On February 17, 2022 Immune-Onc Therapeutics, Inc. ("Immune-Onc"), a clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy company developing novel biotherapeutics targeting immunosuppressive myeloid checkpoints, reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation for IO-202, a first-in-class myeloid checkpoint inhibitor targeting leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptor B4 (LILRB4, also known as ILT3) for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (Press release, Immune-Onc Therapeutics, FEB 17, 2022, View Source [SID1234608244]). The Company received Orphan Drug Designation for IO-202 for the treatment of AML in 2020.

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"We are pleased that the FDA has granted IO-202 Fast Track designation in recognition of its potential to improve outcomes for people with relapsed or refractory AML," said Paul Woodard, Ph.D., chief medical officer of Immune-Onc. "We look forward to working closely with the FDA to accelerate the clinical development of IO-202, which is currently being evaluated as a monotherapy and in combination with other agents in a Phase 1 dose escalation and expansion trial in patients with AML with monocytic differentiation and in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML)."

The FDA’s Fast Track designation is designed to facilitate the development and expedite the review of drugs to treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need to get important new medicines to patients earlier. Drugs that receive Fast Track designation may be eligible for more frequent interactions and written communications with the FDA to discuss the development plan and data collection to support an approval pathway. The designation also supports the eligibility for Accelerated Approval and Priority Review if relevant criteria are met.

ABOUT LILRB4 (also known as ILT3)

LILRB4, also known as ILT3, is an immune inhibitory transmembrane protein found on monocytic myeloid cells, including dendritic cells. LILRB4 inhibits antigen-presenting cell activation, resulting in immune tolerance. LILRB4 is also expressed on certain hematologic cancer cells and monocytic myeloid cells in the solid tumor microenvironment. Immune-Onc and The University of Texas published pioneering research in Nature illuminating the role of LILRB4 in immune suppression and tumor infiltration in AML and presented the rationale for targeting LILRB4 in solid tumors at the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2021.

ABOUT IO-202

IO-202 is a first-in-class LILRB4 antagonist antibody with broad potential as an immunotherapy in both blood cancers and solid tumors. In hematologic malignancies, preclinical studies showed that IO-202 converts a "don’t kill me" to a "kill me" signal by activating T cell killing and converts a "don’t find me" to a "find me" signal by inhibiting infiltration of blood cancer cells. In solid tumors, preclinical data showed that IO-202 enhances dendritic cell function and T cell activation in vitro and inhibits tumor growth in a solid tumor model in vivo.

IO-202 is currently in Phase 1 clinical development for the treatment of AML and CMML. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted IO-202 Orphan Drug Designations for treatment of AML in 2020. The company has received IND clearance to evaluate IO-202 in solid tumors in January 2022.

On February 17, 2022 BeiGene (NASDAQ: BGNE; HKEX: 06160; SSE: 688235), a global, science-driven biotechnology company focused on developing innovative and affordable medicines, reported that BeiGene’s BTK inhibitor BRUKINSA (zanubrutinib) received approval from Swissmedic for the treatment of adult patients with Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia (WM) who have received at least one prior line of therapy, or for treatment-naïve patients who are not suited for standard chemo-immunotherapy (Press release, BeiGene, FEB 17, 2022, View Source [SID1234608243]). BRUKINSA had previously been granted orphan drug status.

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"The authorization of BRUKINSA will bring a new option and an innovative medicine that has potential to offer deep and durable response for eligible patients with WM in Switzerland," said Pr. Davide Rossi, Deputy Head of the Division of Hematology of the Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland IOSI. "BRUKINSA is a next-generation BTK inhibitor which has also provided meaningful improvements in tolerability for some patients with WM compared to ibrutinib, as treatment discontinuation remains a concern."

Reto Kessler, Country Manager, Switzerland at BeiGene added, "This approval is a significant development for people living with WM in Switzerland and for BeiGene’s expansion in Europe. Our teams are committed to collaborating with the Federal Office of Public Health and healthcare professionals to ensure access to BRUKINSA for patients in Switzerland."

The Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) is supported by data from the global Phase 3 ASPEN clinical trial, a Phase 3 randomized, open-label, multicenter trial (NCT03053440) that evaluated BRUKINSA compared to ibrutinib in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) or treatment-naïve (TN) WM who harbor a MYD88 mutation (MYD88MUT). In the ASPEN trial, BRUKINSA demonstrated a numerically higher very good partial response (VGPR) rate and a favorable safety profile over ibrutinib, although the primary endpoint of statistical superiority related to deep response (VGPR or better) was not met. As assessed by independent review committee (IRC) per adaptation of the response criteria updated at the Sixth International Workshop on Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia (IWWM), the combined complete response (CR) + VGPR rate in the overall intention-to-treat (ITT) population was 29% with BRUKINSA (95% CI: 20, 40), compared to 19% with ibrutinib (95% CI: 12, 30).

In the ASPEN trial, of the 101 patients with WM randomized and treated with BRUKINSA, four percent of patients discontinued due to adverse events, including cardiomegaly, neutropenia, plasma cell myeloma, and subdural hemorrhage. Adverse events leading to dose reduction occurred in 14% of patients, with the most common being neutropenia (3%) and diarrhea (2%).

The recommended dose of BRUKINSA is either 160 mg twice daily or 320 mg once daily, taken orally with or without food. The dose may be adjusted for adverse reactions and reduced for patients with severe hepatic impairment and certain drug interactions.

About Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia

WM is a rare B-cell lymphoma that occurs in less than two percent of patients with non-Hodgkin lymphomas.2 The disease usually affects older adults and is primarily found in bone marrow, although lymph nodes and the spleen may be involved.1 Throughout Europe, the estimated incidence rate of WM is approximately seven for every one million men and four for every one million women.2

About BRUKINSA

BRUKINSA is a small molecule inhibitor of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) discovered by BeiGene scientists that is currently being evaluated globally in a broad clinical program as a monotherapy and in combination with other therapies to treat various B-cell malignancies. Because new BTK is continuously synthesized, BRUKINSA was specifically designed to deliver complete and sustained inhibition of the BTK protein by optimizing bioavailability, half-life, and selectivity. With differentiated pharmacokinetics compared to other approved BTK inhibitors, BRUKINSA has been demonstrated to inhibit the proliferation of malignant B cells within a number of disease relevant tissues.

BRUKINSA is supported by a broad clinical program which includes more than 3,900 subjects in 35 trials across 28 markets. To date, BRUKINSA has received more than 20 approvals covering more than 40 countries and regions, including the U.S., European Union, China, Australia, Great Britain and Switzerland. Currently, more than 40 additional regulatory submissions are in review around the world.

BeiGene Oncology

BeiGene is committed to advancing best- and first-in-class clinical candidates internally or with like-minded partners to develop impactful and affordable medicines for patients across the globe. We have a growing R&D and medical affairs team of approximately 2,900 colleagues dedicated to advancing more than 100 clinical trials that have involved more than 14,500 subjects. Our expansive portfolio is directed predominantly by our internal colleagues supporting clinical trials in more than 45 countries and regions. Hematology-oncology and solid tumor targeted therapies and immuno-oncology are key focus areas for the Company, with both mono- and combination therapies prioritized in our research and development. BeiGene currently has three approved medicines discovered and developed in our own labs: BTK inhibitor BRUKINSA in the United States, China, the EU and U.K., Canada, Australia and additional international markets; and the non-FC-gamma receptor binding anti-PD-1 antibody tislelizumab as well as the PARP inhibitor pamiparib in China.

BeiGene also partners with innovative companies who share our goal of developing therapies to address global health needs. We commercialize a range of oncology medicines in China licensed from Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, EUSA Pharma and Bio-Thera. We also plan to address greater areas of unmet need globally through our other collaborations including with Mirati Therapeutics, Seagen, and Zymeworks.

In January 2021 BeiGene and Novartis announced a collaboration granting Novartis rights to co-develop, manufacture, and commercialize BeiGene’s anti-PD1 antibody tislelizumab in North America, Europe, and Japan. Building upon this productive collaboration, including a biologics license application (BLA) under FDA review, BeiGene and Novartis announced an option, collaboration and license agreement in December 2021 for BeiGene’s TIGIT inhibitor ociperlimab that is in Phase 3 development. Novartis and BeiGene also entered into a strategic commercial agreement through which BeiGene will promote five approved Novartis Oncology products across designated regions of China.

On February 17, 2022 NEC OncoImmunity AS (NOI) reported a publication that describes a novel approach to type new HLA alleles and characterize the HLA of tumors to guide personalized cancer immunotherapy (Press release, NEC OncoImmunity, FEB 17, 2022, View Source [SID1234608242]).

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The computational approach performs HLA typing from next generation sequencing data by using the current strengths of conventional HLA typing while simultaneously allowing for the discovery of novel HLA alleles and tumor-specific HLA variants, through leveraging proprietary mutation calling bioinformatics at NOI.

NOI collaborated with Ultimovacs ASA in the study to validate the HLA typing approach from the blood of numerous donors using deep targeted HLA sequencing. The validation confirmed almost 100% of HLA typing success at the 1st and 2nd fields of resolution.

The approach was published in the peer review journal HLA where the first author Anzar and her colleagues also demonstrated how the approach led to the discovery of a new officially named HLA allele, from standard sequencing data routinely used in the design of personalized cancer vaccines.

"This approach is an important development in the field of precision immunotherapy. It will help the HLA typing community to fill gaps in the global human HLA libraries, and help identify novel HLA variants in disease association studies in addition to improving the accuracy of HLA-typing for organ transplantation and vaccine design. We will now use this unique addition to our bioinformatics toolbox to further characterize the relationship between variation in HLA alleles and response to cancer immunotherapy." Said, Dr. Trevor Clancy, Chief Scientific Officer at NEC OncoImmunity.

References

Title: Personalized HLA typing leads to the discovery of novel HLA alleles and tumor-specific HLA variants

Authors: Irantzu Anzar, Angelina Sverchkova, Pubudu Samarakoon, Espen Basmo Ellingsen, Gustav Gaudernack, Richard Stratford and Trevor Clancy

URL: View Source

On February 17, 2022 Quoin Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (NASDAQ: QNRX) (the "Company" or "Quoin"), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on rare and orphan diseases, reported that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Quoin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has entered into an exclusive Distribution Agreement with Neopharm Medical Supplies, an exclusive distributor for leading medical and pharma manufacturers in Israel, for QRX003, the Company’s investigational treatment for Netherton Syndrome, a rare and devastating genetic disease for which there is currently no available treatment or cure (Press release, NeoPharm, FEB 17, 2022, View Source [SID1234608241]).

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Under the terms of the revenue sharing agreement, Neopharm gains exclusive rights to commercialize QRX003 in Israel. Quoin will be the exclusive supplier of QRX003 to Neopharm.

Dr. Michael Myers, Chief Executive Officer of Quoin, commented, "This is Quoin’s sixth distribution agreement in the last four months for QRX003 and we’re excited to add Neopharm, who is a leading distributor in Israel. We now have 54 countries covered by our partnership agreements for QRX003, encompassing many regions of the globe. Establishing a broad distribution network is a key part of our commitment to ensure that every patient, everywhere will have access to this product once it has been approved for this devastating disease."

About Netherton Syndrome

Netherton Syndrome, a form of Ichthyosis, is a rare, hereditary skin disorder caused by a mutation in the SPINK5 gene (serine protease inhibitor, Kazal Type 5) that leads to severe skin barrier defects and recurring infections, as well as a pronounced predisposition to allergies, asthma, and eczema. Patients also often suffer from severe dehydration, chronic skin inflammation and stunted growth.

Currently, there is no cure for Netherton Syndrome, nor are there any approved therapeutic treatments.

On February 17, 2022 Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: APDN) (the "Company"), a leader in Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based DNA manufacturing and nucleic acid-based technologies, and its program development partner, EvviVax, S.R.L. ("Evvivax"), reported the publication of a manuscript detailing a preclinical study (the "study") showing that LinearDNA vaccines used for cancer immunotherapy produced a strong immune and specific antitumoral response in preclinical mouse models (Press release, Applied DNA Sciences, FEB 17, 2022, View Source;id=224228&p=2220104&I=1206939-c7Z3G6f3m8 [SID1234608240]). The study investigated the use of the LinearDNA platform to produce DNA vaccines targeting either tumor-associated antigens (TAA) or tumor-specific antigens (TSA or tumor neoantigens). The manuscript, "Linear DNA Amplicons as a Novel Cancer Vaccine Strategy," is published online on the bioRxiv.org preprint server and has been submitted for peer-reviewed publication. LinearDNA is Applied DNA’s proprietary, large-scale polymerase chain reaction ("PCR")-based manufacturing platform that allows for the large-scale production of specific DNA sequences.

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DNA vaccines that target TAAs hold promise as potential pan-cancer vaccines that, when used in conjunction with existing standards of care, can increase the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies. DNA vaccines targeting TSAs, otherwise known as personalized cancer vaccines, also hold great promise in immunotherapy as they can be customized to induce an immune response only against a patient’s tumor, thereby limiting on-target, off-tumor effects.

TAA: TERT Vaccine

One aspect of the study used a DNA vaccine targeting telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), a TAA that holds potential as a target for a pan-cancer vaccine. The TERT DNA vaccine was designed by EvviVax and exclusively licensed by the Company for the LinearDNA platform for veterinary applications. In prior clinical trials conducted by EvviVax, a plasmid form of the TERT DNA vaccine administered along with the standard of care chemotherapy was shown to increase the survival of canines with Stage III/IV B cell lymphoma from 37 weeks to 97 weeks. B-cell lymphoma is the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in canines1, with lymphoma accounting for 15-20% of new cancer diagnoses in canines2. For the study, the TERT DNA vaccine was administered to mice in either plasmid DNA or LinearDNA form and the immune response studied and compared. The study’s results demonstrated that both the plasmid DNA and LinearDNA forms of the TERT DNA vaccine induced comparable immune responses in mouse models.

TSA/Neoantigens Vaccine

The second aspect of the study utilized a personalized DNA vaccine specifically targeting several TSAs expressed in a colon cancer mouse model. Personalized cancer vaccines hold great promise in immunotherapy as they can be customized to induce an immune response only against a specific patient’s tumor, thereby limiting off-tumor effects and increasing efficacy and therapeutic index. In the study, LinearDNA and plasmid DNA forms of the personalized cancer vaccine were administered to mice in the colon cancer model. For both forms of the DNA vaccine, several cohorts also received immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) based on anti-CTLA-4 and/or anti-PD1. The study demonstrated that the LinearDNA personalized vaccine produced an equal or greater immune and antitumoral response than the plasmid form of the same DNA vaccine, particularly when coupled with ICI.

Dr. James A. Hayward, president and CEO of Applied DNA, stated, "The study demonstrates that LinearDNA and plasmid DNA can elicit a comparable immune response in animal cancer models. We believe this study validates the use of LinearDNA as a more cost- and time-efficient alternative to plasmid DNA for DNA-based cancer vaccines. Cancer immunotherapy is relevant to veterinary and human markets; the latter is expected to reach $169 billion by 20283. As the exclusive licensee of the TERT DNA vaccine for veterinary applications, we believe these data support further investigation of the LinearDNA vaccine as a potential veterinary cancer immunotherapy and, beyond that, for human cancer immunotherapy."

Dr. Luigi Aurisicchio, CEO and chief scientific officer of Evvivax S.R.L., commented, "We believe that DNA vaccines for cancer hold immense promise for both human and veterinary applications. One obstacle to DNA vaccine manufacturing is their current production as plasmid DNA. We believe that the completely cell-free LinearDNA platform avoids the numerous pitfalls of plasmid DNA-based production, making it ideal for DNA vaccine manufacturing broadly, and in cancer immunotherapy, specifically."