On February 18, 2020 Proscia, a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) enabled digital pathology solutions, reported that it has expanded into the international diagnostic pathology market to meet the growing needs of laboratories and cancer patients worldwide (Press release, Proscia, FEB 18, 2020, View Source [SID1234554453]). The company has added the leadership of Arun Ananthapadmanabhan as Executive Vice President, Global Growth, to manage commercial operations for its international market. Proscia’s accelerated global focus follows the company’s November announcement that it received CE Mark for its Concentriq Dx solution for use in primary diagnosis.*

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Digital pathology has experienced broad adoption in international markets, where the regulatory landscape and a severely declining pathologist population have encouraged laboratories to implement image-based workflows. These laboratories are realizing the benefits of digitization, including improved efficiency and productivity. A notable example of successful digitization is Spain’s Granada University Hospitals, where pathologists have signed out, on average, 21% more cases each year since implementing a full digital pathology program for primary diagnosis. Digital laboratories are now poised to adopt AI-based computational applications, which will further enhance efficiency and expand the breadth of critical diagnostic information available to improve patient outcomes.

"The European digital pathology market is demonstrating tremendous potential in the face of critical challenges," said Steve Holloway, Company Director & Principal Analyst at Signify Research. "In a recent workforce census conducted by the Royal College of Pathologists, only three percent of UK pathology departments reported having enough staff to meet clinical demand. Shortages like these are being blamed for ultimately delaying cancer treatment, and the continued adoption of digital pathology and use of artificial intelligence will play a major part in addressing these issues."

Proscia’s Concentriq digital pathology platform operates at the center of the modern, image-based laboratory. Its end-to-end capabilities include automation of time consuming and error-prone manual tasks, streamlined collaboration, and delivery of deeper operational insights into the hands of laboratory managers. Concentriq is an open, flexible platform that works with any scanner and laboratory information system (LIS), offering seamless integrations with Philips, Leica, 3DHISTECH, Roche, and Hamamatsu among other leading whole slide image scanners. It also serves as a launchpad for the company’s suite of AI applications, enabling laboratories to easily deploy AI in practice.

"With the only AI-enabled digital pathology platform, Proscia is uniquely positioned to enter the international market," said David West, CEO of Proscia. "This market is primed for the adoption of digital pathology and artificial intelligence, which we can deliver today. We look forward to building upon our traction in the U.S. and working with our growing partner ecosystem to help laboratories worldwide realize the full promise of digital pathology. We’re pleased to welcome Arun to our leadership team to help us carry out this effort with his deep market expertise."

Arun Ananthapadmanabhan joins Proscia as Executive Vice President, Global Growth, to oversee the company’s international operations. He comes to Proscia from Philips, where he created and led the Computational Pathology business. In addition to strong product and market expertise, Arun brings experience advising on growth strategies from his time as management consultant at Bain. Arun is located in Amsterdam, from where he will be building a team to support his efforts.

"I am excited to join Proscia and advance the company’s mission of perfecting cancer diagnosis with intelligent software," said Arun Ananthapadmanabhan, Proscia’s Executive Vice President, Global Growth. "There are clear synergies between Proscia’s approach to digital and computational pathology and the needs of the international market. Concentriq is a truly open and reliable platform with embedded, future-proof AI workflows. This is a clear unmet need in the market today that can accelerate the adoption of digital pathology. I am passionate about improving the lives of cancer patients and see a real opportunity to do so as part of the Proscia team."

On February 18, 2020 Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ: XNCR), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, reported that it will release fourth quarter and full year 2019 financial results after the market closes on Monday, February 24, 2020 (Press release, Xencor, FEB 18, 2020, View Source [SID1234554452]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Xencor management will host a webcast and conference call the same day at 4:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. PT) to discuss the financial results and provide a corporate update.

The live call may be accessed by dialing (877) 359-9508 for domestic callers or (224) 357-2393 for international callers and referencing conference ID number 7281589. A live webcast of the conference call will be available under "Events & Presentations" in the Investors section of the Company’s website located at www.xencor.com. The webcast will be archived on the company website for 30 days.

On February 18, 2020 Personalis, Inc. (Nasdaq: PSNL), a leader in advanced genomics for cancer, reported that company management will participate at the upcoming Cowen 40th Annual Health Care Conference (Press release, Personalis, FEB 18, 2020, View Source [SID1234554451]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

John West, Chief Executive Officer, will be presenting on Wednesday, March 4, 2020 at 8:40 a.m. Eastern Time at the Boston Marriott Copley Place hotel in Boston.

On February 18, 2020 Eureka Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company developing novel T cell therapies to treat solid tumors, reported that its Director of Strategy and Business Development, Dr. Jingyi Xiang, will be presenting at CAR-TCR Summit Europe being held at the Novotel London West, London, United Kingdom on February 25, 2020 (Press release, Eureka Therapeutics, FEB 18, 2020, View Source [SID1234554450]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Presentation Details

Title:

Novel Antibody-TCR Platform (ARTEMIS T cells) Combines Fab-based Antigen Recognition with gamma/delta-TCR Signalling for Favorable Safety and Efficacy Profile in T Cell Immunotherapy

Speaker:

Dr. Jingyi Xiang

Event Program:

Translation Track

Date:

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Time:

5:30 p.m. GMT

On February 18, 2020 GRAIL, Inc., a healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured, reported the initiation of the PATHFINDER Study (Press release, Grail, FEB 18, 2020, View Source [SID1234554449]). A prospective, multi-center study, PATHFINDER marks the first time GRAIL’s test results will be returned to healthcare providers and communicated to participants to help guide appropriate diagnostic workup for more than 50 cancer types.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Initial PATHFINDER health system partners include Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Intermountain Healthcare, Mayo Clinic, Oregon Health & Science University, and Sutter Health with plans to expand to additional partners. The first participants have been successfully enrolled.

Today, the majority of deadly cancers do not have U.S. guideline-recommended screening paradigms, and as a result, many cancers are not detected until they have progressed to late stages when chances of survival are lower. Data from previous clinical studies demonstrate GRAIL’s multi-cancer early detection test is able to detect more than 50 cancer types across all stages, with a very low false positive rate of less than one percent, through a single blood draw. When a cancer signal is detected, GRAIL’s test is also able to identify where in the body the cancer is located with high accuracy. Identifying a cancer’s tissue of origin will enable healthcare providers to efficiently guide PATHFINDER participants with a cancer "signal-detected" test result through the appropriate care pathway to arrive at a diagnostic resolution.

"GRAIL is at the forefront of transforming early cancer detection as we bring our multi-cancer test into clinical practice through our first interventional study," said Hans Bishop, Chief Executive Officer at GRAIL. "We are partnering with leading healthcare systems to gain important real-world insight into the clinical use of our multi-cancer early detection test, an important step on our path toward commercialization."

"GRAIL set out to develop a true multi-cancer early detection test, and we believe we have built the world’s largest methylation database that’s enabled machine learning rooted in fundamental insights into the biology of cancer signals in the blood," said Alex Aravanis, Chief Scientific Officer and Head of R&D, and a Founder of GRAIL. "Building on our foundational investments in science and technology, we developed a high performing test for the detection of over 50 types of cancer, and we are excited to evaluate its ability to inform clinical care."

The PATHFINDER Study is conducted under an investigational device exemption (IDE) to evaluate GRAIL’s multi-cancer early detection test. GRAIL believes that its IDE application is the first approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a return-of-results study involving a multi-cancer next-generation sequencing-based blood test.

About the PATHFINDER Study

The PATHFINDER Study is evaluating the implementation of GRAIL’s investigational multi-cancer early detection test in clinical practice, and marks the first time GRAIL’s test will be used to return results to people. PATHFINDER will enroll approximately 6,200 participants across several health systems and is sponsored by GRAIL. PATHFINDER is being conducted under an FDA approval of an IDE application for GRAIL’s multi-cancer early detection blood test.

GRAIL’s test is not yet available for use outside of this investigational study. It is not meant to replace the cancer screening tests healthcare providers may recommend, such as colonoscopy or mammography. For more information, visit www.grail.com/clinical-studies/pathfinder-study/.

‎About GRAIL’s Multi-Cancer Early Detection Test

GRAIL’s multi-cancer early detection test is designed to detect cancers in early stages, when the chance of survival is higher than if cancer is detected after symptoms appear. Clinical data have shown the ability of this technology to detect more than 50 cancer types with a very low false positive rate of less than one percent. GRAIL’s test was designed to minimize false positives in order to limit associated harms, including patient anxiety and unnecessary diagnostic workups. When a cancer signal is detected, the test has been able to identify where in the body the cancer is located with high accuracy, an important step to guiding diagnostic next steps and care.

GRAIL’s methylation-based technology preferentially targets the most informative regions of the genome and is designed to use its proprietary database and machine-learning algorithms to both detect the presence of cancer and identify the tumor’s tissue of origin. GRAIL believes its sequencing database of cancer and non-cancer methylation signatures is the largest of its kind.