On February 23, 2021 Leidos (NYSE:LDOS), a FORTUNE 500 science and technology leader, reported it has been named to Ethisphere Institute’s annual list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies (Press release, Leidos, FEB 23, 2021, View Source [SID1234575446]). Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices recognized Leidos for the fourth consecutive year. Ethisphere recognized 135 honorees spanning 22 countries and 47 industries.

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"Our commitment to maintaining the highest ethical standards is core to our culture at Leidos," said Leidos Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Roger Krone. "Our 39,000 employees across the world embody this value as we strive to deliver a safer, healthier, and more efficient world. We are proud to receive this recognition, and will work to maintain it for years to come."

"Continuing to make the World’s Most Ethical Companies list year after year is a significant achievement, and is a testament to our employees’ pledge to do what is right every day," said Leidos Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer Michele Brown. "Our commitment to ethics and integrity guides every decision and reinforces the value we bring to our customers."

The World’s Most Ethical Companies assessment is based on Ethisphere’s Ethics Quotient framework. It includes more than 200 questions on culture, environmental and social practices, ethics and compliance activities, governance, diversity and other initiatives to support a strong value chain. The process captures and codifies the leading practices of organizations across industries and around the globe.

"While addressing the tough challenges of 2020, we saw companies lead – above all other institutions – on earning the trust of stakeholders through resilience and a commitment to ethics and integrity," said Ethisphere CEO, Timothy Erblich. "As one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies honorees, Leidos continues to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to the highest values and positively impacting the communities it serves."

On February 23, 2021 Acacia Pharma Group plc ("Acacia Pharma" or the "Company") (EURONEXT: ACPH), a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing novel products to improve the care of patients undergoing serious medical treatments such as surgery, invasive procedures, or chemotherapy, reported that, further to the announcements on 18 February 2021 and 19 February 2021 regarding a placing of new ordinary shares in the Company (the "New Ordinary Shares") by means of an accelerated bookbuild offering (the "Placing"), 10,000,000 New Ordinary Shares have been issued and admitted to trading on the regulated market of Euronext Brussels (Press release, Acacia Pharma, FEB 23, 2021, View Source [SID1234575462]).

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The New Ordinary Shares issued pursuant to the Placing have the same rights and benefits as, and rank pari passu in all respects with, the existing Ordinary Shares.

Following issuance of the New Ordinary Shares, as per 23 February 2021, the Company’s total issued share capital amounts to £1,993,789.02, represented by 99,689,451 ordinary shares with one voting right per share. The Company does not hold any ordinary shares in treasury and has not issued any other voting securities. Therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company is 99,689,451. This number represents the denominator for purposes of notifications under transparency regulations.

On the basis of this information, shareholders of the Company can verify whether they are above or below one of the thresholds of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and so on, in multiples of five, of the total voting rights, and whether there is therefore an obligation to disclose that they have reached, exceeded or fallen below any such threshold in accordance with the Belgian Transparency Act of 2 May 2007. Notifications of major shareholdings must be sent by email to Acacia Pharma, for the attention of Ali Elsley at [email protected], as well as to the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), at [email protected].

The Company has in total 2,437,960 outstanding options and 2,861,500 Restricted Stock Units, for the benefit of current and former staff and the managers of the group, conferring entitlement to subscribe for a maximum total of 5,299,460 new ordinary shares, each conferring one voting right.

On February 23, 2021 GenesisCare, a leading provider of integrated cancer care globally, and Prelude Corporation (PreludeDxTM), a leader in molecular diagnostics and precision medicine, reported a new strategic partnership aimed at increasing access to personalized breast cancer treatment and improved patient outcomes (Press release, GenesisCare, FEB 23, 2021, View Source [SID1234575478]).

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DCISionRT is a precision medicine test for women diagnosed with DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma in situ) or Stage 0 breast cancer who are treated with breast-conserving surgery. The DCISionRT test, developed by PreludeDx, assesses a woman’s 10-year risk of recurrence of DCIS or development of invasive breast cancer. The test provides predictive information regarding recurrence risk, allowing physicians to better select those patients who will benefit from radiation therapy in addition to surgery.

Patients with DCIS have abnormal cells lining the milk ducts of the breast that have not spread into surrounding breast tissue. According to a March 2020 report from the National Center for Biotechnology Information in the United States, 20 percent of all breast carcinomas are DCIS.1 In Australia, women who are diagnosed with DCIS are, on average, 3.9 times more likely to develop invasive breast cancer than Australian women of a similar age without DCIS.2 With the help of DCISionRT, doctors are able to better identify patients with elevated scores and provide patients with information on whether receiving radiation therapy, in addition to surgery, will reduce the risk of DCIS recurrence or invasive disease.3

The new partnership between GenesisCare and PreludeDx will make DCISionRT testing available in Australia, where the test is currently not offered, as well as increase patient access in the United States through GenesisCare’s network of integrated cancer treatment centers. Australian-headquartered GenesisCare is one of the largest networks of integrated oncology care in the world, with more than 440 treatment centers and clinics across the US, Australia, the UK, and Spain.

Through the partnership GenesisCare and Prelude will also investigate the clinical development of precision medicine tests, for breast or other cancers, with global real-world evidence. GenesisCare will draw on its global network of physicians and clinical research expertise through its Contract Research Organization to extend Prelude’s existing US based registry to Australia to advance and further evaluate DCISionRT’s impact on treatment decision-making for women with DCIS.

GenesisCare’s Founder and Global Chief Executive Officer, Dan Collins, said: "GenesisCare is delighted to be bringing this much-needed test to early-stage breast cancer patients in Australia and the United States."

"Over the last decade, we have witnessed the profound positive impact of precision medicine on the quality of life of cancer patients, through personalizing the therapeutic journey to an individual’s tumor and risk factors."

"The innovative DCISionRT test heralds a new era in the delivery of precision cancer care, and we are thrilled to be at the forefront of bringing this latest evolution in personalized medicine to early-stage breast cancer patients around the globe."

"Our new global partnership with PreludeDxTM will empower thousands of women with information about their own biological risk factors, enabling doctors and patients to make better-informed decisions about their treatment options," said Mr. Collins.

PreludeDx’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Daniel Forche, said: "We share GenesisCare’s mission to treat every cancer patient as an individual and we are thrilled to be partnering with GenesisCare to increase patient access to DCISionRT."

"This partnership is an important milestone as it means that for the first time, DCIS patients in Australia will have access to personalized information to better inform decisions about whether surgery alone or surgery with radiation therapy is appropriate."

"This partnership will also leverage GenesisCare’s international network outside of the US to rapidly expand our real-world data registry and we are excited about the clinical evidence we will be able to provide to patients, physicians, governments and payers," said Mr. Forche.

GenesisCare’s Global Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Wally Curran, said: "Historically, physicians have relied on clinical information and pathology to determine treatment plans for women with DCIS, but we can now employ molecular information from each patient’s cancer to personalize treatment plans with unrivaled confidence. We know that globally there are significant variations in the management of DCIS patients with radiotherapy in conjunction with surgery."

"This test levels the diagnostic playing field for DCIS patients and will empower physicians and patients to make better-informed decisions about treatment options based on a patient’s individual biological risk profile," said Dr. Curran.

On February 23, 2021 The Lung Cancer Research Foundation (LCRF) reported a collaboration with AstraZeneca to fund over $900,000 in research grants focused on understanding resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR TKIs) and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), including therapeutic approaches to overcome these mechanisms, as well as biomarkers of immune-mediated adverse events (Press release, AstraZeneca, FEB 23, 2021, View Source [SID1234575494]).

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Lung cancer is currently the number one cause of cancer death both in the U.S. and globally among both men and women. An estimated 625 new cases are diagnosed in the U.S. every day. As research funding grows, new treatments become available and survival rates improve. Promising new treatment options exist including targeted therapies and immunotherapies. Certain patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may benefit from targeted therapies which interfere with specific molecules involved in the growth and progression of cancer. For example, patients with EGFR mutation positive NSCLC can frequently benefit from treatment with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Despite clinical improvement with these therapies, acquired resistance invariably develops and insights into the mechanisms of resistance are needed as well as approaches to overcome and/or prevent resistance.

Over $900,000 in Research Grants Focused on Resistance to EGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs) and Immunotherapies

ICIs, which function by enhancing the body’s immune response against cancer, have also led to profound improvements in the treatment of both locally advanced and metastatic NSCLC. Sustained clinical benefit of ICIs is not uniformly observed, however, and biological insights and biomarkers are needed to better guide patient selection to maximize their therapeutic benefit.

This collaboration seeks to support research studies that focus on understanding mechanisms of primary and acquired resistance to 3rd generation EGFR TKIs, and to identify more effective approaches to predict response and recurrence in patients treated with ICIs in locally advanced NSCLC. This collaboration will also promote advancing scientific knowledge in early stage and resectable NSCLC, including identification of predictive biomarkers of disease recurrence.

"LCRF is honored to continue its fifteen-year legacy of identifying and supporting outstanding lung cancer research projects over the years. We are excited to partner with AstraZeneca, who continues to be a generous supporter of our mission," said Katerina Politi, PhD, Chair, LCRF Scientific Advisory Board. "The specific focus of this grant program is to study treatment resistance and how that resistance may be overcome or prevented, addressing this very important issue that affects many lung cancer patients undergoing treatment."

On February 23, 2021, Odonate Therapeutics, Inc. (the "Company") reported that entered into an Open Market Sale AgreementSM (the "Sale Agreement") with Jefferies LLC (the "Agent"), pursuant to which the Company may offer and sell shares of the Company’s common stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $100,000,000, from time to time, in "at the market" offerings through the Agent (Filing, 8-K, Odonate Therapeutics, FEB 23, 2021, View Source [SID1234575447]). Sales of the shares of common stock, if any, will be made at prevailing market prices at the time of sale, or as otherwise agreed with the Agent. The Agent will receive a commission from the Company of 3.0% of the gross proceeds of any shares of common stock sold under the Sale Agreement.

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The Company is not obligated to sell, and the Agent is not obligated to buy or sell, any shares of common stock under the Sale Agreement. No assurance can be given that the Company will sell any shares of common stock under the Sale Agreement, or, if it does, as to the price or amount of shares of common stock that it sells or the dates when such sales will take place.

In the Sale Agreement, the Company agreed to indemnify the Agent against certain liabilities, including under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or to contribute payments that the Agent may be required to make because of such liabilities.

The shares of common stock sold pursuant to the Sale Agreement will be offered pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333‑233990), which became effective on October 18, 2019. The Company filed a prospectus supplement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 23, 2021 in connection with the offer and sale of shares of the Company’s common stock pursuant to the Sale Agreement.

A copy of the Sale Agreement is attached as Exhibit 1.1 hereto and is incorporated herein by reference. The foregoing description of the Sale Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Sale Agreement.