On February 5, 2020 Oncocyte Corporation (NYSE American: OCX), a molecular diagnostics company with a mission to provide actionable answers at critical decision points across the cancer care continuum, reported that it has closed its previously announced merger agreement with Insight Genetics (IG) (Press release, Oncocyte, FEB 5, 2020, View Source [SID1234553890]). The acquisition expands the decision points addressed by Oncocyte’s portfolio of tests with the addition of a potentially transformative immuno-oncology diagnostic test and will also add diverse technology and pharma service offerings including targeted therapeutic panels and a pharma trial lab compliant with 21 C.F.R Parts 820 and 11.

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"The Insight Genetics’ IM Score test was an ideal addition to the Oncocyte portfolio, and while our current focus is on lung cancer, this acquisition significantly expands our suite of proprietary tests to manage key decision points potentially across multiple stages and types of cancers," said Ron Andrews, CEO of Oncocyte. "With immunotherapies currently approved for thirteen solid tumors and additional clinical trials in progress to advance these treatments to earlier stages of cancer, there is a growing need for accurate immunotherapy response prediction tests. Data presented at SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) in November show our new IM Score test outperforms two currently marketed tests for immunotherapy selection suggesting this may be a transformative test to identify immunotherapy responders. This acquisition is an important step in the evolution of Oncocyte as it not only expands our impact to a broader patient population but also provides us access to a CLIA certified lab with the certifications required to submit data to regulatory agencies around the world. Having the ability to truly partner with pharma companies and assist in their global regulatory approvals will help us grow significant new opportunities for pharma services in the expanding immunotherapy and companion diagnostic markets. We are proud of our exceptional progress and look forward to continued growth as we establish Oncocyte as leaders in lung cancer diagnostics and beyond."

At closing, Oncocyte delivered $6.4 million in cash, which was net of a $0.6 million cash holdback, plus 1.9 million shares of Oncocyte common stock valued at $5 million.

This general description is qualified in its entirety by the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Merger that will be filed as an exhibit to Oncocyte’s Form 8-K on or about February 5, 2020.

On February 5, 2020 Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq:ZIOP) reported that it intends to offer and sell shares of its common stock in an underwritten registered public offering (Press release, Ziopharm, FEB 5, 2020, View Source [SID1234553872]). All of the shares in the offering are to be sold by Ziopharm. Ziopharm also intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional fifteen percent (15%) of the number of shares of common stock offered in the public offering at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. The offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the offering.

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Jefferies is acting as sole book-running manager for this offering and Cantor is acting as lead manager for this offering.

The securities are being offered pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR, which became automatically effective upon filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 21, 2019. The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus that form a part of the registration statement. A preliminary prospectus supplement relating to the offering will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

When available, copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to these securities may be obtained for free from Jefferies LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department, 520 Madison Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10022, or by telephone at +1 877 821 7388 or by email at [email protected]; or Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Attention: Capital Markets, 499 Park Avenue, 6th Floor, New York, New York 10022, or by email at [email protected].

On February 5, 2020 Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. (Nasdaq: PHIO), a biotechnology company developing the next generation of immuno-oncology therapeutics based on its proprietary self-delivering RNAi (INTASYL) therapeutic platform, reported that it has entered into definitive agreements with several institutional and accredited investors for the purchase and sale of 197,056 shares of the Company’s common stock, at a purchase price of $8.83 per share, in a registered direct offering priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules, for gross proceeds of approximately $1.74 million (Press release, Phio Pharmaceuticals, FEB 5, 2020, View Source [SID1234553891]). The Company has also agreed to issue to the investors unregistered warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 197,056 shares of common stock. The closing of the offering is expected to occur on or about February 6, 2020, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

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H.C. Wainwright & Co. is acting as the exclusive placement agent for the offering.

The warrants have an exercise price of $8.71 per share of common stock, will be exercisable immediately upon issuance and will expire five and one-half years following the date of issuance.

Phio intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to fund the development of its immuno-oncology programs, other research and development activities and for general working capital needs.

The shares of common stock (but not the warrants or the shares of common stock underlying the warrants) are being offered by the Company pursuant to a "shelf" registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-224031) previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March 29, 2018 and declared effective by the SEC on April 6, 2018. A prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to the shares of common stock being offered will be filed with the SEC. Electronic copies of the prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus may be obtained, when available, on the SEC’s website at View Source or by contacting H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC at 430 Park Avenue, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10022, by phone at (646) 975-6996 or e-mail at [email protected].

The warrants described above were offered in a private placement under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Act"), and Regulation D promulgated thereunder and, along with the shares of common stock underlying the warrants, have not been registered under the Act, or applicable state securities laws. Accordingly, the warrants and underlying shares of common stock may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Act and such applicable state securities laws.

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

On February 5, 2020 Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARWR) reported financial results for its fiscal first quarter ended December 31, 2019 (Press release, Arrowhead Research Corporation, FEB 5, 2020, View Source [SID1234553874]). The company is hosting a conference call at 4:30 p.m. EST to discuss results.

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Conference Call and Webcast Details

Investors may access a live audio webcast on the Company’s website at View Source For analysts that wish to participate in the conference call, please dial 855-215-6159 or 315-625-6887 and provide Conference ID 6694317.

A replay of the webcast will be available on the company’s website approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call and will remain available for 90 days. An audio replay will also be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call and will be available for 3 days. To access the audio replay, dial 855-859-2056 or 404-537-3406 and provide Conference ID 6694317.

Selected Recent Events

Began dosing patients and completed enrollment of the first sequential cohort in the AROAAT2002 study, a pilot open-label, multi-dose, Phase 2 study to assess changes in a novel histological activity scale in response to ARO-AAT over time in patients with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency associated liver disease

Reported interim multiple-dose results on two cardiometabolic candidates ARO-APOC3, being developed as a potential treatment for patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia, and ARO-ANG3, being developed for the treatment of dyslipidemias and metabolic

diseases, showing high levels of reduction in APOC3, ANGPTL3, triglycerides, and other lipid parameters

Presented single-dose clinical data on ARO-APOC3 and ARO-ANG3 in two late-breaking oral presentations at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2019

Completed regulatory submissions to begin Phase 1 studies of ARO-HSD for the treatment of alcohol and nonalcohol related liver disease, and ARO-HIF2 for the treatment of clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Both programs are on schedule to potentially begin dosing patients this quarter or early in the second quarter

Expanded Arrowhead’s senior management team with the hiring of seasoned biotech and pharma leaders Dr. Javier San Martin as chief medical officer, Dr. Curt Bradshaw as chief scientific officer, and Jim Hassard as chief commercial officer

Appointed Dr. Marianne De Backer as a new independent director; Marianne is currently Executive Vice President, Head of Global Business Development & Licensing, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Pharmaceuticals Division of Bayer AG

Hosted an analyst R&D day to discuss Arrowhead’s product development strategy, clinical candidates, and some exciting advancements being made to the TRiMTM platform, which can now reach multiple cell types and be used in a dimer structure that delivers multiple siRNA sequences together to achieve high levels of knockdown of two different genes simultaneously

Presented preclinical data at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference on ARO-ENaC, Arrowhead’s first TRiMTM-enabled inhaled, pulmonary candidate for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, which is on schedule for a CTA filing in the first half of 2020

Improved the balance sheet and extended Arrowhead’s cash runway with a financing with gross proceeds of approximately $267 million

On February 5, 2020 Trovagene, Inc. (Nasdaq: TROV), a clinical-stage, oncology therapeutics company developing onvansertib for the treatment of various cancers including prostate, colorectal, and leukemia, reported that a poster featuring efficacy data from its Phase 2 study in metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), will be presented on Thursday, February 13th, 2020 at the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) 2020 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco (Press release, Trovagene, FEB 5, 2020, View Source [SID1234553892]).

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The poster presentation will be available for download from the Scientific Presentations page on the Trovagene website at View Source
Details of the Poster Presentation are as follows:

Title: A Phase 2 Study of Onvansertib in Combination with Abiraterone and Prednisone in Patients with Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC)
Session: Trials in Progress Poster Session A: Prostate Cancer
Abstract: TPS266
Poster: P10
Date/Time and Location: Thursday, February 13th, 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM and 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM; Moscone West Building

About the Phase 2 Trial of Onvansertib in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
The trial is a Phase 2 open-label study of onvansertib in combination with Zytiga (abiraterone acetate)/prednisone, all administered orally, in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), showing signs of disease progression demonstrated by two rising PSA values separated by at least one week, while on Zytiga. The primary efficacy endpoint is the proportion of patients achieving disease control after 12 weeks of study treatment, as defined by lack of prostate specific antigen (PSA) progression in patients who are showing signs of early progressive disease (rise in PSA but minimally symptomatic or asymptomatic) while currently receiving abiraterone acetate and prednisone. The trial is being conducted by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Dana-Farber), and Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center (MGH). David Einstein, MD, Genitourinary Oncology Program at BIDMC, is the principal investigator for the trial.

About Onvansertib
Onvansertib is a first-in-class, third-generation, oral and highly-selective adenosine triphosphate (ATP) competitive inhibitor of the serine/threonine polo-like-kinase 1 (PLK1) enzyme, which is over-expressed in multiple cancers including leukemias, lymphomas and solid tumors. Onvansertib targets the PLK1 isoform only (not PLK2 or PLK3), is orally administered and has a 24-hour half-life with only mild-to-moderate side effects reported. Trovagene believes that targeting only PLK1 and having a favorable safety and tolerability profile, along with an

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improved dose/scheduling regimen will significantly improve on the outcome observed in previous studies with a former panPLK inhibitor in AML.
Onvansertib has demonstrated synergy in preclinical studies with numerous chemotherapies and targeted therapeutics used to treat leukemias, lymphomas and solid tumor cancers, including irinotecan, FLT3 and HDAC inhibitors, taxanes and cytotoxins. Trovagene believes the combination of onvansertib with other compounds has the potential to improve clinical efficacy in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), colorectal cancer and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), as well as other types of cancer.
Trovagene has three ongoing clinical trials of onvansertib: A Phase 2 trial of onvansertib in combination with Zytiga (abiraterone acetate)/prednisone in patients with mCRPC who are showing signs of early progressive disease (rise in PSA but minimally symptomatic or asymptomatic) while currently receiving Zytiga (NCT03414034); a Phase 1b/2 Study of onvansertib in combination with FOLFIRI and Avastin for second-line treatment in patients with mCRC with a KRAS mutation (NCT03829410) and a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial of onvansertib in combination with low-dose cytarabine or decitabine in patients with relapsed or refractory AML (NCT03303339). Onvansertib has been granted orphan drug designation by the FDA in the U.S. and by the EC in the European Union for the treatment of patients with AML.
Trovagene licensed onvansertib (also known as NMS-1286937 and PCM-075) from Nerviano Medical Sciences (NMS), the largest oncology-focused research and development company in Italy, and a leader in protein kinase drug development. NMS has an excellent track record of licensing innovative drugs to pharma/biotech companies, including Array (recently acquired by Pfizer), Ignyta (acquired by Roche) and Genentech.