On June 28, 2021 Lengo Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company developing novel precision medicines targeting driver mutations in oncology, reported the appointment of Enoch K. Kariuki, Pharm.D., as Chief Executive Officer (Press release, Lengo Therapeutics, JUN 28, 2021, View Source [SID1234584419]).

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Dr. Kariuki is an accomplished industry leader with broad experience in healthcare strategy, life sciences finance, operations and business development. Prior to joining Lengo, Dr. Kariuki was Chief Financial Officer at VelosBio, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel, first-in-class cancer therapies targeting ROR1, which was acquired by Merck in 2020 for $2.75 billion.

Prior to VelosBio, Dr. Kariuki served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development at Synthorx, Inc., where he led the company’s initial public offering, managed relationships with bankers, sell-side equity analysts and investors, and led the business development process that concluded with the successful sale of Synthorx to Sanofi for $2.5 billion.

Dr. Kariuki was previously Vice President at H.I.G. Capital, where he led investments into, and served on boards of, several life sciences companies. His roles prior to H.I.G. include Senior Associate at Leerink Partners and Associate Director at UBS Investment Bank. At Leerink and UBS, Dr. Kariuki advised healthcare companies on equity capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, and recapitalizations.

"Enoch brings to Lengo extensive experience leading high-performing teams in the private and public sectors. His background in global finance and operations, as well as his track record of financing and building biotech companies, is exactly the type of leader Lengo needs as we advance into our next phase of growth," said Dave Johnson, Chairman at Lengo Therapeutics. "Enoch will be an invaluable asset to Lengo, and I look forward to working with him again to build a best-in-class pipeline targeting driver mutations in oncology."

"I am excited to join Lengo at such an exciting time. I look forward to working with Dave, our Board members and the senior management and scientific teams to help advance our pipeline of differentiated, best-in-class targeted oncology therapeutics," said Enoch Kariuki, Pharm.D., Chief Executive Officer at Lengo Therapeutics.

Dr. Kariuki completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in R&D Strategy and Analytics at Bristol Myers Squibb and was a Pharmacist at CVS Caremark. He holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a PharmD from Texas Southern University. He serves on the boards of Zentalis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ZNTL) and Imago Biosciences.

On June 28, 2021 Kiromic reported as a pioneer of immuno oncology with a presentation at the 4th Annual Next-Gen Immuno Oncology Congress in June 2021 (Press release, Kiromic, JUN 28, 2021, View Source [SID1234584418]).

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At the conference, we will:

— Present our artificial intelligence (AI) predicted and selected targets, and

— Discuss how our AI targets will offer better safety and efficacy compared to immuno oncology peers with classic targets.

Our AI targets are predicted and selected based on the following characteristics:

High expression in cancer cells

Heat map of T-cell, B-cell epitopes

Low expression in normal cells

High affinity to TCR

Quantity surface antigen expression signature

We intend to use our AI target, Mesothelin isoform 2, in the upcoming first-in-human dosing for solid tumors in 3Q-2021. At the first-in-human dosing, Kiromic will also introduce a CAR-T with chPD1, our PD1 activator, which will we believe offer immuno oncology with new tools to address Tumor Micro Environment (TME).

Our topics for the session on June 29th are:

— Mesothelin isoform 2 is a novel target for allogenic CAR γδT cell therapy in solid tumors

— Diamond Artificial Intelligence /CancerSplice : ADVANCING CAR through A.I. for Target
Link to 4th Annual Next-Gen Immuno Oncology Congress (Virtual) June-28, 2021

Chief Executive Officer of Kiromic, Maurizio Chiriva-Internati, DBSc, PhDs, commented:

"We are honored to be invited to present at the 4th Annual Next-Gen Immuno Oncology Congress.

The challenges for immuno oncology and the employment of classic targets result from low specificity, which results in higher side effects and low affinity, which results in low efficacy.

We believe our AI selected iso-mesothelin will address both of these issues.

Our selection and prediction algorithm is robust and extensive, poring over billions of data points, to arrive at these targets in hours which otherwise would have required many man-years if done manually.

We believe that the first-in-human dosing will demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our product and will also demonstrate that AI targeting is superior compared with classic targeting with immuno chemistry."

Chief Medical Officer of Kiromic, Dr. Scott Dahlbeck, commented:

"As an oncologist treating these patients and reading the data, I know first-hand about the needs in immuno oncology to address the problems of specificity and affinity in targeting.

It’s very exciting for me to be part of our innovative team that is introducing AI algorithms into the search for better targets.

We are looking forward to the first in-human dosing with these AI targets in 3Q-2021."

Chief Strategy and Innovation of Kiromic, Gianluca Rotino, stated:

"The time has come for the world to see the power of AI algorithms unleashed on targets research and immuno oncology to finally get CAR-T which offers better safety and efficacy compared with classic small molecules."

On June 28, 2021 MaaT Pharma, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing Microbiome Ecosystem Therapies in oncology, reported that the Data Safety and Monitoring Board (DSMB) recommended to proceed to the fourth cohort of the dose-finding Phase 1b CIMON clinical trial, without modifications (Press release, MaaT Pharma, JUN 28, 2021, View Source [SID1234584417]). The DSMB is an independent committee monitoring the progress of the company’s clinical trial and is reviewing safety, tolerability and data quality while the trial is ongoing.

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"We are very pleased that the third of five cohorts in this important study with MaaT033 has successfully been completed without any safety signals reported. This is a very meaningful step towards determining the target dose of this oral capsule product candidate, and we expect to initiate a pivotal Phase 3 study next year," commented John Weinberg, MD, Chief Medical Officer at MaaT Pharma.

The CIMON trial (NCT04150393) is enrolling a total of 27 patients at 6 sites across France. It is an open-label Phase 1b study to investigate the maximum tolerated dose of MaaT033, over 7 or 14 days of therapy, that supports optimal gut microbiome colonization in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome who have undergone intensive chemotherapy.

The CIMON Phase 1b trial is expected to be completed at the end of 2021.

About MaaT033

MaaT033 is an oral, full-ecosystem, off-the-shelf, standardized, pooled-donor, high-richness microbiome biotherapeutic. It is manufactured at MaaT Pharma’s centralized European cGMP production facility. MaaT033 is designed to restore the gut ecosystem to full functionality to improve clinical outcomes as well as to control adverse events related to conventional treatments for liquid tumors. The capsule formulation facilitates administration while maintaining the high and consistent richness and diversity of microbial species, including anti-inflammatory "Butycore" species, which characterize MaaT Pharma’s Microbiome Ecosystem Therapies.

On June 28, 2021 Cardiff Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRDF), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing onvansertib to treat cancers with the greatest medical needs for new treatment options, including KRAS-mutated colorectal cancer, pancreatic and castrate-resistant prostate cancer, reported that it has been added as a member of the small-cap Russell 2000 Index, the all-cap Russell 3000 Index, and the Russell Microcap Index, effective upon the U.S. market open today, June 28, 2021, as part of the 2021 Russell indexes reconstitution (Press release, Cardiff Oncology, JUN 28, 2021, View Source [SID1234584416]).

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The 2021 annual reconstitution of the Russell indexes captured the 4,000 largest U.S. stocks as of May 7, 2021, ranking them by total market capitalization. Membership in the U.S. all-cap Russell 3000 Index, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the large-cap Russell 1000 Index or small-cap Russell 2000 Index as well as the appropriate growth and value style indexes. FTSE Russell determines membership for its Russell indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes.

Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for active investment strategies. Approximately $10.6 trillion in assets are benchmarked against Russell’s U.S. indexes. Russell indexes are part of FTSE Russell, a leading global index provider. For more information on the Russell 3000, Russell 2000 and Russell Microcap Indexes and the Russell indexes reconstitution, go to the "Russell Reconstitution" section on the FTSE Russell website.

On June 28, 2021 Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE AMERICAN: ATNM) ("Actinium" or the "Company") reported that it will be added to the Russell Microcap Index at the conclusion of the 2021 Russell indexes annual reconstitution, effective after the US market opens on June 28, according to a preliminary list of additions posted June 4, 2021 (Press release, Actinium Pharmaceuticals, JUN 28, 2021, View Source [SID1234584415]).

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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

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Membership in the Russell Microcap Index, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the appropriate growth and value style indexes. FTSE Russell determines membership for its Russell indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes.

Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for active investment strategies. Approximately $10.6 trillion in assets are benchmarked against Russell’s US indexes. Russell indexes are part of FTSE Russell, a leading global index provider.

For more information on the Russell Microcap Index and the Russell indexes reconstitution, go to the "Russell Reconstitution" section on the FTSE Russell website.

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