On April 11, 2023 Foundation Medicine, Inc., a pioneer in molecular profiling for cancer reported, an expanded collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) to develop Foundation Medicine’s tissue-based test, FoundationOneCDx as a companion diagnostic for Bristol Myers Squibb’s investigational tyrosine kinase inhibitor, repotrectinib (Press release, Foundation Medicine, APR 11, 2023, View Source [SID1234629979]).

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Repotrectinib is an orally administered TKI (tyrosine kinase inhibitor) being evaluated in an ongoing registrational Phase 1/2 trial called TRIDENT-1 for patients with TKI-naive or TKI-pretreated ROS1+ advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and NTRK+ advanced solid tumors. If the companion diagnostic is approved for these indications, and separately, the therapy is approved, oncologists would be able to use FoundationOne CDx to help identify appropriate patients for treatment with repotrectinib.

Foundation Medicine’s portfolio of FDA-approved comprehensive genomic profiling tests offer physicians blood and tissue-based testing options for detecting genomic alterations that help guide personalized treatment decisions. Currently, Foundation Medicine is the leader in companion diagnostic approvals with approximately 60% of all companion diagnostic approvals for NGS testing in the U.S.

"We’re proud to broaden our collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb as they work to bring this exciting investigational therapy to patients living with ROS1 positive non-small cell lung cancer and NTRK positive solid tumors," said Jason Adams, Vice President of Biopharma Enterprise Partnerships, Foundation Medicine. "This new collaboration builds on our ongoing research-driven partnership and furthers our shared commitment to deliver more treatment options to patients who need them.

On April 11, 2023 Boundless Bio, a next-generation precision oncology company developing innovative therapeutics directed against extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) in oncogene amplified cancers, reported that its President and Chief Executive Officer, Zachary Hornby, will present at the Stifel 2023 Virtual Targeted Oncology Days event which will take place virtually (Press release, Boundless Bio, APR 11, 2023, View Source [SID1234629977]). Presentation details are as follows:

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Date: Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Time: 3:30 – 3:55 PM ET

On April 11, 2023 BostonGene reported that eight abstracts were selected for poster presentations at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2023, which will be held from April 14 – 19, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. BostonGene will exhibit at booth #1358 (Press release, BostonGene, APR 11, 2023, View Source [SID1234629976]).

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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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On Sunday, April 16, Alexander Bagaev, PhD, Vice President of Product Development at BostonGene, will deliver a presentation on the power of next-generation immunotherapy response prediction driven by BostonGene’s bioinformatic engine through AI-based multiomic data integration.

BostonGene will present posters that describe the development of novel assays and analytical tools and pipelines to advance precision oncology, including our liquid biopsy platform and cancer of unknown primary (CUP) classifier. BostonGene will also demonstrate ability of comprehensive molecular profiling to identify clinically relevant alterations that can be utilized for treatment decision-making. The presentations highlight the application of BostonGene’s innovative technologies to improve the diagnosis and personalized treatment recommendations for cancer patients.

Details of BostonGene’s presence at the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting are below:

Spotlight Theater Presentation:

Title: Next generation immunotherapy response prediction driven by BostonGene’s bioinformatic engine through AI-based multiomic data integration
Date and Time: Sunday, April 16 | 1:30 PM
Location: Spotlight theater C
Speaker: Alexander Bagaev, PhD, Vice President of Product Development, BostonGene

BostonGene uses artificial intelligence and machine learning systems to integrate data from next-generation DNA and RNA sequencing (NGS), multiplex imaging, and flow cytometry to paint a comprehensive portrait of a cancer patient’s tumor and immune system. This 360-degree approach to precision diagnostics requires the deployment of novel analytical solutions.

Poster Presentations:

Title: Use of comprehensive molecular profiling to identify additional clinically-relevant alterations compared to targeted gene panels
Abstract number: 244
Date and Time: Sunday, April 16 | 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Location: Exhibit Hall, Poster Section 9
Presenter: Sandrine Degryse, PhD, BostonGene

Title: Analytical validation of a liquid biopsy test using cell-free circulating tumor DNA for mutational profiling
Abstract number: 1042
Date and Time: Sunday, April 16 | 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Location: Exhibit Hall, Poster Section 42
Presenter: Anastasia Yudina, BostonGene

Title: Integrated analysis of gene expression signatures and AI-based detection of tertiary lymphoid structures and stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in breast cancer H&E samples
Abstract number: 27
Date and Time: Tuesday, April 18 | 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Location: Exhibit Hall, Poster Section 33
Presenter: Kate Postovalova, PhD, BostonGene

Title: An ML-based tool for predicting tissue of origin for cancer of unknown primary (CUP) based on genomic and transcriptomic data
Abstract number: 5405
Date and Time: Tuesday, April 18 | 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Location: Exhibit Hall, Poster Section 32
Presenter: Nara Shin, PhD, BostonGene

Title: Computational cancer cell gene expression deconvolution from tumor bulk RNA-seq via the machine learning algorithm Helenus
Abstract number: 5401
Date and Time: Tuesday, April 18 | 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Location: Exhibit Hall, Poster Section 32
Presenter: Krystle Nomie, PhD, BostonGene

Title: Development and refinement of functional gene expression signatures as a computational tool for comprehensive characterization of transcriptomic data
Abstract number: 6538
Date and Time: Wednesday, April 19 | 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Location: Exhibit Hall, Poster Section 30
Presenter: Alexander Bagaev, PhD, BostonGene

Title: Comprehensive immunoprofiling of peripheral blood reveals five conserved immunotypes with implications for immunotherapy in cancer patients
Abstract number: 6664
Date and Time: Wednesday, April 19 | 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Location: Exhibit Hall, Poster Section 39
Presenter: Michael Goldberg, PhD, BostonGene

Title: Cancer of unknown primary (CUP): Beyond the identification of the site of origin by an integrative genomic approach
Abstract number: 2143
Date and Time: Monday, April 17 | 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Location: Exhibit Hall, Poster Section 39
Presenter: Majd Al Assaad, MD, Weill Cornell Medicine

Research conducted in collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine

The abstracts will be published in an online-only Proceedings supplement to the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) journal Cancer Research after the conclusion of the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting.

On April 11, 2023 ImmuneBridge, a biotechnology company using nature’s innate intelligence to fight cancer, reported the close of an oversubscribed $12 million seed financing co-led by global investors Insight Partners and M Ventures, the strategic, corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany (Press release, ImmuneBridge, APR 11, 2023, View Source [SID1234629975]). One Way Ventures and Gaingels also participated. Cheryl Zimberlin, Investment Director at M Ventures, and Dylan Morris, Managing Director at Insight Partners have joined ImmuneBridge’s Board of Directors.

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ImmuneBridge is developing allogeneic natural killer (NK) cell-based immunotherapies for hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. NK cells represent a promising platform for allogeneic immunotherapy because they are potent cancer killers with a minimal risk profile. Current approaches to NK therapeutic development have yet to identify optimal product attributes with regard to source, phenotype, and engineering that yield the most effective and durable therapies.

ImmuneBridge’s orthogonal approach uses a proprietary expansion technology and a diverse clinic-ready source to enable accelerated discovery and translation of the most potent cell therapies. ImmuneBridge’s expansion technology expands hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which are natural precursors of NK cells. HSCs are readily available via umbilical cord blood from public cord blood banks across the United States and globally. This approach allows for the systematic screening of cord blood to identify the most potent cells per indication, which then can be genetically engineered to enhance their potency on top of their innate baseline.

"Cell therapy is a new pillar of medicine and is inextricably human. Cell therapy developers fear donor-to-donor variability, yet we humans are unapologetically diverse in our innate immune systems. It is natural to identify the most potent therapies from among human diversity—and we can employ genetic engineering to enhance them," said Peretz Partensky, co-founder and CEO of ImmuneBridge. "We dare to not fear our immunological diversity but to embrace it."

This investment will be used to build a screening dataset for indication-optimized NK cells, to demonstrate scalable manufacturability, and to generate pre-clinical data for a lead product.

"After surveying the broader landscape, we believe ImmuneBridge is uniquely positioned to build the next generation of off-the-shelf NK cell therapies. They have a distinct and promising approach to overcome challenges faced by existing therapies," said Cheryl Zimberlin, Investment Director at M Ventures.

"By taking advantage of the genotypic diversity of the human immune system, ImmuneBridge has the potential to dramatically improve the way we approach off-the-shelf immunotherapies," said Dylan Morris, Managing Director at Insight Partners.

Earlier this year, ImmuneBridge engaged key advisors, including Catherine Blish, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine and Aharon Freud, MD, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology at Ohio State University as part of ImmuneBridge’s Scientific Advisory Board.

On April 11, 2023 Kiyatec, the leader in clinically correlated, published functional precision oncology technology, reported that two abstracts were accepted for poster presentations at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting to be held in Orlando, Florida from April 14 – 19, 2023 (Press release, Kiyatec, APR 11, 2023, View Source [SID1234629974]).

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Kiyatec’s clinical and pre-clinical technology platforms, 3D Predict and KIYA-PREDICT, respectively, are leading the functional precision oncology space with published evidence of predictive response correlated to clinical outcomes. The two abstracts accepted for presentation at the conference highlight the companies work in ex vivo immune-oncology applications for pre-clinical drug development, including multiple mechanisms of action, utilization of ex vivo PDX, and development of advanced organoid technology. The ex vivo PDX work features an ongoing collaboration with investigators from XenoSTART.

"The work being presented highlights the application of Kiyatec’s technologies for the development and testing of multiple types of immunotherapies," said Tessa DesRochers, Kiyatec’s Chief Scientific Officer. "Our technology platforms allow for testing of I/O agents on primary patient tissue and ex vivo PDX tissue, providing expanded, more relevant avenues for drug development in immuno-oncology."

Session titles and information for the abstracts are listed below and are also available on the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) online itinerary planner. Kiyatec will exhibit it’s preclinical service offerings at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) at Booth #419.

Kiyatec presentation schedule:

Preclinical testing of therapeutic biologics using patient-derived 3D Spheroids

Clinical Research Excluding Trials

Monday, April 17th 9:00am – 12:30pm

Perfused patient-derived tumor organoid models with autologous immune cells for preclinical drug development

Tumor Organoids for Therapeutic Testing

Sunday, April 16th 1:30pm – 5:00pm