Quest Diagnostics To Release Third Quarter 2019 Financial Results On October 22

On October 4, 2019 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information services, reported that it will report third quarter 2019 results on Tuesday, October 22, 2019, before the market opens (Press release, Quest Diagnostics, OCT 4, 2019, View Source [SID1234540061]). It will hold its quarterly conference call to discuss the results beginning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on that day.

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The conference call can be accessed by dialing 888-455-0391 within the U.S. and Canada, or 773-756-0467 internationally, using the passcode: "Investor." The earnings release and live webcast will be posted on www.QuestDiagnostics.com/investor. The company suggests participants dial in approximately 10 minutes before the call.

A replay of the call may be accessed online at www.QuestDiagnostics.com/investor or by phone at
888-566-0408 for domestic callers or 402-998-0597 for international callers; no passcode is required. Telephone replays will be available from approximately 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time on October 22, 2019 until midnight Eastern Time on November 5, 2019.

Anyone listening to the call is encouraged to read the company’s periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the discussion of risk factors and historical results of operations and financial condition in those reports.

I-Mab Biopharma Receives IND Approval in China for Proprietary CD73 Antibody TJD5

On October 4, 2019 I-Mab Biopharma ("I-Mab"), a China and U.S.-based clinical stage biopharmaceutical company exclusively focused on the discovery and development of novel or highly differentiated biologics in immuno-oncology and autoimmune diseases, reported that its IND application for TJD5, a novel CD73 antibody has been approved by the National Medical Products Administration(NMPA) to initiate clinical trials in patients with advanced solid tumours in China (Press release, I-Mab Biopharma, OCT 4, 2019, View Source [SID1234540045]).

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TJD5 is a proprietary, differentiated blocking antibody against CD73, a surface enzyme on stromal cells and cancer cells responsible for the production of adenosine, which is highly immunosuppressive. TJD5 is currently being investigated in a Phase 1 clinical trial in the U.S. to assess the tolerability and preliminary efficacy both as a single agent and in combination with TECENTRIQ (atezolizumab), a PD-L1 antibody marketed by Roche in the U.S., and Tuoyi (toripalimab), a PD-1 antibody marketed by Junshi Biosciences in China, in patients with varying types of tumours.

"We are currently conducting clinical trials with five of our novel drug candidates in China and are very pleased with the recent submission and acceptance of TJD5 by NMPA", said Jingwu Zang, MD., PhD., Founder and Chairman of I-Mab Biopharma. TJD5 is a highly differentiated and innovative potential cancer drug being developed by I-Mab and we are excited about reaching this important milestone in our efforts to bring high quality innovative treatments to improve the lives of patients."

About TJD5

TJD5 is a differentiated monoclonal antibody against a promising immuno-oncology target. It is believed to stimulate the immuno-suppressive tumour micro-environment and to work in concert with other cancer therapies such as PD-1 and PD-L1 antibodies. TJD5 is in a Phase 1 clinical trial in the US, and is a proprietary, innovative CD73 monoclonal antibody from I-Mab’s discovery pipeline with best-in-class potential

Qurient sets up joint firm with Nobel chemistry prize winner

On October 4, 2019 Qurient reported the company has established a joint venture with Professors Robert Huber, a researcher at Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie and the winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1988, and Michael Hamacher of the Lead Discovery Center (LDC) (Press release, QLi5 Therapeutics, OCT 4, 2019, View Source [SID1234654541]).

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Both Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie and LDC are based in Germany.

The joint venture will develop anticancer drugs and immunotherapy using proteasome inhibition technology, Qurient said in a press release on Friday.

Proteasome is a complex of protease involved in cancer cell growth. One of the most well-known treatments that use proteasome is Takeda’s Velcade. The drug is a blockbuster drug with 5 trillion won ($4.1 billion) in sales in 2018. Takeda acquired the drug from Millennium pharmaceuticals, a U.S. firm, for about 10 trillion won in 2008.

Qurient had been consulting with Max-Planck-Institut and LDC to secure their proteasome inhibition technology and agreed with the two German institutions to acquire the technology at the current optimizing stage. As the company has managed to set up a joint venture firm with the two institutes, it expects to accelerate research using the underlying technologies and development capabilities of the Max-Planck-Institut and LDC.

Qurient will be the major shareholder of the joint venture, while Max-Planck-Institut, LDC and Professor Huber will invest in the company as shareholders.

"The company has increased its chance of success as both the German research institutes and Professor Huber will participate in future research and development as shareholders of the joint venture," Qurient CEO Nam Ki-yean said.

Autolus Announces Data Presentation at the 2019 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Annual Meeting

On October 3, 2019 Autolus Therapeutics plc (Nasdaq: AUTL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation programmed T cell therapies, reported that pre-clinical data on AUTO6NG, the company’s next generation GD2-targeting CAR T cell therapy, will be presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) 2019 Annual Meeting (Press release, Autolus, OCT 3, 2019, View Source [SID1234550685]). The meeting will be held from November 6 to November 10, 2019, at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

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Poster Presentation

Abstract #: P146
Abstract Title: "AUTO6NG: Next generation GD2-targeting CAR T-cell therapy with improved persistence and insensitivity to TGFb and checkpoint inhibition for relapsed/refractory neuroblastoma", Achkova, D., et al.
Session Date: Saturday, November 9
Session Time: 7:00 am – 8:30 pm Eastern Time

About AUTO6NG

AUTO6NG is a next generation programmed T cell product candidate in pre-clinical development. AUTO6NG builds on preliminary proof of concept data from AUTO6, a CAR in clinical development for the treatment of neuroblastoma, which has the ability to target GD2-expressing cancers with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). AUTO6NG uses the clinically-derisked CAR of AUTO6 and incorporates additional programming modules designed to enhance the efficacy, safety and persistence of the CAR T therapy. With the enhanced properties of AUTO6NG, it may be suitable for the treatment of GD2-expressing solid tumors, including neuroblastoma, osteosarcoma, melanoma, small cell lung cancer, and soft tissue sarcoma.

AUTO6 is currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial for pediatric neuroblastoma conducted by Cancer Research UK in collaboration with University College London. Autolus has worldwide commercial rights to the GD2-targeting programmed T cell product candidate.

MEI Pharma Announces Updated Clinical Data from ME-401 Phase 1b Study in Patients with Indolent B-cell Malignancies

On October 3, 2019 MEI Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: MEIP), a late-stage pharmaceutical company focused on advancing potential new therapies for cancer, reported updated data from the ongoing Phase 1b study of investigational ME-401, a selective oral inhibitor of PI3K delta (Press release, MEI Pharma, OCT 3, 2019, View Source2019-10-03-MEI-Pharma-Announces-Updated-Clinical-Data-from-ME-401-Phase-1b-Study-in-Patients-with-Indolent-B-cell-Malignancies" target="_blank" title="View Source2019-10-03-MEI-Pharma-Announces-Updated-Clinical-Data-from-ME-401-Phase-1b-Study-in-Patients-with-Indolent-B-cell-Malignancies" rel="nofollow">View Source [SID1234540036]). These new data will be presented at MEI’s Investor and Analyst Event being held tomorrow, October 4, 2019, at 8:00 am ET.

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Highlights of the ME-401 updated data include:

Overall response rates of 78% in relapsed or refractory (r/r) follicular lymphoma (FL) and 89% in r/r chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL).
Rates of Grade 3 adverse events of special interest related to ME-401 exposure were observed in <10% of patients dosed on an intermittent schedule (IS).
Median duration of response not yet reached in patients with FL or CLL/SLL on the IS regimen. Median follow-up for FL and CLL/SLL patients is 9.2 months (range 3.4-20.7 months) and 7.4 months (range 2.6-14.7 months), respectively.
At the Investor and Analyst event MEI will also review progress across the pipeline of its four clinical-stage oncology candidates with a focus on voruciclib, a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor with potent CDK9 inhibition. Voruciclib is in a Phase 1b study in patients with r/r B-cell malignancies or Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) after failure of prior standard therapies. In addition, we plan to evaluate voruciclib in combination with venetoclax (marketed as Venclexta), a B-cell lymphoma (Bcl) 2 inhibitor, in patients with r/r AML.

"ME-401 continues to exceed expectations in the Phase 1b study; the overall response rate remains high at 81% with 73 evaluable FL and CLL/SLL patients being followed for treatment," Daniel P. Gold, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of MEI Pharma. "Currently, our primary focus is the ME-401 Phase 2 TIDAL study evaluating patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma, which may support an accelerated approval of a marketing application with FDA, as well as the continuing exploration of various combination regimens with ME-401."

Dr. Gold continued: "More broadly, MEI has a strong foundation to build value through advancing our pipeline, evaluating drug combination opportunities across the B-cell malignancy landscape, and continuing to create and explore strategic opportunities to most effectively leverage the potential of the pipeline. Each of our four clinical-stage oncology candidates is well positioned for continued clinical development."

Investor and Analyst Event Information

Date: Friday, October 4, 2019
Time: 8 am -11 am ET

The investor event will feature presentations from the following MEI Pharma executives:

Dan Gold, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, MEI Pharma.

Robert Mass, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, MEI Pharma.

Richard Ghalie, M.D., Senior Vice President, Clinical Development, MEI Pharma.
The event will also feature presentations by the following guest speakers:

Lewis C. Cantley, Ph.D., Meyer Director of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medical College, Professor of Cancer Biology in Medicine.

Nishitha M. Reddy, M.D., M.B.B.S., Associate Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Matthew J. Matasar, M.D., Medical Director, Memorial Sloan Kettering Bergen.
You can access the live webcast under the investor relations section of MEI’s website on the "Events and Presentation" page at: www.meipharma.com. A replay of the webcast will be archived for at least 30 days after the conclusion of the live event.

The full Investor and Analyst Event presentation will be available on the home page of the Investor Relations section of MEI Pharma’s website at: View Source

About MEI’s Clinical-Stage Oncology Pipeline

About ME-401
ME-401 is an oral, once-daily, selective phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) delta inhibitor in clinical development for the treatment of B-cell malignancies. MEI owns worldwide rights in all geographies except Japan, which we licensed to Kyowa Kirin Company (formerly "Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd.") in 2018.

MEI is conducting two ongoing studies evaluating ME-401. The first is a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating ME-401 as a monotherapy for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma ("FL") after failure of at least two prior systemic therapies including chemotherapy and an anti-CD20 antibody. Subject to the results, upon completion of the Phase 2 clinical trial, we are planning a submission with the FDA to support an accelerated approval of a marketing application under 21 CFR Part 314.500, Subpart H. The second is a multi-arm, open-label, Phase 1b dose escalation and expansion trial evaluating ME-401 as a monotherapy and in combination with other therapies or investigational agents in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies.

About Voruciclib
Voruciclib is an orally administered cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor differentiated by its potent in vitro inhibition of CDK9, in addition to CDK6, 4 and 1. Voruciclib is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1b dose ranging trial in patients with relapsed and/or refractory B-cell malignancies or acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after failure of prior standard therapies.

About ME-344
ME-344 is our novel and tumor selective, isoflavone-derived mitochondrial inhibitor drug candidate. It directly targets the OXPHOS complex 1, a pathway involved in ATP production in the mitochondria. ME-344 was recently studied in an investigator-initiated, multi-center, randomized clinical trial in combination with the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor bevacizumab (marketed as Avastin ) in a total of 42 patients with HER2 negative breast cancer. The data established significant biologic activity in the ME-344 treatment group as measured by Ki67 reductions (a measure of cell proliferation that is highly correlated with tumor response).

About Pracinostat
Pracinostat is an oral histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor being evaluated in a pivotal Phase 3 global registration clinical trial for the treatment of adults with newly diagnosed AML who are unfit to receive intensive chemotherapy. Pracinostat is also being evaluated in a Phase 2 trial in patients with high or very high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). In August 2016, we entered into an exclusive worldwide license, development, manufacturing and commercialization agreement with Helsinn Healthcare SA, a Swiss pharmaceutical corporation for pracinostat in AML, MDS and other potential indications.