On October 30, 2017 Heat Biologics, Inc. ("Heat") (NASDAQ: HTBX), a biopharmaceutical company developing drugs designed to activate a patient’s immune system against cancer, reported that its subsidiary, Pelican Therapeutics, Inc. ("Pelican"), received the second tranche in the amount of $6.5 million of its $15.2 million Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) grant award (Press release, Heat Biologics, OCT 30, 2017, View Source [SID1234521298]). To-date, Pelican has received an aggregate of $8.3 million in grants from CPRIT.

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The CPRIT award supports the pre-clinical development, manufacturing and clinical development of a 70-patient Phase 1 clinical trial for PTX-35, the company’s lead asset. PTX-35 is a novel co-stimulatory monoclonal antibody against TNFRSF25, an emerging co-stimulatory receptor on T-cells. PTX-35, in combination with checkpoint inhibitors and other immunotherapy agents, has the potential to improve clinical responses for a broad range of patients by expanding the population of antigen-specific "memory" CD8+ T-cells – the immune cells critical in tumor eradication.

"We believe these funds will enable us to progress our manufacturing efforts and advance our pipeline, with the goal of addressing the unmet need for patients who don’t respond well to current cancer therapy," said Rahul Jasuja, Ph.D., CEO of Pelican.

On October 30, 2017 NewLink Genetics Corporation (NASDAQ:NLNK) reported that indoximod, its leading drug development candidate, was granted orphan-drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of patients with Stage IIb-IV melanoma (Press release, NewLink Genetics, OCT 30, 2017, View Source [SID1234521301]).

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“We are pleased to receive this orphan drug designation from the FDA,” said Charles J. Link, Jr., MD, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer. “This decision supports our ongoing clinical development plans for indoximod as we continue to pursue innovative treatments for patients with cancer.”

The FDA grants orphan drug designation to investigational drugs and biologics that are intended for the treatment of rare diseases that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. Incentives may include tax credits related to clinical trial expenses, an exemption from the FDA user fee, FDA assistance in clinical trial design and potential market exclusivity for seven years following approval.

On October 30, 2017 Mateon Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQX:MATN), a biopharmaceutical company developing investigational drugs for the treatment of orphan oncology indications, reported updated data from the fifth dose cohort of OX1222, a phase 1b dose-ranging study of OXi4503 in combination with cytarabine in patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) (Press release, Mateon Therapeutics, OCT 30, 2017, View Source [SID1234521300]).

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Mateon previously reported that two of four patients in this cohort of the study had morphological complete remissions following one cycle of treatment with OXi4503. A morphological complete remission occurs when an AML patient has fewer than 5% AML blasts in the bone marrow count following treatment and has no significant hematologic abnormalities or other evidence of disease.

One of the patients showing disease remission discontinued the study due to an unrelated adverse event. The other patient continued to receive treatment with an additional two cycles of OXi4503 and remains in complete remission with a cytogenetic complete response. A cytogenetic complete response occurs when testing shows eradication of chromosomal abnormalities following treatment.

"We continue to see encouraging signs of safety and efficacy for OXi4503 in Study OX1222, including complete remissions at very low doses and evidence of a dose-response as we progressively increase the dose of OXi4503 in the trial," said William D. Schwieterman, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Mateon. "OXi4503 represents a completely new way to treat AML – by both killing tumor cells directly and by destroying their protective environment in the bone marrow. Based on the results seen to date, we are excited about the enormous potential for this compound in relapsed/refractory AML, especially in older patients unable to tolerate the high levels of chemotherapy typically needed to see a response. There is a huge unmet medical need in these patients and they specifically appear to benefit from treatment with OXi4503."

Summarized initial efficacy data generated to date from OX1222 in relapsed/refractory AML or MDS are as follows:

Cohort (Dose) n CR% PR% ORR%
Cohort 1 (3.75 mg/m2) 6 17% 0% 17%
Cohort 2 (4.68 mg/m2) 4 25% 0% 25%
Cohort 3 (6.25 mg/m2) 4 25% 25% 50%
Cohort 4 (7.81 mg/m2) 3 0% 33% 33%
Cohort 5 (9.76 mg/m2) 4 50% 0% 50%
n: number of patients
CR: complete remission
PR: partial remission
ORR: overall response rate (sum of partial and complete)
OXi4503 continues to have a favorable safety profile. The most common adverse events (AEs) of any grade across all cohorts include neutropenia, fever, nausea, anemia and diarrhea. Grade 3 or above AEs which were related to treatment include anemia (32%), decreased platelet count (27%), decreased neutrophil count (23%) and decreased white blood cell count (18%).

Mateon is in the process of expanding the size of future, higher-dose cohorts to 10 patients to increase the utility of the data generated. The company is also continuing discussions to secure a partner or otherwise obtain additional capital prior to initiating treatment in the sixth cohort of Study OX1222.

About Acute Myeloid Leukemia
A devastating form of cancer of the blood and bone marrow, AML is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults and accounts for the greatest number of leukemia deaths in the United States. There is no standard regimen of care for patients who relapse following front-line treatment or have refractory disease. According to the NIH’s National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program, there are an estimated 21,380 new cases of AML and 10,590 deaths expected in 2017 in the United States. AML arises from a clonal hematopoietic stem cell and is characterized by accumulation of malignant myeloblasts in the bone marrow and results in ineffective hematopoiesis. AML often responds initially to front-line treatment of conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy, but it often relapses and long-term disease-free survival is low, posing a significant challenge to treat relapsed and/or refractory disease.

About OXi4503
OXi4503 has received Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of AML. It disrupts tumor vasculature residing within bone marrow while simultaneously targeting malignant myeloid cells. Preclinical data show that OXi4503 disrupts bone marrow endothelial cells which normally protect AML cells from exposure to chemotherapeutic agents. In human xenograft animal models of AML, OXi4503 has demonstrated almost complete elimination of leukemic cells. In other animal models, the combination of OXi4503 and cytarabine has shown a much greater effect against AML than either agent alone.

On October 30, 2017 Siamab Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel cancer immunotherapies, reported the presentation of new preclinical data demonstrating the safety of its novel anti-Sialyl-Tn (STn) antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) in multiple animal models, including non-human primates (NHPs) (Press release, Siamab Therapeutics, OCT 30, 2017, View Source [SID1234521303]). These results add to the company’s efficacy data findings showing that its anti-STn antibody therapeutics inhibit tumor progression in cell-line-derived and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) ovarian cancer and pancreatic cancer mouse models, with complete regression observed in some treatment arms. The preclinical efficacy and safety data were presented in a poster presentation at the 2017 AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-NCI-EORTC AACR-NCI-EORTC (Free AACR-NCI-EORTC Whitepaper) International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics (EORTC-NCI-AACR) (Free ASGCT Whitepaper) (Free EORTC-NCI-AACR Whitepaper), held October 26-30, 2017, in Philadelphia.

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Siamab’s platform enables the development of highly specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapeutics that target cancer cell surface glycans called tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs), a novel class of cancer-specific antigens. TACAs are implicated in immune suppression, chemoresistance, and a cancer stem cell (CSC) phenotype.

“Our lead ST1 program shows compelling efficacy and safety across a range of PDX and xenograft studies, underscoring the promise of our anti-STn antibody approach to treat chemoresistant solid tumors,” said Jeff Behrens, president and chief executive officer of Siamab. “The new data from a pilot pharmacokinetic/toxicity study in primates demonstrate the favorable safety and tolerability of ST1 in large animals. The NHP results are extremely encouraging and provide an important step to de-risk IND-enabling GLP toxicity studies, which we plan to initiate in 2018.”

The poster presentation, titled “Humanized anti-Sialyl-Tn monoclonal antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) inhibit tumor growth in vivo and in vivo,” was presented during the Therapeutic Agents: Biological poster session. In the poster, Siamab scientists and collaborators reported data demonstrating anti-tumor effect in vitro utilizing humanized anti-STn ADCs as well as inhibition of tumor progression in vivo in both cell line and PDX ovarian cancer models with complete regressions observed in some treatment groups. No significant weight loss was observed for any of the treatment groups in these models indicating the therapy was well tolerated by all the groups. In addition, the poster featured new safety data demonstrating Siamab’s anti-STn ADC has an excellent safety profile through the completion of a non-GLP pilot pharmacokinetic/toxicity study in non-human primates. Two doses were administered at days 1 and 22. Dose levels were 1mg/kg, 3mg/kg, and 6mg/kg. No weight loss or deaths occurred in the study and no gross pathology changes were observed in all organs examined. All clinical chemistry results (liver, kidney function, etc.) were normal throughout the study.

ST1, Siamab’s lead antibody program targeting STn, is in late stage preclinical development for the treatment of solid tumors. The elevated presence of STn—a key TACA observed in a number of solid tumors, including ovarian, prostate, pancreatic, gastric, and colon—is associated with metastatic disease, poor prognosis, and reduced overall survival. Elevation of STn expression is linked to chemotherapy resistance and enables tumors to evade the host immune system. Siamab has also identified the presence of STn on myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), which are major regulators of immune response in cancer and influence the tumor microenvironment by suppressing T cells. STn is a major reported constituent of two established CSC biomarkers, CD44 and MUC1, which reside on both CSCs and mature malignant cells in some cancer types.

Siamab is utilizing STn-selective antibodies to develop both tissue- and serum-based biomarker assays with the potential to become companion diagnostics for both the stratification of patients as well as tools for assessing the pharmacodynamic action of the anti-STn therapeutic in the clinic.

Siamab recently announced it has entered into a strategic discovery collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim with the goal of developing anti-cancer therapeutics targeting TACAs. Siamab will apply its proprietary technology platform to generate TACA-specific antibodies for use in multiple solid tumor applications. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

On October 30, 2017 X4 Pharmaceuticals, a clinical stage biotechnology company developing a novel CXCR4 inhibitor to improve immune cell trafficking to treat cancer and rare diseases, reported updated results from the Phase 1 part of an ongoing Phase 1/2 study of X4P-001-IO in combination with Inlyta (axitinib) in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) (Press release, X4 Pharmaceuticals, OCT 30, 2017, View Source [SID1234521340]).

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The results in patients with ccRCC who received the combination treatment of X4P-001-IO, a CXCR4 inhibitor, and Inlyta, Pfizer’s VEGFR kinase inhibitor, showed an objective response rate (ORR) of 29%, including 1 patient achieving a confirmed complete response (CR), with an encouraging disease control rate (DCR) of 93%. 31% of patients entering the study had received one prior line of therapy while the majority of patients (69%) had received at least two prior lines of therapy. The data were presented at the 2017 AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-NCI-EORTC Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics Conference on October 29 in Philadelphia.

"The combination of CXCR4 inhibition and VEGFR inhibition shows promising clinical results in this very difficult to treat population of patients with ccRCC. These results suggest that X4P-001-IO may address some of the limitations and augment the clinical utility of axitinib, which is a clinically meaningful drug in the treatment of patients with advanced metastatic ccRCC," said Michael Atkins, MD, Deputy Director, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, William M. Scholl Professor of Oncology at Georgetown University School of Medicine, and lead investigator of the study. "These results, while early, are very promising with a strong disease control rate and a manageable safety profile."

Results from the 16 patients with advanced ccRCC enrolled in the dose escalation part of the ongoing Phase 1/2 study as of the data cutoff date of October 2, 2017 were presented and highlights of the poster presentation include:

The combination of X4P-001-IO and Inlyta showed one confirmed complete response (CR) and produced a DCR and ORR of 93 percent (13/14) and 29 percent (4/14), respectively, in the evaluable patient population.
The median duration on treatment at the data cutoff was 22.1 weeks and 44 percent of patients had been exposed to study treatment for at least 24 weeks.
X4P-001-IO in combination with Inlyta was considered to be safe and generally well tolerated. The most frequent treatment-related adverse events (AEs) were hypertension, diarrhea, fatigue, nausea, decreased appetite, headache and dry eye. No grade 4 or 5 AEs were observed.
Pharmacodynamic (PD) measurements demonstrated that the 400 mg dose inhibited the intended target chemokine receptor CXCR4.
Based on the study results, a dose of 400 mg X4P-001-IO once daily with 5 mg Inlyta twice daily has been selected for the Phase 2 portion of the ongoing Phase 1/2 study.
"We are encouraged by the results to date in this first cohort of patients, many of whom have been on study for over six months and have seen early signs of clinical efficacy with manageable side effects," said Sudha Parasuraman, MD, Chief Medical Officer of X4. "We look forward to sharing a comprehensive update on the ongoing Phase 2a clinical trial, as well as the path forward for further development, in 2018."

The Phase 2 portion of the study continues to enroll patients to evaluate the clinical efficacy of X4P-001-IO as measured by objective response rate (ORR), duration of response (DOR), and progression free survival (PFS), as well as explore the correlation of biomarkers with efficacy. (View Source)

About X4P-001-IO in Cancer

X4P-001-IO is an investigational selective, oral, small molecule inhibitor of CXCR4 (C-X-C receptor type 4) that regulates the tumor microenvironment thereby enhancing endogenous anti-tumor responses. CXCR4 is a chemokine receptor that modulates immune function and angiogenesis through the trafficking of key immune cells such as T- cells, dendritic cells, and myeloid derived suppressor cells. CXCR4 signaling is disrupted in a broad range of cancers, facilitating tumor growth by allowing cancer cells to evade immune detection and creating a pro-tumor microenvironment.

About Renal Cell Carcinoma

Kidney cancer is among the ten most common cancers in both men and women with more than 60,000 new diagnoses each year in the United States.1 Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common form of kidney cancer, and advanced ccRCC accounts for approximately 20% of the patient population. Therapies for advanced ccRCC include immunotherapies, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase inhibitors, and angiogenesis inhibitors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors.2 There continue to be unmet medical needs with advanced ccRCC because durable responses remain a serious clinical challenge for patients with advanced disease.