On February 16, 2022 Puma Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBYI), a biopharmaceutical company, reported that it will host a conference call at 1:30 p.m. PST/4:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, March 3, following release of its fourth quarter and full year 2021 financial results (Press release, Puma Biotechnology, FEB 16, 2022, View Source [SID1234608195]).

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The call may be accessed by dialing 1-877-709-8150 (domestic) or 1-201-689-8354 (international). Please dial in at least 10 minutes in advance and inform the operator that you would like to join the "Puma Biotechnology Conference Call." A live webcast of the conference call and presentation slides may be accessed on the Investors section of the Puma Biotechnology website at View Source A replay of the call will be available approximately one hour after completion of the call and will be archived on Puma’s website for 90 days.

On February 16, 2022 ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM), a leading radiopharmaceutical biotech company and Grand Pharmaceutical Group Limited (GP), a diversified global pharmaceutical company listed in Hong Kong, reported that ITM and a subsidiary of GP have entered into a definitive agreement under which GP will make a EUR 25 million (USD 28 million) equity investment in ITM (Press release, ITM Isotopen Technologien Munchen, FEB 16, 2022, View Source [SID1234608194]). The agreement will further deepen the strategic collaboration between the two companies and support ITM to further expanding its broad pipeline of precision oncology treatments and diagnostics in Greater China.

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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

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The equity investment follows the recent licensing agreement between the two companies which provides GP with exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize ITM’s precision oncology radiopharmaceutical candidates, ITM-11 (n.c.a. 177Lu-edotreotide) and ITM-41 (n.c.a. 177Lu-zoledronate) as well as ITM-11’s companion diagnostic, TOCscan (68Ga-edotreotide) in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

"We believe GP’s investment reinforces our global leadership position as a radiopharmaceutical developer and manufacturer while providing us with additional strategic support in expanding our presence in Asia with a recognized leader by our side," commented Steffen Schuster, Chief Executive Officer of ITM. "While we focus on advancing the late-stage development of our lead candidate, ITM-11 in GEP-NET patients, we look forward to further enhancing our global footprint to meet the needs of a growing patient population requiring precision oncology treatments."

"Targeted Radionuclide Therapies and Diagnostics are a core focus area for us. We believe that ITM, as one of the largest medical radioisotope manufacturers with a broad clinical pipeline and a deep understanding of the clinical landscape, has the ability to usher in a new era of precision medicine," said Frank Zhou, Chief Executive Officer of GP. "This second agreement is a testament to the strong relationship we have formed, sharing the common goal of providing innovative and high-quality radiopharmaceuticals to the patients we serve."

ITM is built on longstanding experience in the production and supply of high-quality medical radioisotopes for cancer treatment and diagnosis with an established global supply network. The company has forward-integrated to develop a broad pipeline of Targeted Radionuclide Diagnostics and Therapeutics designed to provide medical benefit for hard-to-treat cancer indications. The company’s lead candidate, ITM-11 (n.c.a. 177Lu-edotreotide) is being developed for the treatment of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) and is currently undergoing two phase III clinical trials, COMPETE for patients with grade 1 and grade 2 GEP-NETs and COMPOSE for grade 2 and grade 3 GEP-NETs. TOCscan (68Ga-edotreotide) is the companion diagnostic to ITM-11 for the diagnosis and staging of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). ITM-41 (n.c.a. 177Lu-zoledronate) is in preclinical development for the treatment of osteosarcoma and bone metastases.

About Targeted Radionuclide Therapy

Targeted Radionuclide Therapy is an emerging class of cancer therapeutics, which seeks to deliver radiation directly to the tumor while minimizing radiation exposure to normal tissue. Targeted radiopharmaceuticals are created by linking a therapeutic radioisotope to a targeting molecule (e.g., peptide, antibody, small molecule) that can precisely recognize tumor cells and bind to tumor-specific entities such as receptors which are expressed on the cell surface. As a result, the radioisotope accumulates at the tumor site and decays, releasing a small amount of ionizing radiation, thereby destroying tumor tissue. The highly precise localization of the radioisotope potentially enables targeted treatment with minimal impact to healthy surrounding tissue.

On February 16, 2022 Walking Fish Therapeutics, a leader in B cell therapeutics, reported the completion of an oversubscribed Series A financing, raising a total of $73 million (Press release, Walking Fish Therapeutics, FEB 16, 2022, View Source [SID1234608193]). The additional investment, co-led by Northpond Ventures and First Spark Ventures, with support from Terra Magnum Capital Partners, will be used to advance a pipeline of B cell therapeutics for oncology, rare disease, regenerative medicine, autoimmune disease, and recombinant antibody production. Walking Fish Therapeutics made its debut in September 2021 with the launch of Series A financing led by Emerson Collective, Illumina Ventures, and Quan Capital. Daniel Janse, Ph.D. from Northpond Ventures and Manish Kothari, Ph.D. from First Spark Ventures will be joining the board of directors.

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"Dr. Williams has an inspiring vision to bring B cell therapies to the forefront of medicine," said Daniel Janse, Ph.D., Director at Northpond Ventures. "Our financial investment reflects the fund’s broad commitment to identify and empower scientific breakthroughs that will transform healthcare. Northpond is united with Walking Fish’s mission and technological approach to engineer and develop new B cell therapies for patients with unmet needs."

Since the launch of Series A financing in September, Walking Fish’s platform for protein factories and oncology applications has continued to demonstrate positive preclinical data across multiple indications. The additional proceeds will accelerate platform development and further establish Walking Fish as the leader in the rapidly emerging B cell therapeutics field.

"Our decision to join Walking Fish’s Series A investment pool was an easy one," said Manish Kothari, Ph.D., Partner at First Spark Ventures. "Dr. Williams’ and his team’s extensive experience in exploring, expanding, and commercializing first-in-class therapies gave us the utmost confidence in our investment. We share their fundamentals-driven approach to develop truly breakthrough solutions for patients, and we look forward to our ongoing partnership."

"Our team at Walking Fish welcomes Northpond Ventures and First Spark Ventures to an already world-class team of investors," says Co-Founder and CEO, Dr. Lewis "Rusty" Williams. "Recent Walking Fish innovations in B cell engineering and manufacturing have enabled expansion of our pipeline to include new product opportunities. We believe strongly in the power of B cell therapeutics in applications spanning oncology to protein deficiency diseases, and we are confident the support of our new investors will enable us to further advance this emerging field of treatments."

On February 16, 2022 ImmunoScape, a pre-clinical biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of next-generation TCR cell therapies in the field of oncology, reported that it has signed a licensing deal with Pure MHC, LLC, a target discovery and development company, to pursue TCR-T therapeutics against Pure MHC-identified antigens in lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and other cancer indications (Press release, Pure MHC, FEB 16, 2022, View Source [SID1234608192]).

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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

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ImmunoScape’s unique Deep Immunomics platform enables high-throughput screening of potential targets by utilizing proprietary barcoding technology to enable the discovery of rare, therapeutically-relevant T cells. Pure MHC has developed an in-depth library of T cell antigens specific to tumor cells, which are optimal targets for TCR-T therapeutics. The licensing deal will allow ImmunoScape to pursue TCR-T therapeutics using this library, and accelerate identification of novel T cell receptors for therapeutic development.

"Our Deep Immunomics platform allows us to mine patient samples on a large scale, while retaining extraordinarily high sensitivity," said Choon Peng Ng, CEO, ImmunoScape. "This deal with Pure MHC gives us access to a proprietary library of antigens that will allow both companies to further the development of potential targets in common cancer indications that would benefit from therapeutic innovation. We are very excited about this collaboration and what it can do for the realm of therapeutic discovery."

Pure MHC identifies immune targets that are preferentially presented by the HLA of tumor cells, with limited or no expression on healthy cells and tissue. The company collaborates with industry partners, such as ImmunoScape, on novel target discovery programs for lung cancer, colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, and several other oncology indications.

"Pure MHC’s proprietary target discovery process and related tools, such as our Peptide HLA Immunotherapy Data Resource ("PHIDR") healthy tissue database, provide a unique evidence-based approach to guide ImmunoScape’s TCR-T therapeutic development to disease specific targets," said Kris Looney, President of Pure MHC. "ImmunoScape is the perfect partner to leverage Pure MHC’s discovery platform for powerful, next generation TCR cell therapies."

On February 16, 2022 Pacira BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCRX) reported that it will report its fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2021 financial results before the open of the U.S. markets on Thursday, February 24, 2022 (Press release, Pacira Pharmaceuticals, FEB 16, 2022, View Source [SID1234608191]). Following the release, the company will host a live conference call and webcast at 8:30 a.m. ET.

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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

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To participate in the conference call, dial 1-888-771-4371 and provide the passcode 50282786. International callers may dial 1-847-585-4405 and use the same passcode. In addition, a live audio of the conference call will be available as a webcast. Interested parties can access the event through the "Events" page on the Pacira website at investor.pacira.com.

For those unable to participate in the live call, a replay of the webcast will be available on the Pacira website for approximately two weeks following the call.