On October 9, 2024 Nona Biosciences, a global biotechnology company providing a total solution from "Idea to IND" (I to ITM), reported a strategic collaboration with OverT Bio, a New York-based biotechnology company (Press release, Nona Biosciences, OCT 9, 2024, View Source [SID1234647117]). The collaboration will focus on developing next-generation cell therapies for solid tumors by leveraging Nona’s proprietary fully human HCAb Harbour Mice platform and its innovative direct CAR-function-based HCAb library screening platform, NonaCarFxTM.

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The fully human heavy chain-only antibodies (HCAbs) generated from Nona’s HCAb Harbour Mice platform provide an ideal modality for CAR-based cell therapies. Unlike traditional methods, fully human HCAbs have the potential to significantly reduce immunogenicity. Their compact size, simplified structure, and precisely calibrated binding properties offer enhanced versatility in CAR design. In the evolving field of cell therapy, fully human HCAbs present significant potential to unlock further therapeutic advancements.

"We are excited to partner with OverT Bio to advance novel cell therapies for solid tumors," said Jingsong Wang, MD, PhD, Chairman of Nona Biosciences. "By combining our fully human HCAb technology with OverT Bio’s innovative approaches, we aim to accelerate the development of transformative therapies that have the potential to significantly improve patient outcomes."

Mat Legut, PhD, CEO of OverT Bio, added, "We are excited to partner with Nona as we are advancing the field of genetically enhanced allogeneic gamma delta T cells. By leveraging Nona’s fully human HCAbs, we are accelerating the development of our first clinical program to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our differentiated cell engineering platforms."

On October 9, 2024 Castle Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSTL), a company improving health through innovative tests that guide patient care, reported that it will present new data related to its DecisionDx-Melanoma and DecisionDx-UM tests for patients with cutaneous melanoma (CM) and uveal melanoma (UM), respectively, at the 21st International Congress of the Society for Melanoma Research (SMR), taking place Oct. 10-13, 2024, in New Orleans (Press release, Castle Biosciences, OCT 9, 2024, View Source [SID1234647126]).

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"In large prospective and retrospective studies, our DecisionDx-Melanoma test has been shown to provide clinical value above and beyond current staging paradigms and other tests currently available for patients with cutaneous melanoma," said Derek Maetzold, president and chief executive officer of Castle Biosciences. "Clinical use studies have shown that clinicians act upon these results to improve risk-aligned treatment pathway decisions which are associated with improved outcomes."

Details regarding Castle’s posters at SMR are included below. Posters will be available for viewing starting the evening of Thursday, Oct. 10, through the evening of Saturday, Oct. 12.

DecisionDx-Melanoma

Poster title: In a prospective, multicenter study, the 31-GEP identified patients at increased risk of tumor recurrence and added significant prognostic value to AJCC staging
Poster #: 40
Summary: This study included 876 patients with Stage I-III CM from multiple centers who received DecisionDx-Melanoma testing as part of their clinical care. The data show DecisionDx-Melanoma stratified patients by their risk of recurrence and was a significant predictor of recurrence; patients with Class 1A (lowest risk) test results had significantly higher three-year recurrence-free survival than those with a Class 1B/2A (increased risk) or Class 2B (highest risk) test result (p<0.001). Importantly, the test added significant predictive value to American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging, considered the standard of care in melanoma management. These findings provide evidence that use of the test with melanoma patients enables better risk-aligned care decisions, which have been shown to lead to improved patient outcomes.1,2
DecisionDx-UM

Poster title: Confirmation of PRAME status as a risk modifier of 15-gene expression profile class in a large real-world population-based cohort of uveal melanoma patients
Poster #: 134
About DecisionDx-Melanoma

DecisionDx-Melanoma is a gene expression profile risk stratification test. It is designed to inform two clinical questions in the management of cutaneous melanoma: a patient’s individual risk of sentinel lymph node positivity and a patient’s personal risk of melanoma recurrence and/or metastasis. By integrating tumor biology with clinical and pathologic factors using a validated proprietary algorithm, DecisionDx-Melanoma is designed to provide a comprehensive and clinically actionable result to guide risk-aligned patient care. DecisionDx-Melanoma has been shown to be associated with improved patient survival and has been studied in more than 10,000 patient samples. DecisionDx-Melanoma’s clinical value is supported by more than 50 peer-reviewed and published studies, providing confidence in disease management plans that incorporate the test’s results. Through June 30, 2024, DecisionDx-Melanoma has been ordered more than 173,000 times for patients diagnosed with cutaneous melanoma. Learn more at www.CastleBiosciences.com.

About DecisionDx-UM

DecisionDx-UM is Castle Biosciences’ 15-gene expression profile (GEP) test that uses an individual patient’s tumor biology to predict individual risk of metastasis in patients with uveal melanoma (UM). DecisionDx-UM is the standard of care in the management of newly diagnosed UM in the majority of ocular oncology practices in the United States. Since 2009, the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC; v7 and v8) Staging Manual for UM has specifically identified the GEP test as a prognostic factor that is recommended for collection as a part of clinical care. Further, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for UM include the DecisionDx-UM test result as a prognostic method for determining risk of metastasis and recommended differential surveillance regimens based on a Class 1A, 1B and 2 result. DecisionDx-UM is currently the only prognostic test for UM that has been validated in prospective, multi-center studies, and it has been shown to be a superior predictor of metastasis compared to other prognostic factors, such as chromosome 3 status, mutational status, AJCC stage and cell type. It is estimated that nearly 8 in 10 patients diagnosed with UM in the United States receive the DecisionDx-UM test as part of their diagnostic workup. Learn more at www.CastleBiosciences.com.

On October 9, 2024 Verastem Oncology (Nasdaq: VSTM), a biopharmaceutical company committed to advancing new medicines for patients with cancer, reported further details for its late-breaking presentation of mature data from the ongoing Phase 2 RAMP 201 (ENGOT-ov60/GOG-3052) clinical trial to be presented as an oral presentation at a plenary session at the International Gynecologic Cancer Society (IGCS) Annual Global Meeting taking place October 16-18, 2024 in Dublin, Ireland (Press release, Verastem, OCT 9, 2024, View Source [SID1234647125]).

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The late-breaking abstract is embargoed until the morning of the presentation at IGCS. The oral presentation will include updated safety and efficacy data from the RAMP 201 trial evaluating the combination of avutometinib, an oral RAF/MEK clamp, and defactinib, an oral, selective FAK inhibitor, in patients with recurrent low-grade serous ovarian cancer (LGSOC), including overall response rate, progression free survival, and duration of response.

IGCS Oral Presentation Details

Title: Efficacy and Safety of Avutometinib + Defactinib in Recurrent Low Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer: Primary Analysis of ENGOT-ov60/GOG-3052/RAMP 201
Session: Plenary 03: Oral Abstract Presentations
Date/Time: October 17, 2024, at 11:42 AM ET/4:42 PM Irish time [GMT +1].
Presenter: Professor Susana N. Banerjee, MBBS, MA PhD, FRCP, global lead investigator of the study, Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Team Leader in Women’s Cancers at The Institute of Cancer Research, London
Conference Call and Webcast Information

Verastem will hold an investor conference call and webcast on October 17, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. EDT, to review the mature data from the RAMP 201 trial. To access the conference call, please dial (844) 763-8274 (local) or (412) 717-9224 (international) at least 10 minutes prior to the start time and ask to be joined into the Verastem Oncology conference call. A live audio webcast of the call, along with accompanying slides, will be accessible under "Events & Presentations" in the Investors & Media section of the company’s website at www.verastem.com.

About the Avutometinib and Defactinib Combination

Avutometinib is a RAF/MEK clamp that induces inactive complexes of MEK with ARAF, BRAF and CRAF potentially creating a more complete and durable anti-tumor response through maximal RAS/MAPK pathway inhibition. In contrast to currently available MEK-only inhibitors, avutometinib blocks both MEK kinase activity and the ability of RAF to phosphorylate MEK. This unique mechanism allows avutometinib to block MEK signaling without the compensatory activation of MEK that appears to limit the efficacy of other MEK-only inhibitors.

Verastem Oncology is currently conducting clinical trials with avutometinib in RAS/MAPK driven tumors as part of its Raf And Mek Program or RAMP. Verastem is currently enrolling patients and activating sites for RAMP 301 (NCT06072781), an international Phase 3 confirmatory trial evaluating the combination of avutometinib and defactinib, a selective FAK inhibitor, versus standard chemotherapy or hormonal therapy for the treatment of recurrent low-grade serous ovarian cancer (LGSOC). RAMP 201 (NCT04625270) is a Phase 2 registration-directed trial of avutometinib in combination with defactinib in patients with recurrent LGSOC and enrollment has been completed for the entire RAMP 201 trial, including regimen selection and expansion of the go forward regimen.

Verastem initiated a rolling New Drug Application (NDA) submission in May 2024 to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the investigational combination of avutometinib and defactinib in adults with recurrent KRAS mutant LGSOC who received at least one prior systemic therapy and expects to complete its NDA submission in the second half of 2024 with a potential FDA decision in the first half of 2025. The FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation of the investigational combination of avutometinib and defactinib for the treatment of all patients with recurrent LGSOC after one or more prior lines of therapy, including platinum-based chemotherapy. Avutometinib alone or in combination with defactinib was also granted Orphan Drug Designation by the FDA for the treatment of LGSOC.

Verastem Oncology has established clinical collaborations with Amgen and Mirati to evaluate LUMAKRAS (sotorasib) in combination with avutometinib and defactinib and KRAZATI (adagrasib) in combination with avutometinib in KRAS G12C mutant NSCLC as part of the RAMP 203 (NCT05074810) and RAMP 204 (NCT05375994) trials, respectively. The RAMP 205 (NCT05669482), a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial evaluating avutometinib and defactinib with gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel in patients with front-line metastatic pancreatic cancer, is supported by the PanCAN Therapeutic Accelerator Award. FDA granted Orphan Drug Designation to avutometinib and defactinib combination for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

On October 9, 2024 Schrödinger (Nasdaq: SDGR) reported that new preclinical data on SGR-3515, its investigational Wee1/Myt1 inhibitor, and the company’s PRMT5-MTA inhibitor program, will be presented during poster sessions at the 36th EORTC-NCI-AACR (Free EORTC-NCI-AACR Whitepaper) Symposium (ENA 2024) taking place October 23-25, 2024 in Barcelona, Spain (Press release, Schrodinger, OCT 9, 2024, View Source [SID1234647124]).

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The SGR-3515 presentation will include data further characterizing SGR-3515 in preclinical oncology models. Wee1 and Myt1 kinases regulate the cell cycle and DNA damage response, allowing time for DNA repair before cell division takes place. Concurrent loss of function or inhibition of Wee1 and Myt1 confers selective vulnerability in cancer cells, a mechanism referred to as synthetic lethality. The preclinical data indicate that SGR-3515 has a differentiated profile and support its continued development as a potential therapy for patients with advanced solid tumors. A Phase 1 clinical trial in this patient population is ongoing.

Additionally, preclinical data will be presented on the discovery of highly selective PRMT5-MTA inhibitors. Schrödinger has identified a novel series of selective, potent PRMT5-MTA inhibitors and is optimizing lead compounds for use in peripheral and brain tumors.

Details of the data presentations are as follows:

Title: Discovery of SGR-3515, a first-in-class Wee1/Myt1 inhibitor with differentiated pharmacological properties in xenograft tumor models
Abstract Number: 147
Presentation Date and Time: Wednesday, October 23, 2024, 12PM-2PM CEST (6AM-8AM EDT)
Location: Exhibit Hall, Barcelona International Convention Centre

Title: Discovery of a highly MTA-synergistic series of PRMT5 inhibitors for the treatment of MTAP-deficient tumors by virtual screening technology
Abstract Number: 372
Presentation Date and Time: Friday, October 25, 2024, 9AM-3PM CEST (3AM-9AM EDT)
Location: Exhibit Hall, Barcelona International Convention Centre

On October 9, 2024 Exscientia plc (Nasdaq: EXAI) reported three abstracts to be presented at the 36th EORTC-NCI-AACR (Free EORTC-NCI-AACR Whitepaper) (ENA) Symposium 2024 from October 23-25, in Barcelona, Spain (Press release, Exscientia, OCT 9, 2024, View Source [SID1234647123]).

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"As our precision-designed LSD1 and MALT1 inhibitors continue to progress towards the clinic, we are excited to share new preclinical data from both programmes," said David Hallett, Ph.D., interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of Exscientia. "These posters, as well as an additional focus on our assay development, highlight the potential of our platform to design best-in-class molecules with improved properties. As our state-of-the-art automation facility continues to ramp up in scale, we look forward to further accelerating the design and development of future molecules."

The ENA posters will be available on the Exscientia website from their time of presentation.

Poster Presentations
Title: Combining next-generation BTK and MALT1 inhibitors to enhance efficacy and therapeutic utility in B-cell malignancies
Session Title: Combination therapies
Catalog Number: 218
Poster Board Number: PB206
Date/Time: Thursday, October 24 / 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. CEST

EXS73565 (‘565) is a potent, selective allosteric MALT1 inhibitor designed to have an improved safety profile, with clinical studies expected to start in early 2025
Combining MALT1 inhibitors, such as ‘565, with BTK inhibitors has the potential to provide enhanced efficacy in B-cell malignancies, by greater inhibition of pathogenic nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB) signalling and addressing BTK-resistance mechanisms
Exscientia researchers combined ‘565 with the BTK inhibitor zanubrutinib and observed deeper, more durable efficacy responses in xenograft models of B-cell malignancies, with long-lasting tumour eradication seen for activated B-cell-like diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (ABC-DLBCL)
Studies also confirmed target pathway biology engagement, with ‘565 alone and in combination with zanubrutinib inhibiting NF-kB target gene expression in in vivo models
Overall, the selective profiles of ‘565 and zanubrutinib may maximise the therapeutic index of MALT1 and BTK inhibition in combination, providing scope for enhanced efficacy for patients with B-cell malignancies
Title: In vivo pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and anti-tumour efficacy of EXS74539: A novel, reversible LSD1 inhibitor for acute myeloid leukaemia
Session Title: Epigenetic modulators (HDAC bromodomain modulators, EZH2)
Catalog Number: 250
Poster Board Number: PB238
Date/Time: Thursday, October 24 / 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. CEST

‘539 is a novel, potent, selective and reversible LSD1 inhibitor, with a highly differentiated profile and designed to be brain penetrant, expected to enter the clinic in early 2025
The poster highlights that by combining ex vivo perturbation of primary human acute myeloid lymphoma (AML) samples with ‘539 and omics profiling, 12 potential pharmacodynamic (PD) biomarker gene candidates were identified that correlate with LSD1 inhibitor activity
Upregulation of the identified biomarker gene candidates was confirmed in an in vivo AML xenograft model post ‘539 treatment
Treatment of the in vivo model with the reversible inhibitor ‘539 resulted in limited platelet level effects, highlighting how ‘539 was designed to maximise target engagement while limiting thrombocytopenia
Title: Xcellomics: Powering rapid translation of HTS outputs to AI-driven drug discovery programmes
Session Title: Functional genomics
Catalog Number: 414
Poster Board Number: PB402
Date/Time: Friday, October 25 / 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. CEST

Xcellomics is a collaboration between Exscientia and The Centre for Medicines Discovery at the University of Oxford, used to rapidly translate the results of cell-based, high-throughput screens into transformative oncology therapies
The collaboration has successfully identified and validated novel essential regulators of a key oncogenic pathway
Automated assay development and chemical hit ID performed by Exscientia rapidly pushed these novel therapeutic targets into drug discovery programmes