On January 12, 2023 The Swedish radioimmunotherapy company Akiram Therapeutics, developing targeted cancer therapy, reported that it has raised SEK 68 million in a share issue led by Sciety and the network Sciety Venture Partners. The investment company Linc AB participated in the share issue with SEK 20 million (Press release, Akiram Therapeutics, JAN 12, 2023, View Source [SID1234628976]). The proceeds from the financing will be used for GMP production of the drug candidate and for initiating a phase I clinical study.

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Akiram Therapeutics has developed a new type of targeted radioimmunotherapy for anaplastic thyroid cancer. There is no effective treatment for this disease today, and patients survive only a few months after the diagnosis for which there is no effective treatment today. The drug candidate consists of Akiram’s proprietary antibody, the result of many years of research, in combination with the radioactive compound, Lutetium 177.

Akiram has thus far run the project within academia with support from, among others, SciLifeLab, VINNOVA, and the Swedish Cancer Society. Robust preclinical data shows, among other things, that the drug candidate has a significant effect on human thyroid tumours in animals without signs of side effects or damage to the surrounding tissue.

"We would like to thank Sciety and all those who have participated in this successful issue for the great confidence in Akiram and our drug candidate. We now have the means to continue our work at full speed and take the next important steps on our exciting journey. We are very eager to continue the development of our drug candidate and to initiate phase I clinical studies," says Marika Nestor, CEO of Akiram.

We are delighted to see the great interest and trust in our work and to have a group of investors helping us to deliver hope to patients suffering from incurable cancer."

Sciety, Sciety Venture Partners, and Linc invested SEK 68 million in the share issue.

"Targeted radiation therapy is a rapidly growing field expected to become the next breakthrough in cancer treatment. The reasons for our decision to invest are, among others, the founding team’s long experience in the field, both from academia and industry, as well as their solid preclinical data. We now look forward to participating in the company’s continued journey," says Andreas Lindblom, CEO of Sciety.

"We are very impressed with the company’s preclinical work, including the outstanding study results. In addition, we have high confidence in the management’s ability to successfully run both the production development work and the clinical phase 1 trial. We look forward to being part of the company’s future development," says Karl Tobieson, CEO of Linc.

On January 12, 2023 LinusBio, a leader in precision exposome sequencing, reported that it raised over $16 million in Series A funding to deliver a novel platform that bridges genomics, the environment, and biological response (Press release, Linus Biotechnology, JAN 12, 2023, View Source [SID1234626233]).

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Historically, many health conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder, have lacked biological tests to aid in diagnosis, monitor progression, or serve as objective endpoints in clinical trials. LinusBio’s proprietary platform introduces precision exposome biomarkers that can facilitate discovery across these domains.

The technology has the potential to fundamentally transform how complex disorders are diagnosed and treated – from autism to gastrointestinal disorders to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to renal disease and cancers.

Furthermore, the LinusBio platform can substantially improve clinical trials by providing data equal to over 500 liquid biopsies or blood samples, but all from a single strand of hair. It is the first technology platform that maps the molecular dynamics of human physiology in a time-dependent manner. The platform can help identify novel compounds for health conditions where genomic biomarkers have previously had limited success. The company is already using this platform in two pharma-sponsored trials and is in the process of partnering with several organizations within the healthcare and pharma ecosystem.

The company’s initial focus is on neurological disorders. One of the company’s early technologies, StrandDx-ASD, can assess the likelihood of autism at birth with 80% to 90% accuracy, and assist with personalized treatment decisions.

As a result, LinusBio’s early autism diagnostic aid has been granted an FDA Breakthrough Designation, reserved for innovations that "provide for more effective treatment or diagnosis of life-threatening or irreversibly debilitating diseases or conditions." The solution has received CE Mark designation in the European Union as a diagnostic aid.

Early detection is critical for those on the autism spectrum. In fact, the National Institutes of Health found that some children that are diagnosed and treated early make substantial progress.

"Our mission is simple: to deliver better outcomes for people and families affected by complex health conditions," said Manish Arora, PhD., Co-Founder and CEO of LinusBio. "We chose to focus on autism first for many considerations, an important one of them is the dramatically different trajectory in cases of an early detection and effective intervention. The impact on the patient and the patient’s family can be substantial. We’re proud to launch the LinusBio platform to meet the tremendous need for better, faster, and comprehensive diagnostics and treatments for a range of conditions and diseases."

The company’s program pipeline also comprises advanced biomarkers for ALS, oncology (including pediatric cancer), gastroenterology (inflammatory bowel disease) and mental disorders (psychosis & schizophrenia).

The round was led by GreatPoint Ventures and Bow Capital. Other investors included Divergent Investments, Nicole Shanahan (President, Bia-Echo Foundation), the David Bellet Family Office, Gillian Sandler, and Sanford Robertson (Co-Founder of Francisco Partners and former board member of Salesforce), among others.

"Every day, every week, every month that certain diseases fester undetected and untreated impacts a patient’s long-term outlook," said Ashok Krishnamurthi, Managing Partner, GreatPoint Ventures. "We’re looking forward to working with LinusBio to scale their solutions and bring them to market to meet vital needs."

"Our mission is to help shorten the path of innovation from science to society," said Rafi Syed, General Partner, Bow Capital. "We’re proud to collaborate with LinusBio, which has great potential to transform the implications of complex diseases."

LinusBio’s technology examines human physiology at the molecular level through a strand of hair. Leveraging proprietary laser and robotics technology, LinusBio analyzes these strands and collects thousands of data points to measure individuals’ biological response to their lifespan environmental exposures. LinusBio is the first technology platform that maps the molecular dynamics of human physiology in a time-dependent manner.

"This technology is very exciting for those impacted by autism and many other conditions, as well as their families," said Amol Deshpande, Founder of Divergent Investments, and the CEO and Co-Founder of Farmers Business Network. "LinusBio has the opportunity to fundamentally transform the healthcare industry."

Arora, the CEO of LinusBio, is an environmental epidemiologist and exposure biologist. He is a recipient of a Presidential PECASE award from the White House, the highest civilian award given to early career scientists. Drs. Christine Austin, PhD., and Paul Curtin, PhD., also co-founded the company and serve on the leadership team.

The funding will be used to grow the LinusBio team, deliver more positive outcomes across more health conditions, and develop a world-class platform that will serve as a central hub for diagnostics and treatment.

On January 12, 2023 Puma Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBYI), a biopharmaceutical company, announced that Alan H. Auerbach, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, President and Founder of Puma, will provide an overview of the Company at 11:00 a.m. PST/2:00 p.m. EST on January 19 at the virtual B. Riley Securities’ 3rd Annual Oncology Conference (Press release, Puma Biotechnology, JAN 12, 2023, View Source [SID1234626232]). A live webcast of Mr. Auerbach’s presentation will be accessible via registration on the event website at View Source A replay of the presentation will be available at the same address.

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On January 12, 2023 Harbour BioMed (the"Company", HKEX: 02142) reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the investigational new drug (IND) application to commence clinical trials of its globally first-in-class fully human monoclonal antibody HBM1020 targeting B7H7 (also known as HHLA2) in the U.S (Press release, Harbour BioMed, JAN 12, 2023, View Source [SID1234626229]). This is an open-label and multicenter study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and anti-tumor activity of HBM1020 in patients with advanced solid tumors. HBM1020 is also the globally first-ever monoclonal antibody targeting B7H7 cleared by the regulatory agency for clinical trials.

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HBM1020 is a first-in-class fully human monoclonal antibody generated from Harbour Mice H2L2 transgenic mice platform targeting B7H7. The antibody can enhance anti-tumor immunity by blocking the novel immune checkpoint target. Preclinical data demonstrated its immune activation and anti-tumor functional activities.

B7H7 is a novel immune modulatory molecule belongs to B7 family members. The B7 family is of central importance in regulating the T-cell response, making these pathways very attractive in cancer immunotherapy. Most of the validated targets in immune-oncology so far are related to B7 family, including PD-(L)1 and CTLA-4. The therapies against B7 family targets have already shifted the paradigm for cancer therapy with outstanding clinical benefits. As a newly discovered member of the B7 family, B7H7 expression is found non-overlapping with PD-L1 expression in multiple tumor types, which indicates an alternative immune evasion pathway besides PD-(L)1. In PD-L1 negative/refractory patients, B7H7 potentially plays a more important role in tumor cells to escape immune surveillance, which is expected to be developed as next-generation immune-oncology therapeutics.

With its innovative biology mechanisms, HBM1020 may present a novel anti-tumor therapeutic complementary to PD-(L)1 therapeutics to patients, especially for PD-L1 negative/refractory patients.

On January 12, 2023 ViewRay, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRAY) reported that findings from the phase III randomized controlled MIRAGE trial (NCT04384770) were published on January 12 in JAMA Oncology. The MIRAGE trial compared MRI-guided and CT-guided stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for localized prostate cancer and found MRI-guided radiation therapy – delivered with MRIdian – to be superior in substantially reducing acute genitourinary (GU) and gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity. MRI-guided radiation was also associated with significantly better patient-reported quality of life metrics.

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The MIRAGE trial was led by Amar Kishan, M.D. (first author) and Michael L. Steinberg, M.D. (senior author) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The study was independently designed, conducted, and analyzed exclusively by UCLA. In this trial, the investigator team randomized 156 patients to receive either MRI-guided SBRT or CT-guided SBRT. Acute grade ≥2 GU toxicity rates were significantly lower with MRI guidance vs. CT guidance (24.4% in the MRI group vs. 43.4% in the CT group). Acute grade ≥2 GI toxicity rates were also significantly lower with MRI guidance (0.0% in the MRI group vs. 10.5% in the CT group). On multivariate analysis, which controls for differences in the use of a rectal spacer, prostate size, and baseline urinary symptoms, the MRI-guided arm was associated with a 60% reduction in odds of grade ≥2 GU toxicity.

More notably, there were improvements in multiple patient-reported outcomes. Significantly more patients receiving CT-guided SBRT experienced large increases in urinary symptoms, as measured by a >15 points increase in International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) (6.8% in the MRI group vs. 19.4% in the CT group). Similarly, a significantly greater percentage of patients experienced a clinically notable decrease in bowel-related quality of life with CT-guided, as measured by the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite-26 (EPIC-26) survey (25.0% in the MRI group vs. 50.0% in the CT group). Finally, though it is too early to conclude, as more than 2/3rds of men on the trial received hormonal therapy, exploratory analysis in men who did not receive hormonal therapy showed that patient-reported sexual-function scores (by EPIC-26) decreased more in men receiving CT-guided SBRT.

"To our knowledge, this trial is the first phase III randomized controlled trial comparing MRI guidance to CT guidance in any disease site," said Dr. Steinberg, Professor and the Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at UCLA. "MRI-guided radiation has apparent theoretical benefits in this treatment scenario, and it was important to conduct a rigorous comparison. Given the significance of the outcomes realized, we’ve evolved our prostate cancer treatment approach at UCLA to preferentially utilize MRI-guided SBRT."

"Radiation is accepted as an effective and safe standard-of-care option for many men with prostate cancer, but there is always the opportunity for improvement of reducing toxicity. The prostate is a highly mobile target, and the motion of the prostate needs to be accounted for to maximize treatment effectiveness. Accounting for this motion typically requires creating a margin around the prostate (rather than just the prostate itself)," said Dr. Kishan, Associate Professor and Chief of the Genitourinary Oncology Service at UCLA. "We felt that MRI-guided radiotherapy allows a much tighter margin around the prostate to be targeted due to both the enhanced imaging capabilities of MRI and the ability to track the prostate and control the beam in real time during treatment. The significant reduction in urinary and bowel toxicity seen in our trial reflects the importance and relevance of this tighter margin made possible by MRI-guided radiation therapy."

To date, more than 27,000 patients have been treated with MRIdian. Currently, 56 MRIdian systems are installed at hospitals around the world where they are used to treat a wide variety of solid tumors and are the focus of numerous ongoing research efforts. MRIdian has been the subject of hundreds of peer-reviewed publications, scientific meeting abstracts, and presentations. For a list of treatment centers, please visit: View Source

Conflicts of Interest: Amar Kishan, M.D. discloses research funding from the Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health, the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Foundation, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and the American Society for Radiation Oncology. He also discloses research support, not related to this study, from ViewRay, Inc. He discloses consulting fees from ViewRay, Inc. and Varian Medical Systems, Inc. Dr. Kishan also discloses low-value stock held in ViewRay, Inc.

Conflicts of Interest: Michael L. Steinberg, M.D. discloses health policy consulting fees from ViewRay, Inc.

Disclaimer:
Nothing in this material is intended to provide specific medical advice or to take the place of written law or regulations.

The MRIdian Linac System is not appropriate for all patients, including those who are not candidates for magnetic resonance imaging. Radiation treatments may cause side effects that can vary depending on the part of the body being treated. The most frequent ones are typically temporary and may include, but are not limited to, irritation to the respiratory, digestive, urinary, or reproductive systems; fatigue; nausea; skin irritation; and hair loss. In some patients, side effects can be severe. Treatment sessions may vary in complexity and duration. Radiation treatment is not appropriate for all cancers. You should discuss the potential for side effects and their severity as well as the benefits of radiation and magnetic resonance imaging with your doctor to make sure radiation treatment is right for you.