On November 30, 2020 Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRSN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing a pipeline of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) targeting cancers in areas of high unmet medical need, reported the appointment of Arvin Yang, M.D., Ph.D., as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer effective immediately (Press release, Mersana Therapeutics, NOV 30, 2020, View Source [SID1234571968]). Dr. Yang succeeds Dirk Huebner, M.D., who has stepped down as Chief Medical Officer but will remain with the Company until January 15, 2021, to assist with a smooth transition.

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"We are excited to welcome Arvin to our leadership team as we enter this next crucial and exciting stage for Mersana," said Anna Protopapas, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mersana Therapeutics. "Arvin’s deep experience in leading late-stage global registration trials combined with his early stage and immuno-oncology experience will be instrumental in guiding the advancement of XMT-1536 into the planned fast-to-market registration-enabling study as well as driving the rest of Mersana’s first-in-class innovative pipeline."

Dr. Yang spent over a decade at Bristol Myers Squibb in various roles with increasing responsibility for the clinical development of oncology and immuno-oncology therapies. Most recently, he was Vice President and Head of Clinical Hematology, where he was responsible for the clinical development of the late stage hematology pipeline. Before that, he was Vice President and Development Lead for Melanoma and GU cancers, and played a critical role in the global approval of nivolumab and nivolumab plus ipilimumab combinations in a number of indications. Earlier, he was responsible for the nivolumab and ipilimumab life-cycle clinical development plans including those in gynecological cancers. Finally, he has held leadership roles overseeing a pipeline of early clinical programs as well as roles in medical affairs. Dr. Yang received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and completed training in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess, Harvard Medical School and in oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

"Mersana’s XMT-1536 is poised to make a meaningful difference for people living with ovarian cancer. I am excited about the opportunity to work with the talented Mersana team to bring this important medicine to patients," said Dr. Yang. "I am equally excited about the potential of the NaPi2b target in non-small cell lung cancer adenocarcinoma, Mersana’s robust pipeline of early-stage candidates developed using innovative and differentiated ADC platforms, and the potential of these candidates to make a significant impact in the lives of people living with cancer."

"I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Dirk for his many contributions at Mersana. Over the past two years, Dirk has played a significant role in bringing XMT-1536 to proof of concept in ovarian cancer and in building a strong clinical development team. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors," added Anna Protopapas.

On November 30, 2020 PureTech Health plc (LSE: PRTC, Nasdaq: PRTC) ("PureTech" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing highly differentiated medicines for devastating diseases, reported that it will host its first R&D Day on Friday, December 11, 2020, beginning at 9:00 a.m., Eastern Time (Press release, PureTech Health, NOV 30, 2020, View Source [SID1234571991]). The virtual program will showcase PureTech’s scientific leadership in lymphatics and related immune pathways and share insights across its Wholly Owned Pipeline, which includes LYT-100, a clinical-stage anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory product candidate being advanced for the potential treatment of interstitial lung diseases and lymphedema, and LYT-200, a product candidate targeting foundational immunomodulatory mechanisms for the potential treatment of solid tumors.

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In addition to presentations by PureTech’s senior team, the R&D Day will feature talks from renowned scientists and physicians, including:

Toby Maher, M.D., professor of clinical medicine and director of interstitial lung disease at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California
Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D., DPhil, clinician and researcher at Columbia University and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of all Maladies and The Gene
Stanley Rockson, M.D., Allan and Tina Neill professor of lymphatic research and medicine at Stanford University; chief of consultative cardiology and director of the Stanford Center for Lymphatic and Venous Disorders
Zev Wainberg, M.D., co-director of the UCLA GI Oncology Program and assistant professor of medicine at UCLA
"PureTech’s inaugural R&D Day is an opportunity to bring together field-leading experts within our expansive global network to discuss the unique therapeutic opportunities within lymphatics and related immunology," said Daphne Zohar, chief executive officer of PureTech Health. "We have made great progress across our Wholly Owned Pipeline, which now includes four product candidates and three discovery platforms, and we look forward to detailing our differentiated approach towards addressing major diseases."

The agenda for PureTech’s R&D Day is:

Opening Remarks

Welcome from Chris Viehbacher, chairman of PureTech Board of Directors, and Bob Horvitz, Ph.D., chairman of PureTech R&D Committee
Perspectives from Daphne Zohar
Lymphatic Science Overview

The science underlying our Wholly Owned Pipeline, including the biology of the BIG Axis, lymphatic system and related immunology: Joe Bolen, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at PureTech
A clinical perspective on lymphatics and the need for innovation in lymphatic disorders and beyond: Stanley Rockson, M.D. (includes Q&A)
Fibrotic and Inflammatory Conditions – Unmet Need and LYT-100

Deep dive into LYT-100 and its potential to treat a range of conditions involving fibrosis, inflammation and impaired lymphatic flow: Michael Chen, Ph.D., head of innovation at PureTech
A pulmonology perspective on interstitial lung diseases, including IPF and Long COVID, and the unmet need: Toby Maher, M.D., Ph.D. (includes Q&A)
Remarks from Eric Elenko, Ph.D., chief innovation officer at PureTech
Immuno-Oncology – Prioritizing Targets and Future Directions

Perspectives on the field of immuno-oncology, where we are today and the clinical landscape: Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D., DPhil, and Zev Wainberg, M.D.
Deep dive into LYT-200 and targeting galectin-9 for a range of cancer indications: Aleksandra Filipovic, M.D., Ph.D., head of oncology at PureTech
Fireside chat: What’s next? The future of immuno-oncology with Drs. Zev Wainberg and Siddhartha Mukherjee (includes Q&A)
Closing Remarks

PureTech’s vision for future growth and Q&A session with the PureTech senior management team
A webcast of the event will be available on the Investors section of PureTech’s website under Events & Presentations.

On November 30, 2020 WestPark Capital, Inc., a full-service investment bank and securities broker-dealer, reported the closing of the follow-on offering for its client Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc. 1,200,000 units consisting of one share of common stock and one warrant were sold for a total of $5,700,000 in gross proceeds (Press release, Lixte Biotechnology, NOV 30, 2020, View Source [SID1234572008]). Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc. began trading on The Nasdaq Capital Market ("Nasdaq") on Wednesday, November 25, 2020 under the trading symbols "LIXT" and "LIXTW".

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WestPark Capital, Inc. acted as the book-running manager.

Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc.’s registration statement relating to the offering has been filed with, and declared effective by, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

The offering was made pursuant to an effective registration statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-248588) previously filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and declared effective by the SEC on November 19, 2020. A final prospectus describing the terms of the proposed offering was filed with the SEC and may be obtained, when available, via the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or from: WestPark Capital, Inc. – Attention: Jason Stern, 1900 Avenue of the Stars, 3rd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90077 or by Email: [email protected] or by telephone at (310) 203-2919.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that state or jurisdiction.

On November 30, 2020 AP Biosciences reported In recent years, an increasing number of drugs have been granted breakthrough therapy designation in the United States, encouraging more companies to propose novel cancer treatment solutions (Press release, AP Biosciences, NOV 30, 2020, View Source [SID1234572009]). Currently, there are two companies in Taiwan that are accelerating the development of these therapies and provide innovative treatments.

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AP Biosciences’ target-dependent T-cell activating bi-specific antibodies

AP Biosciences (APBio) is a discovery-stage immunotherapeutic company developing mono- and bi-specific antibodies for various forms of treatment. One of the company’s major products, T-Cube bsAbs, involves bi-specific antibodies that lead T cells to cancer cells. They do so by bridging the T cells to unique antigens found on the surface of cancer cells, resulting in T cell activation which kills the cancer cells.

Unlike many current immune-therapeutic drugs (which activate the immune system to combat cancer cells while inducing a cytokine storm accompanied by strong side effects), APBio’s antibody drugs would benefit patients via improved specificity, leading to higher efficacy and a more favourable safety profile.

"T-Cube bi-specific antibodies activate cytotoxic and memory T cells upon binding to targeted cancer cells. In short, we’re creating better antibodies for better cures," explained Dr. Jeng Her, CEO of APBio. "In the near term, we see these treatments benefiting patients with liver, kidney, and lung cancers. Superiority in efficacy, safety, and cost is what makes our solutions unique and exciting to the medical community."

The strategy employed by APBio has attracted companies such as Innovent Biologics and Tasly Biopharmaceuticals to become development partners for several bi-specific antibodies. IBI302, a bi-specific antibody licensed to Innovent for the wet form of age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), entered Phase I of clinical trials in April 2019. Further, APBio recently raised US$19.5 million in its series B funding round for the development of three in-house T-Cube antibodies, targeting human trials as early as Q4 2021.

LuminX provides cell GPS positioning in vivo

Most breakthrough therapy designations are granted to cell therapies. These therapies face great challenges in pre-market certification, owing to the difficulty of pre-clinical PK/PD data collection.

LuminX aims to accelerate and fine-tune cell therapies through better understanding of processes in the preclinical stage. With the help of an innovative cell-tracking method, live cells can be detected through fluorescence, thus making them easier to track for an extended period of time. This visibility helps scientists and researchers understand how therapeutic cells are distributed either in vivo or in vitro, how long they survive, and recognize what the cells’ eventual biological fate might be in a research or hospital setting.

According to Dr. Long-Jyun Su, CEO of LuminX, the company’s solution involves labelling cells with LuminX-tracking reagents that are non-toxic and non-genotoxic. The outcome sees labelled cells glow red for easy visual identification and remain potent long thereafter. The executive said that other techniques require 100, 1,000, or even 10,000 cells to elicit detection, whereas LuminX’s method only requires 10.

Dr. Su explained, "LuminX’s cell-tracking service is able to quantify the number of therapeutic cells in an individual organ, allowing us to obtain data on cell biodistribution and PK/PD. This means we’re able to study the movement of drugs through the animal model in the preclinical stage. Additionally for researchers and cell therapy companies, our tech will be a game-changer as it drastically cuts down the time and money otherwise needed for research and development."

On November 30, 2020 Vivoryon Therapeutics N.V. (Euronext Amsterdam: VVY) reported that it has completed its conversion into an N.V., a public company under the laws of the Netherlands (naamloze vennootschap, "N.V.") effective from 28 November 2020 (Press release, Vivoryon Therapeutics, NOV 30, 2020, View Source [SID1234571935]). The Company will from that moment operate under the registered name Vivoryon Therapeutics N.V. and its statutory seat will be in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, while the administrative headquarters and the business operations will remain in Germany with locations in Halle (Saale) and Munich. The new legal form has no impact on the Company’s day-to-day operations.

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As a consequence of the conversion, the shareholders of Vivoryon Therapeutics AG will automatically become shareholders of Vivoryon Therapeutics N.V.. The shares will be trading under a new ISIN NL00150002Q7. The last trading date of the shares under the ISIN DE0007921835 and the first trading day of the shares under the new ISIN NL00150002Q7 will be announced as soon as possible by a press release . The central securities depository for the shares under ISIN NL00150002Q7 will be Euroclear Nederland (Nederlands Centraal Instituut voor Giraal Effectenverkeer B.V.). Trading in Vivoryon Therapeutics shares will not be affected by the conversion.

Dr. Ulrich Dauer, Chief Executive Officer of Vivoryon Therapeutics N.V., commented: "This conversion into anN.V. reflects the continued international focus of Vivoryon Therapeutics. We are convinced that this corporate transformation will be a gateway to new international investors and may also provide access to additional capital markets, such as the US stock market via an ADR program or a full NASDAQ listing, even though there are currently no specific plans in this regard. We look forward to continuing to execute on our growth strategy with additional opportunities gained by this corporoate conversion."