On March 7, 2019 GlycoMimetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: GLYC) reported that Chief Executive Officer Rachel King will provide a company overview at the Cowen and Company 39th Annual Health Care Conference in Boston, on Tuesday, March 12, 2019, at 9:20 a.m. ET (Press release, GlycoMimetics, MAR 7, 2019, https://ir.glycomimetics.com/news-releases/news-release-details/glycomimetics-present-cowen-and-company-39th-annual-health-care [SID1234534096]).

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To access the live webcast and subsequent archived recordings for the presentation, please visit the GlycoMimetics website at www.glycomimetics.com.

On March 7, 2019 Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRVS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of precisely targeted oncology therapies, reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2018, and provided a business update (Press release, Corvus Pharmaceuticals, MAR 7, 2019, View Source [SID1234534121]).

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"We continue to make significant progress in the clinic both with CPI-444 and with CPI-006, both as monotherapies and in combination with other agents and each other, positioning Corvus as a leader in the development of medicines that modulate the adenosine pathway," said Richard A. Miller, M.D., co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Corvus. "In addition, we recently discovered an adenosine gene signature that we believe sheds important insight on the mechanisms of action for CPI-444 and CPI-006, and provides a biomarker that could be vital in future clinical trials. The FDA also recently cleared our IND for CPI-818, an ITK inhibitor that represents a novel approach for the treatment of T-cell lymphomas and that will mark our third product candidate in the clinic."

Recent Achievements

CPI-444: A2A Receptor Antagonist of Adenosine

Continued enrollment of up to 50 patients with renal cell cancer (RCC) in an amended Phase 1b/2 clinical trial evaluating CPI-444 administered alone and in combination with Genentech’s Tecentriq (atezolizumab), an anti-PD-L1 antibody.
Continued enrollment of up to 60 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in a Phase 1b/2 trial being conducted by Genentech as part of their MORPHEUS platform. The study is evaluating CPI-444 and Tecentriq in patients who have failed no more than two prior regimens.
CPI-444 preclinical study results were published in and featured on the cover of the October issue of the journal Cancer Immunology Research, which is an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper). The results demonstrated that CPI-444 induces dose dependent anti-tumor responses as a monotherapy and in combination with anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1 and anti-CTLA-4 therapies.
Presented updated results from the original Phase 1/1b trial of CPI-444 at the SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) 33rd Annual Meeting covering 33 patients receiving CPI-444 as a monotherapy and 35 patients receiving CPI-444 in combination with Tecentriq. The results showed disease control for more than 6 months was achieved in 17 percent and 35 percent of patients receiving monotherapy and combination therapy, respectively. In addition, for patients receiving combination therapy, 11 percent experienced a confirmed partial response (PR; as determined by RECIST criteria). For patients receiving monotherapy, one patient experienced a confirmed PR and one experienced an unconfirmed PR. Several patients in both groups experienced tumor regression not meeting the PR criteria.
Presented new data on the "adenosine gene signature" (AdenoSig), a biomarker associated with patient response to therapy with CPI-444, in a poster presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) 2018 Congress. Presented updated AdenoSig data at the Immuno-Oncology 360° Conference that showed a relationship between this biomarker and angiogenesis gene expression data (or angiogenesis signature). These data suggest that patients with a high AdenoSig are potentially more likely to respond to treatment with CPI-444 and less likely to respond to VEGFR inhibitors.
CPI-006: Anti-CD73 Antibody

Continued enrollment of up to 350 patients with advanced cancer in a Phase 1/1b clinical trial evaluating CPI-006 as a single agent and in combination with either CPI-444 or an anti-PD-1. Enrollment is now in the dose escalation phase for CPI-006 administered as a single agent and in combination with CPI-444.
Presented updated biomarker data at the Immuno-Oncology 360° Conference that showed CPI-006 given as a monotherapy activated B cells, led to a redistribution of these cells and led to changes in other immune cells (e.g., changes in T helper to T suppressor ratios). These data are consistent with immune stimulation induced by CPI-006. It was also reported that CPI-006 reacted with an epitope on CD73 that led to blockade of adenosine production and expression of lymphocyte activation antigens that are independent of adenosine.
CPI-818: A small molecule ITK inhibitor

Preclinical data on CPI-818 was presented at the EORTC-NCI-AACR (Free EORTC-NCI-AACR Whitepaper) Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics Symposium, in November 2018. Such preclinical data demonstrated that orally-administered CPI-818 produced tumor regression in companion dogs with spontaneous, naturally occurring T-cell lymphomas, without significant toxicity.
The Company plans to evaluate CPI-818, an interleukin-2-inducible kinase (ITK) inhibitor, in a Phase 1/1b study in patients with several types of T-cell lymphomas, including peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL), cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) and others, with patient enrollment planned in March 2019.
Corporate Updates

Appointed Linda S. Grais, M.D., J.D., to the Company’s Board of Directors, replacing Peter Moldt, Ph.D., who served as a director since January 2015 and resigned his position.
Appointed Mehrdad Mobasher, M.D., M.P.H., as Vice President and Chief Medical Officer to oversee the Company’s pipeline of precisely-targeted investigational oncology therapies.
Financial Results

As of December 31, 2018, Corvus had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaling $114.6 million. This compared to cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $90.1 million at December 31, 2017. The Company expects net cash utilization of $43 million to $47 million in 2019.

Research and development expenses for the three months and full year ended December 31, 2018 totaled $8.4 million and $38.6 million, respectively, compared to $9.7 million and $46.3 million for the same periods in 2017. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the decrease of $1.3 million was primarily due to a $2.8 million decrease in CPI-444 costs, partially offset by an increase of $1.2 million in CPI-818 costs. For the full year 2018, the decrease of $7.7 million was primarily due to a $12.8 million decrease in CPI-444 costs, partially offset by an increase of $2.9 million in CPI-818 costs and a $1.8 million increase in personnel and outside research costs.

The net loss for the three months and year ended December 31, 2018 was $10.5 million and $46.9 million, respectively, compared to $11.9 million and $55.7 million for the same periods in 2017. Total stock compensation expense for the three months and year ended December 31, 2018 was $1.8 million and $7.1 million, compared to $1.7 million and $6.2 million for the same periods in 2017.

On March 7, 2019 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information services, reported that it is scheduled to speak at the Barclays Global Healthcare Conference in Miami. Mark Guinan, Executive Vice President and CFO will discuss the company’s vision, goals and two-point strategy to accelerate growth and drive operational excellence (Press release, Quest Diagnostics, MAR 7, 2019, View Source [SID1234534137]). The presentation is scheduled for Tuesday, March 12, 2019 at 10:15 a.m. Eastern Time.

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The presentation will be webcast live during the conference and will be available on the company’s investor relations page which can be accessed at ir.QuestDiagnostics.com. In addition, the archived webcast will be available within 24 hours after the conclusion of the live event and will remain available until April 11, 2019.

On March 7, 2019 Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBLI) reported financial results and development progress for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2018 (Press release, Cleveland BioLabs, MAR 7, 2019, View Source [SID1234534060]).

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Cleveland BioLabs reported a net loss of $(0.4) million, excluding minority interests, for the fourth quarter of 2018, or $(0.04) per share, compared to a net loss, excluding minority interests, of $(1.2) million, or $(0.10) per share, for the same period in 2017. Net loss, excluding minority interests, for full year 2018 was $(3.6) million, or $(0.32) per share, compared to a net loss of $(9.7) million, or $(0.87) per share, for full year 2017. The decrease in net loss for 2018 was primarily due to a decrease in the non-cash adjustment to our warrant liabilities, reduced operating costs in performance of the Joint Warfighter Medical Research Program contract for the Department of Defense as we awaited the completion of the bioequivalence study comparing the historical drug formulation used in prior preclinical and clinical studies with the to-be-marketed drug product lots, which results were delayed in 2018, and a reduction in EMEA activities, as a result of the withdrawal of our application before the European Medicines Agency, partially offset by increased expenses related to oncology applications of the entolimod family of compounds and an increase in General and Administrative costs related to the corporate formation of Genome Protection, Inc. (GPI), our joint venture with Everon Biosciences, Inc. focused on developing anti-aging medications.

As of December 31, 2018, the Company had $4.1 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, which, based on the Company’s current operational plan, is expected to fund operations into December of 2019.

Yakov Kogan, Ph.D., MBA, Chief Executive Officer, stated, "The development, pursuit of regulatory approval and commercialization for entolimod as a medical radiation countermeasure remains our top priority."

"We recently completed an in vivo bio-comparability study in non-human primates (NHP) between the drug formulation used in previously conducted preclinical and clinical studies and the entolimod drug formulation proposed for commercialization under the pre-Emergency Use Authorization or pre-EUA application with the US Food and Drug Administration," added Dr. Kogan. "While the NHP study was ongoing, the FDA proceeded with further review of the entolimod chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) information in our pre-EUA dossier and recently the FDA provided us with comments and questions on various aspects of entolimod CMC. Per FDA recommendation, the Company has now requested a meeting to brief the FDA on the results of the NHP bio-comparability data and is preparing responses to the FDA comments on entolimod CMC. We expect that after review and discussion of the bio-comparability data and the CMC information, the FDA will proceed with review of additional components of the pre-EUA dossier."

Further Financial Results

Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2018 decreased to $0.2 million compared to $0.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2017. Revenue for full year 2018 was $1.1 million compared to $1.9 million for full year 2017. The net decrease was primarily attributable to decreased revenue from our Joint Warfighter Medical Research Program contract from the Department of Defense for the continued development of the entolimod as a medical radiation countermeasure.

Research and development costs for the fourth quarter of 2018 decreased to $0.5 million compared to $1.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2017. Research and development costs for the full year 2018 decreased to $3.6 million compared to $5.0 million for the full year 2017. The reduction in research and development costs is due to a $1.9 million reduction in spending for biodefense applications of entolimod, partially offset by a $0.6 million increase in spending related to the oncology applications of the entolimod family of compounds.

General and administrative costs for the fourth quarter of 2018 decreased to $0.3 million compared to $0.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2017. General and administrative costs for the full year 2018 decreased to $2.3 million compared to $2.5 million for full year 2017. This decrease was primarily attributable to reductions in personnel and outside professional costs as well as a reduction in other operating expenses due to a decrease in property tax expense.

On March 7, 2019 Cytori Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CYTX) reported that it officially filed a formal new drug application pre-submission request to the European Medicine Agency (EMA) for Doxorubicin Hydrochloride Cytori (Press release, Cytori Therapeutics, MAR 7, 2019, View Source [SID1234534097]). This submission is the precursor to filing an Article 58 Application for a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) via EMA’s centralized approval procedure. In June 2017, the EMA Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) confirmed that Doxorubicin Hydrochloride Cytori was eligible for submission of a MAA via the centralized procedure.

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In addition, in late 2018, the EMA CHMP Name Review Group validated Doxorubicin Hydrochloride Cytori as the official invented name to replace ATI-0918. Doxorubicin Hydrochloride Cytori is a liposomal nanoparticle medicinal product being developed for cancer patients that contains the active substance doxorubicin, a widely used chemotherapy drug. Doxorubicin Hydrochloride Cytori is intended for the treatment of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, multiple myeloma, and Kaposi’s sarcoma.

"Liposomal doxorubicin is a commonly prescribed chemotherapeutic drug for patients with advanced breast and ovarian cancer as well as other indications," said Dr. Marc Hedrick MD, President/CEO of Cytori Therapeutics. "Bringing Doxorubicin Hydrochloride Cytori to market in Europe as an alternative to the branded drug is an important near-term corporate goal."

As a ‘hybrid medicine’, Doxorubicin Hydrochloride Cytori is intended to be similar to a ‘reference medicine’, Adriamycin, already authorized in the EU. Doxorubicin Hydrochloride Cytori is different than Adriamycin in that the active substance is encapsulated in tiny lipid nanospheres called liposomes that are coated in polyethylene glycol or PEG. Cytori believes that it has successfully completed all clinical development work for Doxorubicin Hydrochloride Cytori and is currently manufacturing the drug in its dedicated plant in San Antonio, Texas.

Cytori expects to receive assignment of a rapporteur and co-rapporteur, who will work with the company through the MAA submission and review process, by the end of April 2019. The MAA submission is planned for later in 2019 or early 2020.

Cytori’s MAA will present data from the scientific literature and from non-clinical studies, including comparisons with Janssen’s Caelyx, an authorized medicine containing doxorubicin in pegylated liposomal form. The company will also present the results of a completed clinical study intended to investigate whether Doxorubicin Hydrochloride Cytori is ‘bioequivalent’ to Caelyx, meaning that they both produce the same levels of the active substance in the body.

Janssen’s Caelyx first received a marketing authorization for the EU in 1996, is currently approved for the treatment of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, multiple myeloma, and Kaposi’s sarcoma, and generated over €110M in sales across Europe in 2017. No generic versions of Caelyx are currently approved and available in Europe.