On September 16, 2020 Volastra Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing novel therapies to treat and prevent the formation of metastatic disease, reported that it has named Charles Hugh-Jones, MD, FRCP, as its Chief Executive Officer (Press release, Volastra Therapeutics, SEP 16, 2020, View Source [SID1234565252]). Dr. Hugh-Jones brings a strong leadership background from across both multinational pharmaceutical organizations and smaller biotechnology companies. Over the course of his career, he has built extensive expertise in the development and commercialization of medicines.

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"We are incredibly fortunate that Charles is joining the team. His breadth of experience and scientific acumen will be vital in fulfilling our mission," said Volastra Executive Chair Sandra Peterson, former Group Worldwide Chairman of Johnson & Johnson, current Partner at Clayton, Dubilier, and Rice, and current board member of Microsoft.

Dr. Hugh-Jones, a board-certified physician, began his career at Schering AG, Enzon Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi, where he held various positions of increasing responsibility. He then joined Pfizer Oncology division as their Chief Medical Officer where he had medical oversight of all late-stage drug development and commercialization activities. Most recently, Dr. Hugh-Jones was global Chief Medical Officer of Allergan PLC, where he led complex interdisciplinary teams and supported the launch of novel medicines in multiple therapeutic areas.

"We are excited to have Charles at the helm as we tackle chromosomal instability, a pervasive feature of metastatic cancers," said Volastra Co-founder and Advisor Lewis Cantley, PhD, Professor of Cancer Biology in Medicine and Meyer Director of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medical College. "Our goal is to further uncover novel insights into chromosomal instability and its clear association with the formation, progression, and maintenance of metastasis to ultimately develop new therapies."

"I’m inspired by Volastra’s mission to bring new therapies to patients with metastatic solid tumors, which are notoriously among the toughest to treat with existing therapies," said Dr. Hugh-Jones. "There is a tremendous unmet need in this patient population, and Volastra’s novel research holds great promise. I look forward to working with the entire team to build upon the scientific discoveries of its founders and grow a pipeline of potential therapies that can make a difference in patients’ lives."

Volastra Therapeutics launched earlier this year with $20 million in financing. Polaris Partners led the financing with additional investment from Vida Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, DROIA Oncology Ventures, and the Global Health Sciences (GHS) Fund (Quark Venture LP and GF Securities). As a cornerstone tenant in a new biotech development, the company recently secured 11,000 square feet of laboratory and office space in West Harlem, New York. Dr. Hugh-Jones will lead the growing team at this new location.

On September 16, 2020, OncBioMune Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the "Company") reported that it entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the "SPA") with an investor to purchase an aggregate amount of 1,000 shares of a newly created Series E Convertible Preferred Stock of the Company (the "Series E Preferred") for an aggregate investment amount of $2,000,000 (Filing, 8-K, Oncbiomune, SEP 16, 2020, View Source [SID1234565461]). Our new Series E Preferred Stock has a stated value of $2,000 per share and shall accrue, on a quarterly basis in arrears, dividends at the rate of 8% per annum on the stated value. The dividends shall be paid quarterly at the option of the holder of the Series E Preferred in either cash or shares of common stock of the Company. The Series E Preferred is convertible at any time after the date that is two days after the filing of an amendment to the Company’s certificate of incorporation with the Secretary of State of the State of Nevada to increase the Company’s authorized common stock to 12,000,000,000. The number of shares of common stock issuable up on conversion of the Series E Preferred is determined by dividing the stated value of the number of shares being converted, plus any accrued and unpaid dividends, by the lesser of: (i) $0.00375 and (ii) 75% of the average closing price of the Company’s common stock during the prior five trading days; provided, however, the conversion price shall never be less than $0.0021.

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The foregoing description of the SPA and the Series E Preferred does not purport to be complete, and is qualified in its entirety by reference to Exhibits 10.1 and 3.1 hereto, which are incorporated by reference herein.

On September 16, 2020, GT Biopharma, Inc. (the "Company") reported that it entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with two purchasers (individually, a "Purchaser," and collectively, the "Purchasers") pursuant to which the Company has issued to the Purchasers Convertible Debentures in an aggregate principal amount of $250,000 (the "Debentures"), which Debentures are convertible into the Company’s common stock (the "Common Stock") at a price of $0.20 per share (Filing, 8-K, GT Biopharma, SEP 16, 2020, View Source [SID1234565479]).

The issuance of the Debentures was made in reliance on the exemption provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), for the offer and sale of securities not involving a public offering and Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act.

The foregoing summaries of the Securities Purchase Agreement, and the Debentures are qualified in their entirety by reference to the full text of the agreements, which are attached hereto as Exhibits 10.1 and 4.1, respectively, and are incorporated herein by reference.

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On September 16, 2020 Oasmia Pharmaceutical’s CEO, Dr Francois Martelet reported that it will present at the 20th Annual Biotech in Europe Forum from 21 – 24 September organised by Sachs Associates (Press release, Oasmia, SEP 16, 2020, View Source [SID1234565236]). The presentation will be available on Oasmia Pharmaceutical’s new website from Monday, September 21.

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The 20th Annual Biotech in Europe Forum is recognized as the leading international stage for those interested in investing and partnering in the biotech and life science

On September 16, 2020 The Institute of Cancer Research reported that Results from an early-stage trial demonstrate that using a combination of two precision medicines to target hard-to-treat cancers was safe and showed promise in a range of solid tumour types (Press release, The Institute of Cancer Research, SEP 16, 2020, View Source [SID1234565271]).

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The trial, led by a team at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, combined AstraZeneca/Merck’s PARP inhibitor Lynparza (olaparib) with the investigational medicine capivasertib, an AKT Kinase inhibitor.

The researchers used the drug combination to target two weaknesses in cancer, namely a damaged system for repairing DNA and ‘addiction’ to the AKT molecule which fuels tumour growth.

In the Phase I trial, researchers gave 64 patients with advanced solid tumours, including those with breast cancer, ovarian cancer and prostate cancers, combinations of Lynparza and capivasertib.

The trial found that the drug combination was safe to use and also efficiently hit the specified targets, and showed promise against a variety of advanced cancers, including those that had become resistant to chemotherapy.

According to the ICR, many of the patients who responded to the treatment had mutations in the genes involved in repairing DNA, including the BRCA genes.

"This new clinical trial is a terrific example of how we can now translate scientific discoveries about the biology of cancer cells into innovative new cancer treatments with real benefits for patients," said Professor Paul Workman, Chief Executive of the ICR.

"It’s also an example of the pioneering strategy we have adopted at the ICR of targeting cancer evolution and drug resistance – often through the use of combination treatments to hit multiple targets at once and block off escape routes, just as is done with diseases like HIV," he added.

The trial was funded by AstraZeneca, with the backing of the Cancer Research UK Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre Combinations Alliance.

Following the promising early results, later-stage clinical trials are planned to assess the drug combination’s benefit and to study its effect in patients whose tumours do not have faults in the AKT gene or related to DNA repair.