G1 Therapeutics to Present at the 2021 Raymond James Human Health Innovation Conference

On June 16, 2021 G1 Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: GTHX), a commercial-stage oncology company, reported that G1’s Chief Executive Officer Jack Bailey will participate in the 2021 Raymond James Human Health Innovation Conference. The fireside chat will take place on June 22nd at 9:20 AM EDT (Press release, G1 Therapeutics, JUN 16, 2021, View Source [SID1234587573]). This meeting is being held virtually, and a live webcast will be accessible on the Events & Presentations page of View Source

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!

PureTech Acquires Remaining Interest in Founded Entity Alivio Therapeutics

On June 16, 2021 PureTech Health plc (Nasdaq: PRTC, LSE: PRTC) ("PureTech" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing highly differentiated medicines for devastating diseases, reported the acquisition of the remaining 22 percent of shares outstanding in its Founded Entity, Alivio Therapeutics ("Alivio") (Press release, PureTech Health, JUN 16, 2021, View Source [SID1234584766]). Alivio’s therapeutic candidates, in development for inflammatory disorders including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), will be integrated into the Company’s Wholly Owned Pipeline.

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!

The acquisition aligns with PureTech’s strategy to advance a Wholly Owned Pipeline designed to harness key immunological, fibrotic and lymphatic system mechanisms to treat serious diseases with significant unmet needs. The programs and the underlying AlivioTM technology platform are expected to be funded by PureTech as well as through partnerships and grants. The integration of this program is in line with the budget for PureTech, which extends into the first quarter of 2025, as previously guided.

"PureTech founded Alivio alongside leading scientists Jeffrey Karp, Ph.D., Professor of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Robert Langer, Sc.D., David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT to pioneer a novel strategy to more effectively treat inflammatory disorders through highly targeted immunomodulation at the site of disease. This promising approach fits well within our Wholly Owned Pipeline and we will be able to leverage our strength in immunology and related technologies as we progress therapeutic candidates to potentially treat inflammatory diseases," said Daphne Zohar, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PureTech. "We’re pleased to add the Alivio programs to our pipeline and proud to advance a platform that we hope will bring new therapeutic options to millions of people with chronic and life-limiting autoimmune and inflammatory diseases."

The Wholly Owned Pipeline will include the addition of LYT-500, an orally-administered therapeutic candidate in development for the treatment of IBD. Utilizing the Alivio technology platform, LYT-500 consists of two active agents intended to selectively act at the inflamed tissues while reducing their impact on the normal tissue. LYT-500 contains a unique combination of IL-22 and an anti-inflammatory drug, which is designed to address the two key underlying causes of IBD pathogenesis and progression, namely mucosal barrier disruption and inflammation.

Existing biologic therapies indicated for IBD must be provided through multiple injections over time and are associated with several limitations including loss of efficacy over time and increased risk for opportunistic infections. Using the Alivio technology platform, a biologic agent and small molecule drug can be combined into a single oral dosage form that offers the potential for enhancing the treatment of inflamed tissues to maximize efficacy, while reducing systemic exposure to minimize toxicity. Unlike other therapies in development for IBD, LYT-500 has the potential to provide an oral drug therapy that targets multiple mechanisms of disease pathogenesis, while reducing the potential for systemic side effects.

The integration also includes the addition of therapeutic candidate, LYT-503/IMB-150, to the Company’s pipeline, which is being developed in collaboration with Imbrium Therapeutics as a potential non-opioid treatment for interstitial cystitis or bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). An IND filing for LYT-503/IMB-150 is expected in 2021. PureTech will also continue to evaluate existing and additional anti-inflammatory programs leveraging the Alivio platform technology.

PureTech’s Wholly Owned Pipeline also includes three clinical-stage programs: LYT-100, a selectively deuterated form of pirfenidone that has demonstrated anti‑inflammatory and anti-fibrotic activity and is being advanced for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and potentially other PF-ILDs, where registration-enabling studies are being planned and is currently being evaluated in a Phase 2 trial to treat respiratory complications and related sequelae of Long COVID as well as a Phase 2a proof-of-concept study in patients with breast cancer-related, upper limb secondary lymphedema; and LYT-200, a monoclonal antibody targeting immuno-suppressive galactin-9, which is in a Phase 1 trial for metastatic solid tumors. PureTech’s Wholly Owned Pipeline also includes LYT-300 an oral version of allopregnanolone (a natural neurosteroid), developed using PureTech’s proprietary Glyph platform, and several other discovery platforms leveraging the company’s expertise in lymphatic targeting.

The consideration for the acquisition of the minority interests in Alivio consist of a closing cash payment and potential future cash payments upon successful achievement of certain milestones. The transaction is a small transaction for the purposes of Annex 1 of Listing Rule 11 and smaller than a class 2 transaction for the purposes of Listing Rule 10.

Mustang Bio to Present at the Raymond James Human Health Innovation Conference

On June 16, 2021 Mustang Bio, Inc. ("Mustang") (NASDAQ: MBIO), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on translating today’s medical breakthroughs in cell and gene therapies into potential cures for hematologic cancers, solid tumors and rare genetic diseases, reported that Manuel Litchman, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, will present at the Raymond James Human Health Innovation Conference, taking place virtually from June 21 – 23, 2021(Press release, Mustang Bio, JUN 16, 2021, View Source [SID1234584089]). The company will present on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, at 8:00 a.m. ET and will also participate in one-on-one meetings during the conference. A webcast of the company’s presentation will be available on the Events page of the Investor Relations section of Mustang’s website, www.mustangbio.com, for approximately 30 days after the meeting.

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!


Kytopen Awarded NIH Grant of Up to $2M to Unlock the Power of Engineered Natural Killer (NK) Cells via Flowfect® Platform

On June 16, 2021 Kytopen, a transformative biotechnology company offering non-viral delivery that links the discovery, development and manufacturing of engineered cell therapies, reported it was awarded a SBIR Fast Track grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the National Institute of Health (NIH) (Press release, US NIH, JUN 16, 2021, View Source [SID1234584087]). Kytopen is eligible for up to $2M over the course of the 3-year award as project milestones are successfully completed within the Phase I and Phase II portions of the grant.
Natural killer (NK) cells represent a high impact population for cell therapy, but due to limitations in current methodologies for gene delivery, NK cells remain a largely untapped resource. This SBIR grant will be used to demonstrate that non-viral delivery via Kytopen’s Flowfect platform can alleviate this limitation on NK cell gene editing at both research and manufacturing scale, which is needed for pre-clinical and clinical studies. Due to the major potential impact NK cells represent in a clinical setting, non-viral Cas Ribonucleoprotein (RNP) gene knockout will allow for novel therapeutic applications in infectious disease, autoimmune disorders, and immuno-oncology.
Paulo Garcia, Kytopen’s CEO and Co-Founder will serve as the Principal Investigator (PI) on the grant. Dr. Garcia explains that "engineered NK cells have tremendous therapeutic promise including the potential to treat solid tumors in an allogeneic modality. The Flowfect platform will facilitate high-throughput target discovery while providing a clear path towards clinical manufacturing of next-generation cell products."
NK cells are a subset of innate immune cells that can respond to threat without antibody priming. This quick response to stimuli makes them an ideal immunotherapy candidate. Yet, genetic modification in NK cells has proven to be difficult using conventional viral and non-viral transfection methodologies. Alternative delivery methods are necessary in order to make genetic modifications at reproducible and efficient rates, while maintaining high cell viability and functionality.
The awarded study leverages continuous fluid flow coupled with low energy electric fields for transfection via a proprietary Flowfect platform (Figure 1). This platform represents a novel approach to non-viral delivery in historically "hard-to-transfect" human cells. The current research proposes to engineer non-activated NK cells with Cas RNPs for gene editing using the Flowfect platform. To achieve this goal, Kytopen has outlined a two-phase research strategy which focuses on stability and functionality of edited NK cells both in vitro and in vivo.
NIH sponsored grant programs are an integral source of capital for early-stage U.S. small businesses that are creating innovative technologies to improve human health. These programs help small businesses break into the federal research and development arena, create life-saving technologies, and stimulate economic growth. Kytopen is honored to be a recipient of this competitive award from the NIH/NIAID and looks forward to unlocking biological capabilities of engineered NK cells for improving patients’ lives during the performance of this project.

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!

About the Flowfect Technology
Kytopen’s proprietary Flowfect platform eliminates the complexity of gene editing and integrates discovery, development and manufacturing in one flexible and scalable non-viral delivery solution. The Flowfect technology utilizes electro-mechanical energy to disrupt the cell membrane and introduce genetic material (such as RNA, DNA, or CRISPR/Cas RNP) to a wide variety of hard-to-transfect primary cells. During the Flowfect process, a solution containing cells and genetic payload suspended in a proprietary buffer flows continuously through a channel while the solution is exposed to a low energy electric field. Due to the continuous flow and low electrical energy required, cells engineered using Flowfect exhibit high viability while also exhibiting high transfection efficiency post-processing. The Flowfect technology utilizes relatively high flow rates enabling cell engineering in minutes for discovery and optimization (e.g. 96 well plate in <10 minutes) and direct scale up to manufacturing volumes of >10mL, engineering over 2 billion cells per minute in a single channel.

Servier Announces Promising Phase 1 Data for Vorasidenib in IDH Mutant Low-Grade Glioma Published in Clinical Cancer Research

On June 16, 2021 Servier, a growing leader in oncology committed to bringing the promise of tomorrow to the patients we serve, reported that Clinical Cancer Research has published data from its Phase I study evaluating single-agent vorasidenib in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutant advanced solid tumors, including low-grade glioma (Press release, Servier, JUN 16, 2021, View Source [SID1234584082]). Vorasidenib is an investigational, oral, selective, brain-penetrant dual inhibitor of mutant IDH1 and IDH2 enzymes.

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!

In the first-in-human study (NCT02481154), vorasidenib demonstrated both a favorable safety profile at doses <100 mg once daily and preliminary clinical activity in recurrent or progressive IDH1/2 mutant low-grade glioma. The study data demonstrated a median progression-free survival of 36.8 months (3.1 years) [95% confidence interval (CI), 11.2–40.8 months] for patients with nonenhancing low-grade glioma. The protocol-defined objective response rate per Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology criteria for LGG (RANO-LGG) in patients with nonenhancing low-grade glioma was 18% (one partial response, three minor responses). Exploratory evaluation of tumor volumes showed sustained tumor shrinkage in multiple patients with nonenhancing low-grade glioma.

"Given the toxicities associated with chemotherapy and radiation, there remains a significant unmet need to improve treatment options for patients living with IDH mutant low-grade glioma," said Tim Cloughesy, M.D., David Geffen School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, an investigator for the Phase 1 study. "These early results reinforce the potential benefit of vorasidenib and the further exploration of more targeted therapies."

Mutations in the metabolic enzymes IDH1/2 occur in up to approximately 80% of patients with low-grade gliomas. Standard treatment of low-grade gliomas includes tumor resection, followed by radiation and chemotherapy as appropriate. This treatment is not curative and current therapy is associated with short- and long-term toxicity, with most patients experiencing disease recurrence and progression to a higher tumor grade. In this study, vorasidenib demonstrated a favorable safety profile. Dose-limiting toxicities of elevated transaminases occurred at doses ≥100 mg and were reversible.

"We are excited to announce the publication of our first clinical data manuscript in glioma in Clinical Cancer Research, underscoring the potential benefit of vorasidenib in IDH mutant low-grade glioma," said Susan Pandya, M.D., Vice President, Clinical Development, Head of Cancer Metabolism Global Development, Servier Pharmaceuticals. "These data provide further support for our registration-enabling Phase 3 INDIGO study evaluating the activity of vorasidenib at an early stage of the disease where delaying the need for more aggressive treatments could provide a meaningful benefit to patients."

Vorasidenib is currently being evaluated in the registration-enabling Phase 3 INDIGO study as a potential treatment for patients with residual or recurrent grade 2 low-grade glioma (NCT04164901).

Vorasidenib Phase 1 Dose-Escalation Study

Vorasidenib, an investigational, oral, selective, brain-penetrant dual inhibitor of mutant IDH1 and IDH2 enzymes, is being evaluated as a single agent in an ongoing Phase 1 dose-escalation trial in IDH1/2 mutant advanced solid tumors (n=93), including glioma (n=52). Vorasidenib was administered orally, once daily, in 28-day cycles until progression or unacceptable toxicity. Enrollment was completed in June 2017 (NCT02481154).

Vorasidenib INDIGO Phase 3 Study

Vorasidenib, an investigational, oral, selective, brain-penetrant dual inhibitor of mutant IDH1 and IDH2 enzymes, is currently being evaluated in the registration-enabling Phase 3 INDIGO study as a potential treatment for patients with residual or recurrent grade 2 low-grade glioma (NCT04164901).

About Glioma

Glioma presents in varying degrees of tumor aggressiveness, ranging from slower growing (low-grade glioma) to rapidly progressing (high-grade glioma-Glioblastoma Multiforme). Tumor enhancement is an imaging characteristic assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and enhancing tumors are more likely to be high-grade.

Common symptoms of glioma include seizures, memory disturbance, sensory impairment and neurologic deficits. The long-term prognosis is poor, and regardless of treatment, the majority of patients with low-grade gliomas will have recurrent disease that will progress over time. Approximately 11,000 low-grade glioma patients are diagnosed annually in the U.S. and EU and approximately 80% have an IDH mutation.