On April 12, 2023 Araris Biotech AG ("Araris" or "the Company"), a company pioneering a proprietary antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)-linker technology, reported that Samsung Venture Investment Corporation ("Samsung Ventures"), an investment corporation established to promote the development of new technologies, has invested in the Company in an independent deal ahead of its on-going series A funding (Press release, Araris Biotech, APR 12, 2023, View Source [SID1234651280]).

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The investment was made via Samsung Life Science Fund – created jointly between Samsung Biologics (KRX: 207940.KS) and Samsung C&T, and managed by Samsung Ventures – which reflects Samsung’s commitment to further explore and expand various business opportunities in biopharmaceuticals.

Araris Biotech is a company pioneering a proprietary antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)- linker technology, where its linker platform enables payload attachment to off the shelf antibodies without needing to re-engineer or reduce antibodies, resulting in highly homogenous, stable and potent ADC therapies in a cost and time efficient manner. It also has the potential to address challenges associated to ADCs, including solubility and unstable linkage issues.

The latest investment reflects Samsung’s commitment to further expanding its pipeline. Samsung, as a strategic investor, will collaborate on evaluating, manufacturing and developing assets with Araris using the Company’s proprietary ADC Technology, in close collaboration with Samsung affiliates involved in the discovery and development, and manufacturing of novel biologics.

"Araris has the potential to develop best-in-class ADC therapies, and we see room for collaboration in the manufacturing and development of new drugs," said John Rim, CEO of Samsung Biologics.

"We’re pleased to receive this support from Samsung, as well as the recognition of the potential of our linker-payload toolbox and conjugation technology in such a quickly growing ADC field," said Philipp Spycher, Ph.D., chief executive officer and co-founder of Araris Biotech. "We look forward to using these proceeds to further support our efforts in advancing our ADC candidates toward the clinic."

On April 12, 2023 Function Oncology, a company transforming the future of targeted cancer treatment with a CRISPR-powered precision medicine platform, reported an upcoming presentation at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) 2023 Annual Meeting (Press release, Function Oncology, APR 12, 2023, View Source [SID1234630027]). The presentation will feature data from an acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cohort that demonstrate the power of Function Oncology’s CRISPR-based personalized functional genomics platform to profile and understand cancer in unprecedented and patient-specific detail.

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"These data underscore the powerful potential of our functional genomics platform to produce tailored treatment strategies," said Srihari Sampath, M.D., Ph.D., MPhil, co-founder and chief scientific officer. "In this study, our platform achieved very high sensitivity and specificity to identify gene dependencies driving individual patient responses, as well as high predictive value for observed clinical outcomes. For the first time, we are able to efficiently move beyond traditional gene sequencing to directly measuring gene function in order to define optimal therapeutic strategies for cancer patients."

Details of the presentation are as follows:
Title: A comprehensive CRISPR-enabled functional genomics profiling platform in Acute
Myeloid Leukemia (AML): pilot study and validation of Fx Heme
Format: Poster presentation
Abstract Number: 1062
Session Title: Session PO.CL09.03 – Precision Molecular Subtyping and Therapeutic Development
Date and Time: Sunday, April 16, 2023, 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM ET

On April 12, 2023 Function Oncology, a precision medicine company advancing a CRISPR-powered personalized functional genomics platform to transform the future of targeted cancer treatment, reported its launch today with $28 Million in Series A financing (Press release, Function Oncology, APR 12, 2023, View Source [SID1234630026]). The financing was led by a16z and Section 32, with participation from Casdin Capital and Alexandria Venture Investments. Function Oncology is leveraging a new CRISPR-enabled platform to profile and understand cancer in unprecedented and patient-specific detail. By moving beyond traditional gene sequencing to measuring gene function, the company aims to identify optimal therapeutic opportunities for cancer patients and advance the next generation of targeted cancer treatments.

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"Conventional next-generation sequencing approaches have marked a revolution in cancer diagnostics and treatment, but time has proven that this is only effective for a small subset of drugs and targets, leaving the majority of patients without meaningful therapeutic options," said Srinath Sampath, M.D., Ph.D., MPhil, co-founder and chief executive officer of Function Oncology. "We believe that the next level of precision oncology will be to move beyond gene sequence, to gene function. Our CRISPR-powered personalized functional genomics platform allows, for the first time, efficient, scalable and individualized assessment of drug target vulnerabilities directly in patient tumor samples. Moving towards ground state truth on target dependence allows precision medicine beyond what sequencing can access. It also allows us to identify the non-mutated "hidden" drug targets to power the next wave of transformative drug development."

Functional Genomics Platform: A Next-Generation Approach to Precision Cancer Medicine

Function Oncology’s functional genomics platform leverages CRISPR-based gene modulation directly in patient clinical samples, enabling personalized, comprehensive profiling of each patients’ tumors to uncover drug target dependencies that cannot be fully identified by conventional genomic profiling. These patient-specific insights may be used to produce tailored treatment strategies and in aggregate will ultimately power the development of new therapies against known or novel cancer drivers.

"The field of precision oncology continues to undergo a remarkable, technology-driven transformation," said Vineeta Agarwala, MD, PhD, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. "Function Oncology’s CRISPR-based platform has the potential to further accelerate this entire field beyond the limitations of conventional genomics and unlock a potentially transformative new era of cancer treatment and drug development."

"This is a powerful new platform that has potential for both diagnostic and therapeutic clinical applications," said Steve Kafka, Ph.D., managing partner at Section 32. "These applications range from accelerating target identification and validation, to producing unprecedented insights to enroll the right patients in clinical trials, to dramatically expanding the impact of existing drugs and surfacing novel cancer targets for drug development. This is a remarkable foundation upon which to create a true, next-generation precision medicine company."

Clinical Validation of Approach

Function Oncology also announced separately today that it will present data at the 2023 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) annual meeting, taking place from April 14-19. These data provide clinical validation of the company’s CRISPR-based platform in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

On April 12, 2023 BPGbio, Inc., a leading AI-powered biopharma that focuses on oncology, neurology and rare diseases, reported that novel data insights from its oncology therapeutics and diagnostics portfolio will be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting in Orlando, April 14 – 19, 2023 (Press release, BPGbio, APR 12, 2023, View Source [SID1234630025]).

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"BPGbio has continued to advance our research in both therapeutics and diagnostics through our Interrogative Biology platform," said Niven R. Narain, Ph.D, President & CEO. "We are pleased to present our data on BRG-399 at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper), which is showing promising advancements towards pan-cancer activity. In addition, we will be presenting our prostate health panel, which is the first diagnostic panel developed using AI, that we will be launching with strategic partners around the world."

A summary of the presentations is as follows:

Poster 1
Topic: Development of a Novel Oral Microtubule Targeting Agent with Pan-Cancer Activity
Presentation Type: Poster Presentation
Abstract Number: 1663
Poster Presenter: Maria-Dorothea Nastke, Ph.D., Director Oncology
Authors: Maria-Dorothea Nastke1, Jacob Matson1, Andressa Mota1, Archna Ravi1, Alex Batrouni1, Marcus O’Hara1, Shiva Kazerounian1, Arcan Guven1, Nicole Pellegrino1, Kashni Grover1, Kayleigh Gray1, Anne Diers1, Michael A. Kiebish1, Vivek K. Vishnudas1, Stephane Gesta1
1BPGbio, Framingham, MA USA*
Presentation Date/Time: Monday April 17, 2023 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM

Poster 2
Topic: Serum Filamin A is a Prognostic Biomarker for Screening Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia vs Prostate Cancer in Caucasian and African American Men
Presentation Type: Poster Presentation
Abstract Number: 2196
Poster Presenter: Nischal Mahaveer Chand, Senior Data Scientist
Authors: Nischal Mahaveer Chand1, Poornima K. Tekumalla1, Albert Dobi2,3, Amina Ali2,3, Gregory M. Miller1, Juan J. Aristizabal-Henao1, Elder Granger1, Stephen J. Freedland4, Shiv Srivastava5, Jose, Arturo Rodriguez Rivera6, Arturo Mendoza7 David G. McLeod8, Niven R. Narain1, Michael A. Kiebish1
1BPGbio, Framingham, MA USA, 2 Center for Prostate Disease Research, John P. Murtha Cancer Center Research Program, Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD , 3Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine Bethesda, Maryland, 20817, 4Center for Integrated Research in Cancer and Lifestyle, Cedar-Sinai, Los Angeles, CA, 5Department of Biochemistry and Molecular & Cell Biology, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington DC, USA, 6Hospital General de Occidente, Secretaria de Salud Gobierno del Estado de Jalisco, Mexico, 7National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico
Presentation Date/Time: Monday April 17, 2023 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM

BPGbio’s Microtubule Targeting Agent & Pan Cancer

BPGbio has been conducting ongoing research on their molecule BRG399 for the treatment of solid tumors. BRG399, an oral experimental drug with favorable pharmacological properties for clinical testing, is a first in class anti-mitotic agent with broad-spectrum anti-cancer activity. BPGbio’s scientists reported that the anti-mitotic activity of BRG399 is the result of an inhibition of microtubule polymerization.

BRG399 is leading the new oncology drug pipeline for BPGbio including those uniquely targeting E2 enzymes.

BPGbio’s Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) vs Prostate Cancer Screening Panel

BPGbio’s prostate health screening panel is a blood-based test, and it provides guidance in men with BPH/LUTS (enlarged prostate) to determine their risk of detecting aggressive prostate cancer, avoiding the need for unnecessary biopsies. Additionally, the panel has demonstrated potential in preventing multiple unnecessary biopsies in high-risk men, who would have been guided by elevated PSA to receive a biopsy.

BPGbio’s prostate health screening panel is entering into early commercialization phase.

On April 12, 2023 Biomunex Pharmaceuticals, a French biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of immunotherapies based on the discovery and development of bi- and multi-specific antibodies for the treatment of cancer, reported that it will participate in and present new scientific data at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) annual meeting, which will take place from April 14th to April 19th, 2023 at the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida, USA (Press release, BIOMUNEX Pharmaceuticals, APR 12, 2023, View Source [SID1234630024]).

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Information about the presentation:
Title: MAIT engagers: An efficacious novel modality in the field of T-cell engagers for the treatment of solid tumors
Session Category: Immunology
Session Title: Therapeutic Antibodies 3
Session Date and Time: Monday Apr 17, 2023 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Location: Poster Section 24
Poster Board Number: 1
Published Abstract Number: 2954