On January 13, 2020 Gamida Cell Ltd. (Nasdaq: GMDA), an advanced cell therapy company committed to finding cures for blood cancers and serious blood diseases, reported its expected milestones for 2020-2021, which highlight the company’s progress advancing its clinical development candidates: omidubicel, an advanced cell therapy in Phase 3 clinical development as a potential life-saving treatment option for patients in need of bone marrow transplant, and GDA-201, an investigational, natural killer (NK) cell-based cancer immunotherapy in Phase 1 development in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and multiple myeloma (Press release, Gamida Cell, JAN 13, 2020, View Source [SID1234553108]).

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"This is an incredibly important year for Gamida Cell. With patient enrollment completed, we are expecting topline data from the Phase 3 study of omidubicel in the first half of this year. Omidubicel is the first bone marrow transplant product to receive Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has the potential to be the first FDA-approved bone marrow transplant graft. Positive data from our study would represent an important step toward bringing potentially curative medicines to patients," stated Julian Adams, Ph.D., chief executive officer at Gamida Cell. "We are also very excited by the progress of GDA-201, an investigational therapy in a class that we believe has the potential to be the next generation of cell therapies to dramatically improve the treatment of blood cancers. GDA-201 has shown promise for the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, including an aggressive form of lymphoma called diffuse large B cell lymphoma, and we anticipate announcing additional data in the first half of 2020."

Today Gamida Cell also announced the appointment of Jas Uppal, Ph.D. to the newly created role of chief regulatory and quality officer. Dr. Uppal brings more than 25 years of global experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including expertise in hematology, immunology and neurology. During her career, she has played key roles in building regulatory organizations and leading multiple successful product launches.

"We are delighted to welcome Jas to Gamida Cell. Her strategic, global experience in building teams and securing multiple product approvals for novel biologics will be invaluable as we move omidubicel and GDA-201 through critical regulatory milestones," stated Dr. Adams.

Dr. Uppal most recently served as vice president, global head of regulatory affairs of oncology, endocrinology and rare diseases at Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, where she held worldwide responsibility for Ipsen’s oncology, endocrinology and rare diseases portfolio. In this role, she led all areas of product development and managed a team of regulatory professionals. Prior to Ipsen, she served as vice president, global head of regulatory affairs at Karyopharm Therapeutics, where she was responsible for developing a global regulatory strategy and approach for multiple Phase 2 and Phase 3 programs that were being developed to treat hematological malignancies and solid tumors. Earlier in her career, Dr. Uppal held several regulatory-related positions over the course of 12 years at Biogen Idec (now Biogen) that culminated in her role as director of global emerging markets and head of development sciences. Dr. Uppal has participated in over 30 new drug approvals worldwide and has more than 30 publications in peer reviewed journals. She holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Kings College, University of London.

Expected 2020-2021 Milestones

Gamida Cell targets achieving the following milestones during 2020-2021:

Omidubicel

Report topline data from the Phase 3 study in the first half of 2020
Present data from the Phase 3 study at a medical meeting in the second half of 2020
Submit the biologics license application to the FDA in the second half of 2020, assuming positive data
Report additional data from the Phase 1/2 study in patients with severe aplastic anemia in the second half of 2020
Launch omidubicel in 2021, contingent upon FDA approval
GDA-201

Present additional data from the Phase 1 study in the first half of 2020
Submit company-sponsored investigational new drug application to FDA in the second half of 2020
Initiate a Phase 1/2 clinical study in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2021
2020 Financial Outlook

Gamida Cell ended 2019 with cash, cash equivalents and available-for-sale securities of approximately $56 million (unaudited). The company expects that its current cash, cash equivalents and available-for-sale securities will support the company’s ongoing operating activities into the fourth quarter of 2020. This cash runway guidance is based on the company’s current operational plans and excludes any additional funding that may be received or business development activities that may be undertaken.

About Omidubicel

Omidubicel, the company’s lead clinical program, is an advanced cell therapy under development as a potential life-saving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell (bone marrow) transplant solution for patients with hematologic malignancies (blood cancers). Omidubicel is the first bone marrow transplant product to receive Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and has also received Orphan Drug Designation in the U.S. and EU. In a Phase 1/2 clinical study, omidubicel demonstrated rapid and durable time to engraftment and was generally well-tolerated.1 A Phase 3 study evaluating omidubicel in patients with leukemia and lymphoma is ongoing in the U.S., Europe and Asia.2 Omidubicel is also being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical study in patients with severe aplastic anemia.3 The aplastic anemia investigational new drug application is currently filed with the FDA under the brand name CordIn, which is the same investigational development candidate as omidubicel. For more information on clinical trials of omidubicel, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov.

About GDA-201

Gamida Cell applied the capabilities of its NAM-based cell expansion technology to develop GDA-201 (formerly known as NAM-NK), an innate natural killer (NK) cell immunotherapy for the treatment of hematologic and solid tumors in combination with standard of care antibody therapies. GDA-201 addresses key limitations of NK cells by increasing the cytotoxicity and in vivo retention and proliferation in the bone marrow and lymphoid organs of NK cells expanded in culture. GDA-201 is in Phase 1 development through an investigator-sponsored study in patients with refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma.4

Omidubicel and GDA-201 are investigational therapies, and their safety and efficacy have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or any other health authority.

On January 13, 2020 VolitionRx Limited (NYSE AMERICAN: VNRX) ("Volition") reported an update on its Nu Q Clinical Assays which use a magnetic particle-based assay format (Press release, VolitionRX, JAN 13, 2020, View Source [SID1234553125]). Volition has completely re-engineered its Nu.Q assays leading to a step-change improvement in analytical performance. Volition expects this enhanced analytical performance to translate into improved clinical performance in the studies to be carried out and reported in the coming months.

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Relative to Volition’s ELISA plate Nu.Q assay format, the magnetic particle-based assay format demonstrates:

A 10-20-fold improvement in analytical sensitivity of the assays.
Typical within-day reproducibility of quantitative test results below 3% (previously <10%).
Decrease in test result turnaround time from 6 hours to approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes, allowing much higher throughput.
The ability to be developed and processed on fully-automated Random-Access platforms (allowing the use of a wide range of commercial automated platforms).
Commenting on the assay transfer program Dr. Gaetan Michel, Chief Executive Officer of Belgian Volition said, "I am incredibly proud of the effort the whole team has made in the assay development program over the last two years and in particular, I would like to thank Mhammed Bougoussa, our recently appointed Assay Validation Expert for his significant contribution to the project. We now plan to finalize blood plasma sample pre-analytics with these assays and are excited to utilize these automated magnetic chemiluminescent assays in our clinical studies and aim to start reporting data during this quarter, and throughout 2020."

Volition has continued to create assets by:

Developing recombinant nucleosomes as calibrants which provide for assay specificity and reliable quantitation. Volition developed synthetic nucleosomes with its partners but has now brought this expertise in-house with the recent acquisition of Octamer, Gmbh announced January 10.
Internalizing key processes such as chemiluminescent antibody labeling and coating of magnetic beads. This secures our supply chain and provides flexibility to speed up our assay development work.
Moving from a microtiter plate format to a magnetic particle-based assay format. This improves assay kinetics and hence assay sensitivity and reduces assay time and increases assay throughput.
Moving from a traditional colorimetric endpoint format to a chemiluminescent endpoint. This further reduces background, leading to further improvements in assay sensitivity as well as greatly extending the usable range of the assays. Moreover, the combination of a chemiluminescent endpoint with a magnetic particle-based assay format greatly improved the specificity of Nu.Q assays.
Moving all these improvements onto an FDA-approved automated immunoassay analyzer which is currently in clinical use across USA and Europe. This further decreases assay processing time and greatly increases the reproducibility and reliability of assay results so that the same correct result is produced for any patient sample regardless of where or when the test is done or who operates the instrument.
Moving from blood serum to blood plasma as the test sample which reduces assay interference.

On January 13, 2020 Allogene Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALLO), a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T cell (AlloCAR T) therapies for cancer and SpringWorks Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SWTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing life-changing medicines for patients with severe rare diseases and cancer, reported that they have entered into a clinical trial collaboration agreement (Press release, SpringWorks Therapeutics, JAN 13, 2020, View Source [SID1234553148]). This agreement will evaluate ALLO-715, Allogene’s investigational anti-B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) AlloCAR T therapy in combination with SpringWorks’ investigational gamma secretase inhibitor (GSI), nirogacestat, in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

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Gamma secretase inhibition prevents the cleavage and shedding of BCMA from the surface of myeloma cells. In preclinical models, nirogacestat has been shown to increase the cell surface density of BCMA and reduce levels of soluble BCMA, thereby enhancing the activity of BCMA-targeted therapies.1 In addition, emerging clinical data suggest that a GSI may increase antitumor efficacy of BCMA-targeted autologous CAR T therapy in patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.23

"Autologous CAR T therapy has shown the potential for engineered cell therapy to treat multiple myeloma and provide significant benefits to patients. We believe allogeneic CAR T therapy is the next frontier in genetically engineered cell therapy for the treatment of cancer," said David Chang, M.D., Ph.D., President, CEO and Co-Founder of Allogene Therapeutics. "The search to find long-lasting and potentially curative therapies for patients with multiple myeloma continues to evolve. We are pleased with the progress of our ALLO-715 Phase 1 UNIVERSAL trial and are excited to explore the combination of ALLO-715 with nirogacestat as a means to further unlock the potential of allogeneic CAR T therapy in this disease."

Under the terms of the agreement, Allogene will sponsor and conduct the Phase 1 study to evaluate the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of the combination, and will assume all development costs associated with the study. Allogene and SpringWorks will form a joint development committee to oversee the clinical study, which is expected to commence in the second half of 2020 pending discussions with regulators.

"Gamma secretase inhibition has emerged as a clinically validated mechanism to potentiate BCMA therapies and we believe that nirogacestat has the potential to become a cornerstone of BCMA combination therapy for patients with multiple myeloma," said Saqib Islam, Chief Executive Officer of SpringWorks Therapeutics. "We are delighted to partner with Allogene, a pioneer in the allogenic cell therapy field, to further explore nirogacestat in combination with an ‘off-the-shelf’ CAR T therapy for these patients where the need for treatment options remains great."

SpringWorks is currently enrolling patients in a global Phase 3, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial (the DeFi Trial) to evaluate nirogacestat in adults with progressing desmoid tumors.

About ALLO-715
ALLO-715, an AlloCAR T therapy targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA), is currently in Phase 1 development as a potential novel treatment for multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma is characterized by abnormalities in plasma cells that reproduce uncontrollably in the bone marrow of people with the disease,4 multiple myeloma is incurable for most patients, and most patients relapse despite the treatments available.5 Preclinical study results for ALLO-715 were published in the journal Molecular Therapy validating the potential for an AlloCAR T to treat multiple myeloma and demonstrating the ability for ALLO-715 to sustain potent anti-tumor responses in pre-clinical models. Allogene initiated the UNIVERSAL study in the third quarter of 2019.

ALLO-715 utilizes TALEN gene-editing technology pioneered and owned by Cellectis. Allogene has an exclusive license to the Cellectis technology for allogeneic products directed at the BCMA target. Allogene holds global development and commercial rights for this investigational candidate.

About Nirogacestat
Nirogacestat is an investigational, oral, selective, small molecule gamma-secretase inhibitor in Phase 3 clinical development for desmoid tumors, which are rare and often debilitating and disfiguring soft-tissue tumors. Gamma secretase cleaves multiple transmembrane protein complexes, including Notch, which is believed to play a role in activating pathways that contribute to desmoid tumor growth.

In addition, gamma secretase has been shown to directly cleave membrane-bound BCMA, resulting in the release of the BCMA extracellular domain, or ECD, from the cell surface. By inhibiting gamma secretase, membrane-bound BCMA can be preserved, increasing target density while reducing levels of soluble BCMA ECD, which may serve as decoy receptors for BCMA-directed therapies. Nirogacestat’s ability to enhance the activity of BCMA-directed therapies has been observed in preclinical models of multiple myeloma. SpringWorks is pursuing a combination therapy approach to evaluate nirogacestat as a BCMA potentiator across modalities by collaborating with industry leaders. To date, SpringWorks has entered into two clinical collaborations to evaluate nirogacestat in combination with GlaxoSmithKline’s BCMA antibody-drug conjugate belantamab mafodotin and with Allogene’s allogeneic BCMA CAR-T cell therapy ALLO-715.

Nirogacestat has received Orphan Drug Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of desmoid tumors (June 2018) and from the European Commission for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma (September 2019). The FDA also granted Fast Track and Breakthrough Therapy Designations for the treatment of adult patients with progressive, unresectable, recurrent or refractory desmoid tumors or deep fibromatosis (November 2018 and August 2019).

On January 12, 2020 Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: IOVA), an advanced phase biotechnology company developing new T-cell based cancer immunotherapies, and Cellectis (Paris: ALCLS) (NASDAQ: CLLS) (Euronext Growth: ALCLS – NASDAQ: CLLS), a clinical phase biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of immunotherapies based on genetically modified allogeneic CAR-T cells (UCART), reported that they have the signing of a research partnership and an exclusive global license agreement granting at Iovance a license for certain applications of Cellectis TALEN technology to develop tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) which have been genetically modified to create more powerful cancer therapies (Press release, Iovance Biotherapeutics, JAN 12, 2020, View Source [SID1234553033]).

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This global license grants Iovance Biotherapeutics the exclusive use of TALEN technology targeting several genes to modify TILs for therapeutic purposes in various types of cancer. The financial conditions of this license provide for payments from Iovance Biotherapeutics to Cellectis at the development, regulatory and sales stages, as well as royalties on the net sales of TIL products modified using TALEN technology.

"We are delighted to collaborate with Cellectis to apply the TALEN genome editing technology to Iovance’s TIL products. We believe that we can genetically modify the TILs to obtain an anti-cancer product that is more reactive to tumors, "explains Maria Fardis, President and CEO of Iovance Biotherapeutics. "We plan to bring a modified TIL therapy using TALEN technology to the clinic as soon as possible. "

"We are delighted to work with Iovance and are convinced that the application of our TALEN technology to its TIL-based products will generate better treatments for various types of cancer," added André Choulika, President and CEO of Cellectis. "Patients remain the primary concern of our company and we sincerely hope that this collaboration will find more effective solutions for those who need them." "

On January 12, 2020 Innovent Biologics, Inc. ("Innovent") (HKEX: 01801), a world-class biopharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes high quality medicines for the treatment of oncology, autoimmune, metabolic and other major diseases, reported with Eli Lilly and Company ("Lilly",NYSE: LLY) the results of a Phase 3 study in China; the ORIENT-11 trial of Tyvyt (sintilimab injection) in combination with ALIMTA (pemetrexed) and platinum in first-line advanced or recurrent nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (nsqNSCLC), without sensitive EGFR mutation or ALK rearrangement, met the predefined primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS) in an interim analysis (Press release, Innovent Biologics, JAN 12, 2020, View Source [SID1234553035]).

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Based on the interim analysis conducted by the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC), sintilimab in combination with ALIMTA and platinum demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in PFS compared with placebo in combination with ALIMTA and platinum, which met the pre-defined efficacy criteria. The safety profile of sintilimab in this trial was consistent with previously reported studies, and no new safety signals were identified.

Relevant data will be presented at an upcoming medical conference. Based on the IDMC recommendations, Innovent and Lilly will initiate regulatory discussions for registration with the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in China in the near future.

Professor Li Zhang, Head of Department of Internal Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, stated: "In 2019, the National Cancer Center published Chinese data on lung cancer from 2015, showing an incidence of 20 percent and a mortality rate of about 27 percent, ranking it first among all cancer types. Patients who have nsqNSCLC without sensitive EGFR mutation or ALK rearrangement need more treatment options. Treatment with an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody in combination with chemotherapy may bring a greater survival benefit to this patient population. We are glad to see that these findings from this trial of sintilimab met the predefined primary endpoint in the interim analysis."

"So far, Tyvyt is the only anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody included in the New Catalogue of the National Reimbursement Drug List. It was officially approved by the NMPA on December 24, 2018 for the treatment of relapsed or refractory classic Hodgkin’s lymphoma after at least second-line system chemotherapy," said Dr. Hui Zhou, Vice President and Head of Oncology Strategy and Medical Sciences of Innovent. "Currently, we have several phase 3 randomized clinical trials ongoing in lung cancer. With the encouraging result of ORIENT-11 we anticipate that sintilimab has the potential to benefit more patients with lung cancer and provide more time with their families."

"We are excited about these results, which show Tyvyt plus ALIMTA and platinum significantly delayed disease progression in this patient population. This study is another example of the joint commitment from Lilly and Innovent to provide new treatment options to patients with lung cancer," said Dr. Wang Li, Senior Vice-President of Lilly China and Head of Lilly China Drug Development and Medical Affairs. "We would like to thank the patients, investigators and clinical trial sites that are participating in the study, and to our colleagues from Innovent. We look forward to bringing this new treatment option to Chinese lung cancer patients."

About ORIENT-11 Trial

ORIENT-11 is a randomized, double-blind, Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Tyvyt (sintilimab injection) or placebo in combination with ALIMTA and platinum as first-line therapy for advanced or recurrent nsqNSCLC without sensitive EGFR mutation or ALK rearrangement (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03607539). The primary endpoint is progression-free survival (PFS) assessed by Independent Radiographic Review Committee (IRRC) based on RECIST v1.1. The other secondary endpoints include overall survival (OS) and safety profile.

A total of 397 subjects have been enrolled in ORIENT-11 trial and randomized in a 2:1 ratio to receive either sintilimab 200mg or placebo in combination with ALIMTA and platinum every 3 weeks for up to 4 cycles, followed by either sintilimab or placebo plus ALIMTA maintenance therapy. The subjects will receive treatment until radiographic disease progression, unacceptable toxicity or any other conditions that require treatment discontinuation. Conditional crossover is permitted.

About nsqNSCLC

Lung cancer is a malignancy with the highest morbidity and mortality in China. NSCLC accounts for about 80 percent to 85 percent of lung cancer. Approximately 70 percent of NSCLC are locally advanced or metastatic at initial diagnosis, rendering the patients with no chance of radical resection. Meanwhile, even after radical surgery patients still have a high chance of recurrence and eventually die from disease progression. About 70 percent of NSCLC in China are nonsquamous subtype and 50 percent of nsqNSCLC are without sensitive EGFR mutation or ALK rearrangement. These patients do not respond well to targeted therapy and there are limited treatment options available to them.

About Tyvyt (Sintilimab Injection)

Tyvyt (sintilimab injection), an innovative drug jointly developed in China by Innovent and Lilly, has been granted marketing approval by the NMPA for relapsed or refractory classic Hodgkin’s lymphoma after at least second-line system chemotherapy, and included in the 2019 Guidelines of Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) for Lymphoid Malignancies. Tyvyt is the only PD-1 inhibitor with global quality that has been included in the new Catalogue of the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL) in November 2019.

Tyvyt (sintilimab injection) is a type of immunoglobulin G4 monoclonal antibody, which binds to PD-1 molecules on the surface of T-cells, blocks the PD-1/ PD-Ligand 1 (PD-L1) pathway and reactivates T-cells to kill cancer cells. Innovent is currently conducting more than 20 clinical studies for sintilimab injection to evaluate its safety and efficacy in a wide variety of cancer indications, including eight registration or pivotal clinical trials.