACD001L affected the tumor microenvironment tipping the balance in favor of cytotoxic T lymphocytes at the expense of the suppressive regulatory T cells. These preclinical findings represent a giant step in the field of DC vaccination and may provide the impetus to recycle past DC vaccines with failed clinical efficacy

The key highlights of the AccuVAC-D001L study are:
The use of Accum-linked antigens enhances processing and presentation of immunogenic peptides.
Delivery of AccuVAC-D001L elicits potent effector T cell responses.
Therapeutic vaccination using AccuVAC-D001L controls pre-established lymphoma.
The vaccine boosts tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and increases the CD8/Treg ratio.

"This prestigious peer-reviewed publication provides important validation of our first DC vaccine candidate, and demonstrates the advantages of using our AccumTM antigen formulation to enhance the anti-tumoral response of DC-based vaccination," said Mr. Plouffe, Chief Executive Officer of Defence Therapeutics.

In summary, AccuVAC-D001L is developed by Defence’s scientific team and engineered to overcome most of DC vaccine shortcomings using Defence’s AccumTM Technology platform. The triggered durable and potent memory response combined with the observed favorable safety profile positions this DC vaccination platform as a base for future cancer vaccination strategies. The use of Accum-antigen formulations provides a versatile framework for a wide range of other DC vaccines to target multiple cancer indications. The human AccuVAC-D001L is currently being generated in a clean room installation in preparation for the melanoma Phase I trial expected to start in Q4 of 2022.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!