On September 30, 2019 Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) and Spark Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCE) ("Spark") reported that Roche has extended the offering period of its previously announced tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding shares of common stock (the "Shares") of Spark for USD 114.50 per Share, net to the seller thereof in cash, without interest and subject to any withholding taxes required by applicable law and upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase dated March 7, 2019 (as it may be amended and supplemented from time to time, the "Offer") (Press release, Hoffmann-La Roche, SEP 30, 2019, View Source [SID1234539901]).

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!

Pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of February 22, 2019, by and among Roche Holdings, Inc., 022019 Merger Subsidiary, Inc., and Spark (as amended, the "Merger Agreement"), the Offer, which was previously scheduled to expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on Tuesday, October 1, 2019, has been extended until 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on Wednesday, October 30, 2019, unless it is extended further under the circumstances set forth in the Merger Agreement. All terms and conditions of the Offer shall remain unchanged during the extended period.

The Offer was extended to provide additional time for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (the "FTC") and the UK Competition and Markets Authority (the "CMA") to complete their previously disclosed reviews of Roche’s pending acquisition of Spark. The parties remain committed to the transaction and are working cooperatively and expeditiously with the FTC and the CMA.

Citibank, N.A., the depository for the Offer, has advised Roche that, as of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on September 27, 2019, approximately 8,251,571 Shares of Spark (62,467 of which were tendered by notice of guaranteed delivery) had been validly tendered and received, and not validly withdrawn, pursuant to the Offer, representing approximately 21.4% of Spark’s outstanding Shares. Stockholders who have already tendered their Shares of Spark do not have to re-tender their Shares or take any other action as a result of the extension of the expiration date of the Offer.

Closing of the tender offer is conditioned upon customary closing conditions, including the expiration or termination of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, and there being validly tendered and received, and not validly withdrawn, a majority of the outstanding Spark Shares.

MacKenzie Partners, Inc. is acting as information agent for the Offer. Requests for documents and questions regarding the Offer may be directed to MacKenzie Partners, Inc. by telephone, toll-free at (800) 322-2885 (please call (212) 929-5500 (collect) if you are located outside the US or Canada) or via email at [email protected].

On September 30, 2019 Evotec SE (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, MDAX/TecDAX, ISIN: DE0005664809) and Indivumed GmbH reported that the first milestone has been successfully achieved in their joint collaboration to identify new therapeutic targets for the treatment of colorectal cancer (Press release, Evotec, SEP 30, 2019, View Source;announcements/press-releases/p/evotec-and-indivumed-achieve-milestone-in-joint-strategic-drug-discovery-collaboration-5849 [SID1234539900]).

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!

Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, Evotec received full access to the colorectal cancer ("CRC") multi-omics data of IndivuType. The milestone of selecting three novel drug targets was achieved in less than three months.

The first set of identified targets will now be progressed towards first-in-class therapeutics for the treatment of CRC using Evotec’s multimodality drug discovery and development platforms. Four additional candidate targets identified by Indivumed’s bioinformatic and analytics will also enter the joint development programme.

Indivumed’s commitment to generating high quality and extensive cancer patient information is complementary and synergistic to Evotec’s expertise in analysing highly complex multi-omics data. Evotec will be responsible for subsequent partnering of the programmes and/or the platform.

Dr Cord Dohrmann, Chief Scientific Officer of Evotec, said: "The rapid identification of truly novel drug targets reflects the power of our approach to precision medicine that we are pursuing together with Indivumed. The rigorous quality standards employed by Indivumed in the generation of the IndivuType multi-omics patient database enables novel insights into target-disease associations in colorectal cancer which are expected to deliver more effective treatment options."

Prof. Dr Hartmut Juhl, Chief Executive Officer of Indivumed, said: "We are pleased with the rapid progress being made in our collaboration with Evotec to discover novel drugs that will advance the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and potentially other cancer entities. IndivuType has enabled CRC subpopulations to be characterised based on molecular phenotypes with greater precision than has been possible before. As a result, the targets that have been identified are expected to deliver more effective and durable drugs to transform CRC patient care."

DOWNLOADS
Press release
PDF, 253.9 KB
About Colorectal Cancer ("CRC")
Colorectal cancer, a cancer that starts in the colon or rectum is the third most common malignancy and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Rapid increases in both CRC incidence and mortality are now observed in Eastern Europe, Asia, and South America. In contrast, CRC incidence and mortality rates have been stabilising or declining in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, and several Western European countries. The reasons for decreasing trends in CRC mortality are knowledge of risk factors, early detection and prevention, and improvements in perioperative care. Since the five-year overall survival for patients with metastatic CRC is poor (14%), there yet remains a strong need to develop new therapeutics for this disease.

On September 30, 2019 Adlai Nortye Ltd. ("Adlai Nortye" or "the Company"), a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovery, development and commercialization of new and effective drugs with a focus on Oncology, reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) 2019 Congress the first results from a phase 1b neoadjuvant study of AN0025 (previously known as E7046), an investigational, potentially first in class oral EP4 antagonist (Press release, Adlai Nortye Biopharma, SEP 30, 2019, View Source [SID1234539895]).

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!

Researchers presented results from two dose levels of AN0025 in combination with the standard of care for locally advanced rectal cancer where primary resection without chemoradiotherapy is unlikely to achieve clear margins as defined by MRI. Twenty-eight high-risk patients were enrolled with 14 patients in the 250 mg cohort and 14 patients in the 500mg cohort; 25 patients were eligible for assessment. No DLT were observed in any patients. Complete clinical responses have led to 5/25 patients being managed by a watch-and-wait approach, in those who had surgery, 4/15 had pCR with 12 of these patients having clear resection margins.

The study showed that AN0025 was well tolerated in combination with chemoradiation as well as to radiotherapy followed by consolidation chemotherapy. The preliminary efficacy demonstrated encouraging clinical results in locally advanced rectal cancer.

"There is a tremendous need for new treatment strategies in rectal cancer, especially in patients with high-risk of relapse enrolled in this study. With nearly 40% of patients not requiring surgery or achieving a complete pathological response in the post-surgical specimen in this study, AN0025 in combination with the standard pre-operative treatment warrants further development. The excellent toxicity profile of this novel immunotherapy and potential combination with both conventionally fractionated radiochemotherapy or short course irradiation with consolidating chemotherapy make this strategy feasible worldwide." said lead author Dr. Lucjan Wyrwicz, MD, PhD, Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy, M. Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Center, Warsaw, Poland.

He added: "My patients are more and more often asking for organ preservation in rectal cancer and for many of them only a complete clinical response without any surgery is the desired outcome of treatment."

Commenting on the findings, Dr. Theodore S. Hong, MD, Director, Gastrointestinal Service, Associate Clinical Director, Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Co-Leader, Gastrointestinal Malignancies Program, Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Professor of Radiation Oncology, Harvard Medical School, said "Given the unique mechanism of action and strong preclinical rationale, combined with the excellent tolerability and encouraging results, further study of AN0025 in preoperative therapy for rectal cancer are warranted. One question remains if there is a benefit to continuous exposure with AN0025 with FOLFOX followed by chemoradiation with AN0025 in a total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) paradigm. Further evaluation in randomized trials is eagerly awaited." Dr. Hong was also an investigator in the study.

"We are very encouraged by these results and plan to move AN0025 plus chemoradiotherapy into a randomized confirmatory trial without delay" said Dr. Lars Birgerson, Chief Development Officer of Adlai Nortye. "We believe that the EP4 class, where AN0025 is a leading compound, holds considerable promise in combination with multiple treatments including check point inhibitors for a multitude of solid tumors."

About AN0025

AN0025 (previously E7046) is an investigational, potentially first in class oral EP4 antagonist that is believed to prevent the binding of prostaglandin E2 to its EP4 to change the immunosuppressive character of the tumor microenvironment. Based on preliminary results, it is well tolerated in patients with solid tumors.

On September 29, 2019 MonTa Biosciences reported that attends the ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) conference in Barcelona to meet with Key Opinion Leaders to plan phase I trial in patients (Press release, MonTa Biosciences, SEP 29, 2019, View Source [SID1234618629]).

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!

On September 29, 2019 Agendia Inc., a world leader in precision oncology for breast cancer, reported that it will present new data from their on-going clinical research at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) Congress 2019, taking place from September 27 to October 1 in Barcelona, Spain (Press release, Agendia, SEP 29, 2019, View Source [SID1234539898]). The presentation, scheduled for September 29 at 12 noon, will focus on the biological characteristics of two cohorts of patients with early stage breast cancer at opposite ends of the recurrence risk spectrum: women at "Ultralow" and "Ultrahigh" risk for breast cancer recurrence.

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!

One of the biggest challenges physicians face when treating patients with early stage, curable breast cancer is choosing a treatment path that will mitigate the risk of recurrence, while seeking to avoid overtreatment or undertreatment. "Agendia is committed to finding answers for such patients. For this reason, it is important to conduct studies like this to better understand the genomic basis of those breast cancers which are at the extremes of low and high risk, to provide greater precision in determining appropriate therapy," stated William Audeh, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Agendia, Inc.

In this analysis, Agendia’s research team sought to identify the biological characteristics of two previously-identified subgroups of patients, those with Ultralow and Ultrahigh MammaPrint scores. Investigators employed differentially-expressed gene analysis (DEG) and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) to evaluate the full transcriptome data from 400 randomly chosen MammaPrint profiles. The Ultralow cohort was shown to have more homogeneous genomic profiles and enrichment of pathways favoring decreased proliferative and metastatic potential. The Ultrahigh cohort, on the other hand, demonstrated greater genomic heterogeneity with activation of pathways associated with more aggressive cancers, including those related to immune response, cell cycle regulation and DNA repair mechanisms.

"We are very excited to present these findings at ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper)," commented Annuska Glas, PhD, Vice President R&D and Product Support. "This important insight into the biological processes of early-stage breast cancer may help physicians identify more effective treatment strategies."

About MammaPrint
MammaPrint is an in vitro diagnostic medical device, performed as a testing service in a central laboratory, using the 70-gene expression profile of breast cancer tissue samples to assess a patient’s risk for distant metastasis within 5 years. The test is performed for breast cancer patients, with Stage I or Stage II disease, with tumor size ≤ 5.0 cm and lymph node negative. The device is FDA-cleared and CE-marked, enabling use in the European Union. MammaPrint is indicated for use by physicians as a prognostic marker only, along with other clinical-pathological factors. It is not intended to determine the outcome of disease, nor to suggest or infer an individual patient’s response to therapy. MammaPrint is the only test of its kind recommended for lymph node-negative and lymph node-positive patients by both the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) and National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). The test is also recommended by many other national and international clinical practice guidelines.