On March 13, 2020 Major venture capitalist firm Flagship Pioneering has brought together two of its sister biotech companies to create a new, singly focused effort (Press release, Torque Therapeutics, MAR 13, 2020, View Source,autoimmune%20disorders%20and%20infectious%20diseases [SID1234573748]).

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Torque Therapeutics and Cogen Immune Medicine now become Repertoire Immune Medicines, a combined biotech looking to tap into the curative powers of our immune system to prevent, treat and cure cancer, autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases.

Torque CEO John Cox, an ex-Biogen exec who also shepherded its spinoff Bioverativ through its $11.6 billion acquisition by Sanofi, becomes the new company’s chief.

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Torque has been working on what it calls "deep-primed adoptive cell transfer" treatments it believes can surmount the hurdles that limit the use of cell therapy in cancer. These include getting past the microenvironment around a tumor that quashes the immune system and shuts down T-cell function.

The company "deep-primes" T cells to target multiple tumor antigens and puts cytokine and immunomodulators on their surfaces to call forth an immune response in the tumor microenvironment, the company says. Its first program, TRQ-1501, primes T cells to carry IL-15, a cytokine that promotes the proliferation of natural killer cells.

This will continue under the new biotech but will combine the work of Cogen, which also tapped the power of a patient’s immune system to fight disease. Now, it’s working on technologies for its so-called DECODE discovery and DEPLOY product platforms that "allow in-depth characterization of the immune synapse and the ability to rationally design, and clinically develop, multi-clonal immune medicines."

Repertoire has three discovery technologies that are at the heart of its immune synapse deciphering platform:

MCR, cell-based reporter assays to experimentally quantify MHC-specific peptide display and de-orphan TCR clonotypes across virtually unlimited peptide-MHC libraries;
‍CIPHER, MHC multimer-based assays to detect and measure TCR clonotypes, peptide-MHC reactivity and phenotypes on a single-cell level;
CAPTAN, internally developed deep-learning computational tools to classify platform hits and leverage large data sets to predict TCR reactivity beyond what is currently possible.
It said in a statement it is currently working on clinical trials "using autologous T cells primed against cancer antigens and tethered to IL-15." Specifically, Repertoire is testing its first dose escalation safety trial with TRQ15-01, using its PRIME platform to prepare the patient’s T cells and its TETHER platform to link an IL-15 nanogel immune modulator to the T cells.

"Repertoire is pioneering a new class of therapies based on high throughput, high content interrogation of the intrinsic ability of T cells to prevent, or cure diseases," said Noubar Afeyan, Ph.D., CEO of Flagship Pioneering and co-founder and chairman of Repertoire Immune Medicines.

He added: "Our products will be designed to leverage the highly evolved, potent and clinically-validated mechanism of the natural immune synapse to provide immune security to patients. With these ambitious goals in mind, we are pleased to have a proven leader, John Cox, as CEO to realize our shared vision to dramatically improve outcomes for those in need or at risk."

On March 13, 2020 Clarity Pharmaceuticals, a radiopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of serious disease, is reported the signing of a Product Supply Agreement with the Idaho State University Idaho Accelerator Center (IAC) for the production and commercial supply of copper-67 (Cu-67) (Press release, Clarity Pharmaceuticals, MAR 13, 2020, View Source [SID1234555497]).

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Under the new agreement, IAC will supply Clarity with Cu-67 for planned clinical development, including the SARTATETM trial in children with neuroblastoma and SAR-bisPSMA trial in prostate cancer patients in the United States. IAC has been Clarity’s long-term partner, providing a reliable supply of high purity and high specific activity Cu-67 for some years. IAC’s proven experience in the production and supply of Cu-67 has already allowed Clarity to initiate and complete therapeutic studies in a range of cancer types both in the United States and in Australia.

Clarity’s Executive Chairman, Dr Alan Taylor, commented, "We are excited to bolster our relationship with IAC to further progress our pipeline of theranostic agents in the fight against cancer. IAC’s electron accelerator capability enables Clarity to eliminate the reliance on supply from the limited number of aging nuclear reactors which currently produce therapeutic radionuclides such as lutetium-177. This gives Clarity the opportunity to move swiftly through clinical trials with its three main products, SARTATETM, SAR-bisPSMA and SAR-BBN in such indications as neuroblastoma, neuroendocrine tumours, prostate cancer, breast cancer and brain cancers.

"We are pleased to have signed the Product Supply Agreement with Clarity and are looking forward to continuing our supply of this copper isotope using our increased capacity and our world leading e-linac process to produce a high purity product at very high specific activity," said Jon Stoner, director of the IAC. "Clarity’s proprietary chelator technology along with our patent protected commercially produced Cu-67 combine to showcase a future market leading medical isotope."

Dr Taylor further commented, "Clarity is a clinical stage radiopharmaceutical company that is uniquely placed to control its full supply chain within the United States. With IAC further planning on additional facilities to support the development of Cu-67 production and with Clarity having recently signed a Letter of Intent with NorthStar Medical to supply and industrialise the production of this therapeutic isotope, we are well underway towards building stable and reliable commercial-scale supply of Cu-67 for our late-phase trials and market entry of our products in a number of large cancer indications".

About Copper-67 (Cu-67)
Copper-67 (Cu-67) is a short-range, beta-emitting radioisotope which is attractive for medical purposes due to its ability to carry sufficient radiation energy to cause cell death in targeted cells while having a sufficiently short half-life to limit unwanted radioactivity in patients. Cu-67 is being investigated for therapeutic purposes across a wide range of adult and childhood cancers. Potential radiotherapeutic targets include prostate cancer, breast cancer, neuroendocrine tumours (NETs), neuroblastoma, glioma, lymphoma, ovarian cancer and bladder cancers. In order to develop safe and effective targeted therapies, a chelator, which strongly binds Cu-67 to the targeting agent, is required. Clarity Pharmaceuticals has successfully developed a highly specific and highly stable chelator for copper isotopes and is now progressing a range of radiopharmaceuticals based on its proprietary MeCOSar chelator. The IAC has developed a proprietary process for production of high purity and high specific activity Cu-67 to meet demand for clinical research and treatment.

On March 13, 2020, Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (the "Company") reported tha it has entered into an Open Market Sale Agreement (the "Agreement") with Jefferies LLC ("Jefferies") under which the Company may offer and sell, from time to time at its sole discretion, shares of its common stock, par value $0.00001 per share (the "Common Stock"), having an aggregate offering price of up to $25,000,000 through Jefferies as its sales agent (Filing, 8-K, Aclaris Therapeutics, MAR 13, 2020, View Source [SID1234555548]). The issuance and sale, if any, of Common Stock by the Company under the Agreement is subject to the effectiveness of the Company’s registration statement on Form S-3, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 13, 2020. The Company makes no assurances as to if or whether the registration statement will become effective or, if it does become effective, as to the continued effectiveness of the registration statement.

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Jefferies may sell the Common Stock by any method permitted by law deemed to be an "at the market offering" as defined in Rule 415 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Jefferies will use commercially reasonable efforts to sell the Common Stock from time to time, based upon instructions from the Company (including any price, time or size limits or other customary parameters or conditions the Company may impose). The Company will pay Jefferies a commission equal to three percent (3.0%) of the gross sales proceeds of any Common Stock sold through Jefferies under the Agreement. The Company has provided customary representations, warranties and covenants and the parties have agreed to customary indemnification rights.

The Company is not obligated to make any sales of Common Stock under the Agreement. The offering of shares of Common Stock pursuant to the Agreement will terminate upon the earlier of (i) the sale of all Common Stock subject to the Agreement or (ii) termination of the Agreement in accordance with its terms.

The foregoing description of the Agreement is not complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Agreement, a copy of which is filed herewith as Exhibit 10.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

This Current Report on Form 8-K shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities discussed herein, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation, or sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.

On March 13, 2020 Moleculin Biotech Presented the Corporate Presentation (Presentation, Moleculin, MAR 13, 2020, View Source [SID1234555607]).

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On March 13, 2020 X4 Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Delaware corporation ("X4") and its qualified subsidiaries, including without limitation X4 Therapeutics, Inc. (together with X4, the "Borrower") entered into a First Amendment to the Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement dated June 27, 2019 (collectively the "Amended Loan Agreement") with Hercules Capital, Inc., and Hercules Capital Funding Trust 2019-1 (collectively the "Lender" or "Hercules"), which provides for aggregate maximum borrowings of up to $50.0 million (Filing, 8-K, X4 Pharmaceuticals, MAR 13, 2020, View Source [SID1234555647]).

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The Amended Loan Agreement consists of (i) a term loan of $25.0 million (including the $20.0 million previously outstanding under the Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement dated June 27, 2019) and an additional $5.0 million drawn at the closing of the first amendment on March 13, 2020 (the "Closing Date") (the "Tranche 1 Term Loan Advance"), (ii) subject to the achievement of certain performance milestones and other conditions, a right of the Borrower to request that the Lender make additional term loan advances in an aggregate amount of up to $7.5 million through June 30, 2021 the ("Tranche 2 Term Loan Advance"), (iii) subject to the achievement of certain performance milestones and conditions, a right of the Borrower to request that the Lender make additional term loan advances in an aggregate amount of up to $7.5 million through June 30, 2022 ( "Tranche 3 Term Loan Advance") and (iv) subject to the Lender’s investment committee’s sole discretion, a right of the Borrower to request that the Lender make additional term loan advances in an aggregate amount of up to $10.0 million through December 31, 2022 ("Tranche 4 Term Loan Advance").

Borrowings under the Amended Loan Agreement bear interest at a variable rate equal to a per annum rate of interest equal to the greater of either (i) 3.75% plus the prime rate as reported in The Wall Street Journal, and (ii) 8.75%. In an event of default, as defined in the Amended Loan Agreement, and until such event is no longer continuing, the interest rate applicable to borrowings under the Amended Loan Agreement would be increased by 4.0%.

Borrowings under the Amended Loan Agreement are repayable in monthly interest-only payments through January 1, 2022, and in equal monthly payments of principal and accrued interest from February 1, 2022 until the maturity date of the loan, which is July 1, 2023. X4 may prepay all, but not less than all, of the outstanding borrowings, subject to a prepayment premium of up to 2.0%, 1.0% or 0.5% of the principal amount outstanding as of the date of repayment, in each case depending on when such repayment is made. In addition, the Amended Loan Agreement provides for payments by the Borrower to Hercules of (i) $795,000 payable upon the earlier of November 1, 2021 or the repayment in full of all obligations under the Amended Loan Agreement, and (ii) 4.0% of the aggregate principal amount of all Term Loan Advances drawn under the Amended Loan Agreement (which payment amount would be $2.0 million if X4 borrowed the aggregate maximum principal amount of $50.0 million), payable upon the earlier of the maturity of the Amended Loan Agreement or the repayment in full of all obligations under the Amended Loan Agreement.

Borrowings under the Amended Loan Agreement are collateralized by substantially all of the Borrower’s personal property and other assets except for their intellectual property (but including rights to payment and proceeds from the sale, licensing or disposition of the intellectual property). Under the Amended Loan Agreement, the Borrower has agreed to affirmative and negative covenants to which the Borrower will remain subject until maturity or repayment of the loan in full. The covenants include, without limitation:

(a) Effective immediately upon the date the outstanding principal amount of the advances under the Amended Loan Agreement exceeds $25.0 million, Borrower at all times thereafter shall maintain cash in an account or accounts of Borrower in which Hercules has a first priority security interest, in an aggregate amount greater than or equal to the greater of (i) $30.0 million or (ii) 6 multiplied by a metric based on prior months’ cash expenditures ("RML"); provided, however, that from and after Borrower’s achievement of certain performance milestones, the required level shall be reduced to the greater of (x) $20.0 million, or (y) 3 multiplied by the current RML; and provided further, that subject to the achievement of certain milestones, this covenant shall be extinguished.

(b) Restrictions on the Borrowers’ ability to incur additional indebtedness, pay dividends, encumber its intellectual property, or engage in certain fundamental business transactions, such as mergers or acquisitions of other businesses, with certain exceptions.

The Borrower’s obligations under the Amended Loan Agreement are subject to acceleration upon occurrence of specified events of default, including payment default, insolvency and a material adverse change in the Borrower’s business, operations or financial or other condition.

In addition, under the Amended Loan Agreement, Hercules has the right to participate, in a cumulative amount of up to $3.0 million in the aggregate, of which $1.0 million has already been exercised as of the Closing Date, and subject to exceptions as provided in the Amended Loan Agreement, in any future offering of X4’s equity securities for cash that is solely for financing purposes and is broadly marketed to multiple investors.

The foregoing description of the Amended Loan Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Amended Loan Agreement, which is attached hereto as Exhibit 10.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.