Atomwise Receives a $2.3M Grant

On October 6, 2020 Atomwise reported $2.3M in grant funding for AI-based discovery of antimalarial and anti-tuberculosis therapies (Press release, Atomwise, OCT 6, 2020, View Source [SID1234568262]).

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Atomwise, the leader in using artificial intelligence (AI) for small molecule drug discovery, announced today $2.3M in grant funding for AI-based discovery of antimalarial and anti-tuberculosis therapies from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant funding will be used to discover novel compounds that can advance the development of novel antimalarial and anti-tuberculosis small molecule therapies in collaboration with the Gates Foundation’s global network of partners and funded investigators. Atomwise will provide AI-based drug discovery support to leading researchers to translate their biological discoveries into novel therapies.

Atomwise is revolutionizing how drugs are discovered with AI. We invented the use of deep learning for structure-based drug discovery, today developing a pipeline of small-molecule drug candidates advancing into preclinical studies. Our AtomNet technology has been used to unlock more undruggable targets than any other AI drug discovery platform. We are tackling over 600 unique disease targets across 775 collaborations spanning more than 250 partners around the world. Our portfolio of joint ventures and partnerships with leading pharmaceutical, agrochemical, and emerging biotechnology companies represents a collective deal value approaching $7 billion. Atomwise has raised over $174 million from leading venture capital firms to advance our mission to make better medicines, faster. Learn more at atomwise.com or follow @AtomwiseInc.

Gamida Cell Announces Positive Topline Data on Secondary Endpoints from Phase 3 Clinical Study of Omidubicel in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies

On October 6, 2020 Gamida Cell Ltd. (Nasdaq: GMDA), an advanced cell therapy company committed to cures for blood cancers and serious blood diseases, reported that the Phase 3 study of omidubicel, an investigational advanced cell therapy in development as a potential life-saving treatment option for patients in need of bone marrow transplant, met all three of its secondary endpoints (Press release, Gamida Cell, OCT 6, 2020, View Source [SID1234568161]). Omidubicel is the first bone marrow transplant product to receive Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and has the potential to be the first FDA-approved engineered bone marrow transplant graft.

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The international, multi-center, randomized Phase 3 study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of omidubicel in patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing a bone marrow transplant compared to a comparator group of patients who received a standard umbilical cord blood transplant. In May, Gamida Cell reported that omidubicel achieved its primary endpoint, demonstrating a highly statistically significant reduction in time to neutrophil engraftment, a key milestone in recovery from a bone marrow transplant. The prespecified secondary endpoints of the study, analyzed in all randomized patients (intent-to-treat), were the proportion of patients who achieved platelet engraftment by day 42, the proportion of patients with Grade 2 or Grade 3 bacterial or invasive fungal infections in the first 100 days following transplant, and the number of days alive and out of the hospital in the first 100 days following transplant. All three secondary endpoints demonstrated a statistically significant improvement among patients who received omidubicel compared to the comparator group. The company anticipates reporting the full data set at a medical meeting in the fourth quarter of 2020.

"These data, obtained in a global, randomized, multi-institutional setting could represent an important step forward in the field. In addition to more rapid platelet engraftment, a key step toward recovery, reducing infections and hospitalizations are considered meaningful patient outcomes and have the potential to provide substantial value for patients, their families and the healthcare system," said Mitchell Horwitz, M.D., principal investigator and professor of medicine at the Duke Cancer Institute. "The totality of these data strengthen my belief that omidubicel has the potential to be a graft source for any patient who does not have access to a matched related donor and could help make stem cell transplantation more accessible and more successful for patients with lethal blood cancers."

"These additional data reinforce the potential of omidubicel and move us another step closer toward bringing potentially curative therapies to patients. We look forward to presenting data at a future medical meeting, and we are continuing our work to enable the submission of our biologics license application for omidubicel to the FDA on a rolling basis, both expected in the fourth quarter," stated Julian Adams, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Gamida Cell. "We deeply appreciate the patients who participated in this study, the incredible encouragement from their caregivers and the support we have received from investigators and their teams."

Despite the curative potential of bone marrow transplant, it is estimated that more than 40 percent of eligible patients in the United States do not receive a transplant for various reasons, including the lack of a matched donor.1 Even for patients who do receive a transplant, treatment is not always effective and can lead to serious complications that can dramatically affect their quality of life.2 Omidubicel is intended to address the current limitations of bone marrow transplant by providing a therapeutic dose of stem cells while preserving the cells’ functional therapeutic characteristics.

About Omidubicel

Omidubicel is an advanced cell therapy under development as a potential life-saving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell (bone marrow) transplant solution for patients with hematologic malignancies (blood cancers). In both Phase 1/2 and Phase 3 clinical studies (NCT01816230, NCT02730299), omidubicel demonstrated rapid and durable time to engraftment and was generally well tolerated.3,4 Omidubicel is also being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical study in patients with severe aplastic anemia (NCT03173937). The aplastic anemia investigational new drug application is currently filed with the FDA under the brand name CordIn, which is the same investigational development candidate as omidubicel. For more information on clinical trials of omidubicel, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov.

Omidubicel is an investigational therapy, and its safety and efficacy have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or any other health authority.

Zimmer Biomet Announces Webcast and Conference Call of Third Quarter 2020 Financial Results

On October 6, 2020 Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE and SIX: ZBH) reported its third quarter earnings conference call will be webcast on Friday, November 6, 2020, at 8:30 a.m. ET (Press release, Zimmer Holdings, OCT 6, 2020, View Source [SID1234568177]). A news release detailing the quarterly results will be made available that day at 6:30 a.m. ET.

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The live audio webcast can be accessed via Zimmer Biomet’s Investor Relations website at https://investor.zimmerbiomet.com. It will be archived for replay following the conference call.

Individuals in the U.S. and Canada who wish to dial into the conference call may do so by dialing (888) 312-9837 and entering conference ID 7278985. For a complete listing of international toll-free and local numbers, please visit https://investor.zimmerbiomet.com. A digital recording will be available after the completion of the conference call, from November 6, 2020 to January 10, 2021. To access the recording, U.S. callers should dial (888) 203-1112 and international callers should dial +1 (719) 457-0820, and enter the Access Code ID 7278985.

Novalgen licenses mAbsolve’s QumAb™ technology to improve the safety of therapeutic antibodies

On October 6, 2020 NovalGen reported that a new generation of antibody variant developed by mAbsolve has been licensed to Novalgen for evaluation in their pipeline of therapeutic antibodies for treatment of cancer, leukaemias and cardiovascular disease (Press release, NovalGen, OCT 6, 2020, View Source [SID1234633769]).

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QumAb is a small variation to the natural antibody structure which eliminates the unwanted inflammatory responses often associated with antibody therapy. In some situations, these responses are beneficial, but often they lead to unpleasant, even dangerous side-effects.

Previous work met with some success, and today about 50% of therapeutic antibodies in development include some sort of alteration to mitigate unwanted side-effects. However, these approaches do not solve the problem completely. QumAb builds on this previous work to provide a complete Fc-silencing solution with excellent manufacturability properties.

Dr Ian Wilkinson, inventor of the QumAb technology, said: "After working with numerous pharma and biotech companies using the earlier methods with limited success, I became convinced that a better solution was possible. I went back to first principles to design and screen a large panel of variants from which QumAb was discovered. I am delighted that in such a short time the new technology is being taken into commercial development."

Prof Geoff Hale, CEO of mAbsolve, said: "I have devoted my career to the development of therapeutic antibodies, and while we saw some success, many promising antibody drugs were discarded because of unacceptable levels of inflammatory response. QumAb is the best solution to this problem that I have seen and I am thrilled to be working with Novalgen as the first adopter of this new technology."

Mr Nilesh Modi, COO of Novalgen, said: "I’m delighted to be working with the newly formed mAbsolve team, who individually have fantastic track records. Licensing the QumAb antibody silencing solution will add to our array of technologies and we hope will help us develop safer antibody therapies, and will deliver the life-changing treatments that many patients desperately need.."

Prof Amit Nathwani, CEO and Founder of Novalgen. Professor of Haematology, University College London said: "The QumAb technology represents a significant advance and will help NovalGen develop life changing therapeutics for a range of disorders with unmet clinical need. We are excited to be working in partnership with mAbsolve."

Prof Kerry Chester, Chief Scientific Officer of Novalgen and Professor of Molecular Medicine, University College London said: "We are thrilled to be early adopters of the QumAb Fc-silencing technology. I have every confidence in the mAbsolve team and believe that QumAb technology will be a critical part of new antibody-based therapies."

OncoSec Announces Issuance of New U.S. Patent Expanding Coverage of TAVO™ and Its Gene Delivery Platform

On October 6, 2020 OncoSec Medical Incorporated (NASDAQ:ONCS) (the "Company" or "OncoSec"), a company developing late- stage intratumoral cancer immunotherapies, reported the issuance of a new patent covering its interleukin-12 (IL-12) based immunotherapy platform, including its lead product candidate TAVO (Press release, OncoSec Medical, OCT 6, 2020, View Source [SID1234568145]). Specifically, on October 6, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent No. 10,792,375, entitled Method for the Treatment of Malignancies, which covers the Company’s interleukin-12 (IL-12) based immunotherapy platform, including its lead product candidate TAVO, and its proprietary EP gene delivery system . This patent covers the use of intratumoral electroporation of DNA encoding interleukins (such as IL-12) to treat cancer and is significant because it is not specific to which type of immune-stimulatory interleukin can be used to treat a patient, nor is it limited to a particular type of cancer.

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"This new patent further strengthens our core intellectual property estate, broadening the exclusivity of OncoSec’s novel combination drug-device platform for the intratumoral delivery of immune-stimulatory interleukins," said Keir Loiacono, General Counsel and Vice President, Corporate Development at OncoSec. "The new IP serves to secure our competitive position in the intratumoral oncology space and builds on our patent portfolio of growing scope."