On July 11, 2019 Physicians’ Education Resource, LLC (PER), a worldwide leading resource for continuing medical education, reported that it has released the agenda for the 37th Annual Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium: Innovative Cancer Therapy for Tomorrow (Press release, Physicians’ Education Resource, JUL 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234537487]). The conference will take place Nov. 6-8 at the New York Marriott Marquis in New York City.

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"This fall we look forward to having oncology professionals from around the world attend our three-day marquee oncology CME conference in New York City," said Phil Talamo, president of PER. "Oncology data is evolving at an unprecedented rate, and the opportunities to share clinical experience across tumors, particularly with novel targeted agents and immunotherapies, are needed for the cancer team to provide state-of-the-art treatments. This year’s meeting will focus on the cutting edge of medicine, and how new treatments are trailblazing contemporary oncology care."

Each year, the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium: Innovative Cancer Therapy for Tomorrow brings together more than 1,000 health care professionals for three days to network with the top minds in oncology. At this year’s meeting, activity co-chairs — Drs. Adam M. Brufsky, Benjamin P. Levy and William K. Oh — will be joined by 100 internationally world-renowned experts who will provide attendees with expert insights on the latest developments in cancer therapeutics, offering an unparalleled opportunity to learn how innovative approaches fit into existing treatment paradigms to optimize care and outcomes for their patients with cancer.

Additionally, the PER Educator of the Year award, which highlights the accomplishments of oncology leaders and honors their contributions and efforts to propel the field of medical oncology through innovative and collaborative education will also be presented at this year’s conference.

For more information and to view the agenda or register, click here.

On July 11, 2019, Gritstone Oncology, Inc. (the "Company") reported that entered into a First Amendment to License Agreement (the "Amendment"), dated as of July 11, 2019, with MIL 21E, LLC (the "Licensor"), amending that certain License Agreement, dated as of September 6, 2018, by and between the Company and the Licensor (the "License Agreement" and the License Agreement as amended by the Amendment, the "Amended License Agreement") (Filing, 8-K, Gritstone Oncology, JUL 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234550632]). Pursuant to the Amended License Agreement, effective as of September 1, 2019 (the "Effective Date"), the Licensor granted the Company a non-transferable, non-assignable license to use an aggregate total of 14,683 square feet of office and laboratory space located at 21 Erie Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139.

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The term of the original License Agreement commenced on September 1, 2018. The Amended License Agreement will expire on August 31, 2021, unless earlier terminated. Beginning six months after the Effective Date, the Company shall have the right to early terminate the Amended License Agreement upon six months’ prior written notice. In addition, the Licensor may terminate the Amended License Agreement for cause by giving written notice to the Company (subject to a 10 day cure period, except under certain circumstances).

On the Effective Date, the Company prepaid the monthly license fees under the Amended License Agreement through August 31, 2020, as well as certain other fees and deposits totaling $3.5 million in the aggregate, and thereafter shall pay a monthly fee of approximately $279,000. Prior to the Effective Date, the Company paid an aggregate of $1.6 million under the terms of the original License Agreement.

The foregoing descriptions of the License Agreement and the Amendment do not purport to be complete and are subject to, and qualified in their entirety by reference to, the full terms of the License Agreement and the Amendment, copies of which will be filed as an exhibit to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2019.

On July 11, 2019 Median Technologies, The Imaging Phenomics Company (Paris: ALMDT), reported preliminary and unaudited financial results for the first half of 2019 (Press release, MEDIAN Technologies, JUL 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234537488]).

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For the first half of 2019, Median Technologies’ revenues reached €4m, an increase of 19.6% compared to the first half of 2018 (€3.4m). Company revenues were entirely generated by the iCRO1 business; the iBiopsy business unit is not generating revenues at this stage, as it currently only includes Research and Development activities.

As of June 30, 2019, net new booking totaled €11m and contributed to an order backlog of €30.7m, a €7m increase compared to the backlog as of December 31, 2018. During the first half of 2019, new business growth for the iCRO was strengthened by increased business in China, along with several new Phase III contracts signed with Top 5 pharma sponsors in the US and in Europe. H1 2019 business activity validates the reorganization and strategic refocus, which was put into action in 2018. The iCRO order booking enables Median to be confident about 2019 revenues and beyond. As of June 30, 2019, the iCRO business unit is operationally at its break-even point.

As of June 30, 2019, the Company’s cash and cash equivalents are expected to be approximatively €7.9m. This amount doesn’t include the €1.5m Research Tax Credit payment, which will occur during the second semester. The burn rate was significantly reduced in H1 2019 and reached €4.8m, compared to €9.8m during the same period in 2018. In the second half of 2019, the company’s cash should be increased by the release of the first €15m tranche of the European Investment Bank (EIB) financing loan for which negotiations are now in the final stages. As a reminder, the loan will enable Median Technologies to accelerate its investment in the iBiopsy imaging phenomics platform innovation program for the coming years. The ongoing negotiations for this loan have been published on May 15th, 2019.

During the first half of the year, along with Dr. Nozha Boujemaa taking office as Median’s Chief Science and Innovation Officer, Median has continued its R&D investments in iBiopsy, the imaging phenomics platform. The iBiopsy Business Unit has been reorganized and its scientific team notably strengthened, with new talents and expertise in Artificial Intelligence and Data Sciences. These changes consolidate Median’s leadership in the field of imaging phenomics. In parallel, Median’s iCRO Business pursued development in China with a China-based structure to run projects and operations locally, leading to a significant increase of order booking in the first half of the year. Regarding the US and EU markets, first semester booking exceeded the booking forecasts for the full 2019.

"During the semester, we harvested the first results of the reorganization and strategic refocus we conducted in 2018," said Fredrik Brag, co-founder and CEO of Median Technologies. "Our current results go beyond our expectations for the semester. The iCRO Business Unit is already break-even operationally, which was initially expected by the end of 2019 only. With new recruitments in the iBiopsy team, we master the most advanced AI and data science technologies which allows us to move forward quickly and increase our technological differentiators. We expect this positive momentum to continue during the second part of the year", he added.

The Company expects to announce Half Year 2019 financial results on October 3, 2019, after market close.

The preliminary results set forth above are based on management’s initial review of the Company’s operations for the year ended December 31, 2018 and are subject to revision based upon the Company’s year-end closing procedures and upon the completion and external audit of the Company’s year-end financial statements. Actual results may differ materially from these preliminary results as a result of the completion of year-end closing procedures, final adjustments and other developments arising between now and the time that the Company’s financial results are finalized, and such changes could be material. In addition, these preliminary results are not a comprehensive statement of the Company’s financial results for the fourth quarter or full year ended December 31, 2018, should not be viewed as a substitute for full, audited financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and are not necessarily indicative of the Company’s results for any future period.

On July 11, 2019 AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV), a research-based global biopharmaceutical company, reported that it will announce its second-quarter 2019 financial results on Friday, July 26 before the market opens (Press release, AbbVie, JUL 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234537473]). AbbVie will host a live webcast of the earnings conference call at 8 a.m. Central time (9 a.m. Eastern). It will be accessible through AbbVie’s Investor Relations website investors.abbvie.com. An archived edition of the session will be available later that day.

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On July 11, 2019 Elicio Therapeutics, a next generation immuno-oncology company, engineering therapies for cancer killing immune responses, reported that studies of its Amphiphile platform in combination with CAR-T therapy (AMP-CAR-T) have shown that activation of CAR-T cells in the lymphatic system gives massive CAR-T cell expansion, and significant functional improvements including enhanced CAR-T cell infiltration of solid tumors, increased anti-tumor cytolytic potential, and improved cytokine response (Press release, Elicio Therapeutics, JUL 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234537489]). The research, conducted in the labs of Elicio co-founder, Darrell Irvine, at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will be in the July 12th issue of the journal Science, in a paper entitled "Enhanced CAR-T cell activity against solid tumors by vaccine boosting through the chimeric receptor." [1]

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Through precise targeting and delivery directly to the lymphatic system, Elicio is engineering potent Amphiphile immunotherapies including cell therapy activators, immunomodulators, and vaccines for an array of aggressive cancers. The Amphiphile approach is based on the ground-breaking work of Darrell Irvine, PhD., Professor of Biological Engineering and Materials Sciences and Howard Hughes Investigator at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company is currently utilizing the study findings in its AMP-CAR-T platform to develop therapeutic interventions that activate and amplify CAR-T therapy to combat an array of cancers including solid tumors. In addition to enhancing the magnitude and functionality of co-administered CAR-T cells, the published data further shows that the combination of CAR-T with AMP-CAR-T activators leads to the potent induction of natural immune responses thought to be critical for improving activity in solid tumors, enabling prolonged survival and durable cures where CAR-T alone has no effect. Elicio is developing the AMP-CAR-T platform for combination with CAR-T cell therapies in a variety of settings including those targeting CD19, BCMA, and several solid tumor indications.

"CAR-Ts show great promise but historically they’ve had issues with durability of response and efficacy beyond hematologic cancers, which we hypothesized could be due to the lack of a means to properly stimulate these cells in vivo," said Darrell Irvine, Elicio co-founder, senior scientific advisor, and a supporting author. "What we saw in this study is that by activating CAR-T cells through their chimeric receptor in the native micro-environment of lymph nodes, it’s possible to enhance CAR-T treatment of solid tumors across cancer types."

"We believe that Elicio’s AMP-CAR-T platform has the potential to solve many of the major obstacles CAR-T therapy is facing by activating CAR-T cells in the lymph nodes to amplify immune responses which could lead to durable cures for aggressive, liquid and solid tumors," said Julian Adams, Ph.D., board chair, Elicio. "Elicio is developing a pipeline of AMP-CAR-T activators which when administered with CAR-T cells, or other CAR-engineered immune cells, will amplify their function for patients, creating a more powerful and lasting immune response."

About the AMP-CAR-T platform
The Elicio Amphiphile platform enables precise targeting and delivery of immunogens directly to the lymphatic system, the "brain center" of the immune response, to significantly amplify and enhance the body’s own system of defenses to defeat cancer, and stop its recurrence. When combined with CAR-T therapy, AMP-CAR-T activators specifically designed to bind to the CAR receptor are presented on the cell surface of immune cells in the lymph nodes. CAR-T cells passing through the lymph nodes en route to the tumor see these AMP-CAR-T activators on the surface of specialized antigen presenting cells (APCs), which then deliver potent activating signals to T cells to coordinate their expansion, development of anti-tumor functions, and mobilization against tumors. This strategy is highly flexible for universal application with any CAR-T therapy without the need for re-engineering of the CAR-T cell design.