On June 11, 2019 ONCURIOUS NV, a Belgium-based biotech company focusing on the development of innovative oncology treatments, reported that it has received from Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) a project grant of close to €1 million to support the further pre-clinical development of its pipeline of next generation cancer immunotherapies (Press release, Oncurious, JUN 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234536999]). Oncurious will do this in close collaboration with VIB Discovery Sciences, steered by the scientific input of the VIB founding labs.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

This non-dilutive grant funding will be used to identify a number of multi-specific biologics with distinct modes of action against immunomodulatory targets. These candidates will then be assessed in pre-clinical tumor models, both as monotherapies and in combination with standard of care treatment. The funds will also support the further development of Oncurious, including the recruitment of several scientists.

Patrik De Haes, MD, Executive Chairman of ONCURIOUS NV comments, "We are delighted by the potential of our pipeline of next generation immunotherapies and this project grant will provide us with funding to generate and select the most appropriate candidates to take further into pre-clinical development. We believe that the development of our immunotherapy pipeline, will in time, be an important source of value for Oncurious’ shareholders."

Johan Cardoen, PhD, Managing Director of VIB comments, "We are pleased that VLAIO has recognized the compelling science behind our portfolio of next-generation immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer. This grant funding will enable Oncurious to hire scientists and conduct a range of experiments designed to provide the data needed to select the most appropriate novel immuno-oncology assets for further development."

– END –

For further information please contact:

Oxurion NV / Oncurious NV
Wouter Piepers
Global Head of Investor Relations & Communications
+32 16 75 13 10 / +32 478 33 56 32
[email protected]

VIB
Sooike Stoops
Expert Press and Public Communication
+32 9 244 66 11 / +32 474 28 92 52
[email protected]
EU – Citigate Dewe Rogerson
David Dible/ Sylvie Berrebi
Tel: +44 20 7638 9571
[email protected] US – LifeSci Public Relations
Alison Chen
+1646-876-4932
[email protected]

On June 11, 2019 Following the success of their ongoing alliance, Boehringer Ingelheim and the University of Dundee reported that they extend their collaboration to develop new medicines that target and destroy key cancer causing proteins (Press release, Boehringer Ingelheim, JUN 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234537000]). This brings together the expertise of Professor Alessio Ciulli, one of the pioneers in the field of Proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs), based in the School of Life Sciences at Dundee, with Boehringer Ingelheim’s pharmaceutical expertise and commitment to bring innovative medicines to patients with cancer.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

PROTACs represent a new class of drug candidates with the potential to tackle compelling cancer targets which have failed traditional medicinal chemistry approaches. They work by harnessing the cell’s natural disposal system (the ubiquitin-proteasome). Candidate disease-causing proteins are labelled as "expired" proteins which the proteasome then shreds.

"PROTACs are a disruptive therapeutic modality which are bringing previously deemed undruggable targets within reach. Our collaboration will continue to work to bring this new class of medicines to patients," said Darryl B. McConnell, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Research Site Head, Boehringer Ingelheim, Vienna, Austria. "The joint team is making rapid progress and have successfully reached the first collaboration milestone setting a solid basis for achieving our goals."

Since the initiation of the collaboration in 2016 and a significant expansion in 2018, the application of PROTACs has grown dramatically. However, designing PROTACs remains challenging and largely empirical in nature, hindering faster progress in the field. The partners have thus developed a structure-based design approach as a solid basis to accelerate further development. In addition, to boost PROTAC research around the world, Boehringer Ingelheim has made the protein degrader compound MZ-1, developed at the University of Dundee, freely available through its opnMe portal in 2018. Further PROTAC molecules are considered for release on opnMe based on the success of this initiative.

The joint team has reported recent progress in a number of scientific publications, including most recently in the journal Nature Chemical Biology. This publication highlights their approach to use 3-dimensional pictures at atomic resolution to design highly potent and selective drug candidates. The new approach has yielded the first PROTAC which shreds SMARCA2, a protein that drives the tumors of more than 20,000 new patients with cancer each year and for which drug discovery approaches have otherwise been unsuccessful to date.

"Our joint publication is a leading example of translating the detailed understanding we are developing of how PROTACs work, to craft degrader molecules that effectively tackle previously ‘undruggable’ targets", said Alessio Ciulli, Ph.D., Chair of Chemical and Structural Biology at the University of Dundee, and winner of the 2016 RSC Capps Green Zomaya Award for medicinal chemistry. "The expansion marks an important milestone in the development of our alliance. It enables the joint team to drive the next phase of degrading highly-prized cancer targets previously intractable via other approaches"

Boehringer Ingelheim is focusing on developing innovative new treatment approaches providing outstanding value for patients. To achieve this, the company is increasing its commitment to external innovation, and is working with top partners from academia and industry worldwide. A growing network of academic collaborations reflects the company’s focus on emerging science that could open new avenues leading to the breakthrough medications of the future.

On June 11, 2019 Tarveda Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing a new class of potent and selective precision oncology medicines for the treatment of patients with a wide range of solid tumor malignancies, reported that Drew Fromkin, President and Chief Executive Officer, will present at the Raymond James Life Sciences and MedTech Conference occurring June 18-19, 2019 in New York City (Press release, Tarveda Therapeutics, JUN 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234537001]). Tarveda presentation details:

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Date: Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Time: 8:00am Eastern Time
Location: Lotte New York Palace, New York, NY

On June 11, 2019 Innate Pharma SA (the "Company" – Euronext Paris: FR0010331421 – IPH) reported that the design of the "TELLOMAK" Phase II trial and new preclinical data supporting the potential of IPH4102 in peripheral T-cell lymphoma ("PTCL") as well as Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma ("ATLL") will be presented at the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma ("ICML"), held from 18 to 22 June 2019 in Lugano, Switzerland (Press release, Innate Pharma, JUN 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234537018]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

An oral presentation will take place on Wednesday, June 19, by Pr. Pierluigi Porcu, Director of the Division of Medical Oncology and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia.

"We are committed to an efficient execution of the TELLOMAK trial, which could potentially support a future BLA submission for IPH4102 in Sézary syndrome", said Pierre Dodion, Chief Medical Officer of Innate Pharma. "The 2-stage design for the mycosis fungoides ("MF") and PTCL cohorts stratified by KIR3DL2 expression will allow us to identify patients that are most likely to benefit from treatment. We believe this will optimize the delivery of proof of concept data to inform the design of future potential pivotal trials. We expect to provide an update on the outcome of the first stage of the MF and PTCL cohorts in the second half of 2020 and report initial efficacy data for the different cohorts starting in 2021."

New preclinical data further support the rationale to evaluate the potential of IPH4102 in larger subsets of T-cell lymphoma. The findings demonstrate that KIR3DL2 is expressed in multiple subtypes of PTCL and that incubation of T-cell lymphoma cell lines with a combination chemotherapy regimen consisting of Gemcitabine and Oxaliplatin (GemOx) enhances KIR3DL2 expression. Moreover, the combination of IPH4102 and GemOx improves anti-tumor activity against a KIR3DL2-positive T-cell line in-vitro.

Another set of preclinical data supports the expansion of the IPH4102 development program in ATLL, which is mostly prevalent in Asia. The data demonstrates that KIR3DL2 expression is mainly associated with the ATLL acute subtype, a subtype that is the most frequent and associated with the poorest prognosis.

Presentation and Posters:
"TELLOMAK: T-cell lymphoma anti-KIR3DL2 therapy: An open label, multicohort, multi-center, international phase II study evaluating the efficacy and safety of IPH4102 alone or in combination with chemotherapy in patients with advanced T-cell lymphoma",P. Porcu, Philadelphia, PA (USA); article Nr OT06; "Ongoing trials", Wednesday, June 19, 17:55, Aula Magna (USI Università)
"KIR3DL2 is expressed in peripheral T-cell lymphomas and may be a therapeutic target", M. Cheminant, Paris (France); poster Nr. 157, poster discussion June 20-21, 12:30-13:00, Marquee
"Membrane Expression of NK Receptor KIR3DL2 Contributes to Delineate the Acute-type and is a Therapeutic Target in ATL", M. Cheminant, Paris (France); poster Nr. 218, poster discussion June 20-21, 12:30-13:00, Marquee

About TELLOMAK:
TELLOMAK is a global, open-label, multicohort Phase II clinical trial conducted in the United States and Europe. In this trial, IPH4102 is evaluated alone and in combination with chemotherapy in patients with advanced TCL. TELLOMAK is expected to recruit up to 250 patients, with IPH4102 evaluated:

As a single agent in approximately 60 patients with Sézary syndrome who have received at least two prior treatments, including mogamulizumab,
As a single agent in approximately 90 patients with MF who have received at least two systemic therapies, and
In combination with standard chemotherapy (GemOx) in approximately 100 patients with PTCL who have received at least one prior treatment.
In patients with MF and PTCL, the study is designed to evaluate the benefit of IPH4102 according to KIR3DL2 expression: the study will comprise two cohorts for each of the 2 indications, testing IPH4102 in KIR3DL2 expressing and non-expressing patients. These cohorts will follow a Simon 2-stage design that will terminate if treatment is considered futile. The Sézary syndrome arm of the study could enable the registration of IPH4102 in this indication.

The primary endpoint of the trial is objective response rate. Key secondary measures include incidence of treatment emergent adverse events, quality of life, overall response rate, progression-free survival and overall survival.

On June 11, 2019 Celsius Therapeutics, a company translating single-cell genomic insights into precision therapeutics for patients with autoimmune diseases and cancer, reported the appointment of Tariq Kassum, M.D., as president and chief executive officer (Press release, Celsius Therapeutics, JUN 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234537002]). Dr. Kassum brings nearly 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry to Celsius. He succeeds interim CEO Alexis Borisy, who will remain chairman of the company’s board of directors.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

"Since its launch just over a year ago, Celsius has been making tremendous progress, and we are very excited to welcome Tariq as CEO to lead the company through its next phase of development," said Alexis Borisy, chairman of Celsius. "Tariq brings a highly diverse skill set incorporating corporate development, strategy and business leadership. His extensive experience in multiple settings in the biotechnology industry will be instrumental in helping guide the company going forward."

Dr. Kassum joins the company from Obsidian Therapeutics, where he was a co-founder and served as chief operating officer and head of corporate development. During this time, Dr. Kassum helped build Obsidian into a leading platform technology company and played a central role in the company’s strategic partnership with Celgene. Prior to Obsidian, Dr. Kassum spent seven years with Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Takeda, most recently as vice president, business development and strategy for Takeda Oncology, responsible for transactions, collaborations, alliance management and strategic planning. He also led Takeda’s global corporate development efforts, where he managed multiple acquisitions and divestitures. Prior to Takeda, Dr. Kassum was an analyst covering healthcare equities for institutional investment firms, where he led diligence and investment decisions on numerous companies and pharmaceutical compounds. He began his career as an investment banker with CIBC World Markets serving clients in the biotechnology and specialty pharmaceuticals industries. He holds an M.D. from University of Toronto and an A.B. from Cornell University.

"Celsius has integrated a unique combination of technologies, including single-cell genomics, machine learning, deep biology and drug discovery, all in the service of patients with serious conditions including autoimmune diseases and cancer," said Dr. Kassum. "I am thrilled to be joining the company at this stage as we establish the power of this multifaceted approach to drive a portfolio of transformative therapies for patients."