On January 4, 2018 Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGMO) reported that Dr. Sandy Macrae, CEO of Sangamo, will present at the 36th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Wednesday, January 10th at 4:00 p.m. PT. Dr. Macrae’s presentation will be followed by a separate Q&A session starting at 4:30 p.m. PT (Press release, Sangamo Therapeutics, JAN 4, 2018, View Source [SID1234522912]). The conference is being held in San Francisco, CA from January 8-11, 2018.

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The presentation and Q&A session will be webcast live and may be accessed via a link on the Sangamo Therapeutics website in the Investors and Media section under Events and Presentations. The presentation will be archived on the Sangamo website for two weeks after the event.

On January 4, 2018 AvantGen reported the successful completion of a first cancer therapeutic antibody discovery program for Tanabe Research Laboratories USA, Inc. (TRL) and the initiation of a second program (Press release, AvantGen, JAN 4, 2018, View Source [SID1234522916]).

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Under the terms of the collaboration, AvantGen is responsible for generating novel antibodies to specified cancer targets using its proprietary human antibody yeast display technology platform. TRL has worldwide rights to develop and commercialize antibodies discovered by AvantGen. AvantGen receives upfront payments and is eligible to receive milestone payments and royalties associated with the development and sale of any products derived from the collaboration.

"AvantGen’s antibody discovery and optimization services have been extensively validated against hundreds of targets primarily through numerous NIH SBIR I and II funded projects. Since the recent introduction of our new, state-of-the-art human antibody discovery and optimization platform, this second project with TRL represents the fifteenth de novo antibody discovery project we have initiated specifically for corporate partners," said Xiaomin Fan, Ph.D., founder and president of AvantGen. "The platform utilizes advantageous technologies, including a robust yeast display system, large natural human antibody database and fully human antibody libraries, for the generation of antibodies to meet challenging design goals for therapeutic, diagnostic and research tool purposes."

"The therapeutic antibody discovery program conducted by AvantGen was highly collaborative and was accomplished faster than expected, without the need to further optimize the antibodies in order to meet TRL’s design goals," said Roland Newman, Ph.D., chief scientific officer for TRL. "We look forward to working together on the second program and others in the future."

On January 4, 2018 Genelux Corporation, a privately-held biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of its proprietary oncolytic immunotherapy platform, is reported that Gynecologic Oncology Associates/Women’s Cancer Research Foundation (GOA/WCRF) in Newport Beach, California has been added as a clinical site for its Phase 2 VIRO-15 Study: Oncolytic Vaccinia Immunotherapy in Recurrent Ovarian Cancer (Press release, Genelux, JAN 4, 2018, View Source [SID1234532452]).

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GOA/WCRF, a renowned gynecologic oncology care & research center, is now actively enrolling patients. The Principal Investigator at the site is Alberto A. Mendivil, MD, FACOG, FACS, with the following sub-investigators:

Lisa N. Abaid, MD, MPH
Tiffany L. Beck, MD, MPH
John V. Brown, MD
Kristina M. Mori, MD

Adding GOA/WCRF will accelerate the clinical development timeline of GL-ONC1 and completion of this important Phase 2 study.

Thomas Zindrick, Genelux CEO, said, "We are pleased to welcome one of the largest and most well-respected gynecological practices in the country to the VIRO-15 Study. We look forward to working with GOA/WCRF, especially given the investigators’ expertise in the conduct of ovarian cancer clinical research."

GOA/WCRF joins Florida Hospital Cancer Institute as participating sites in the study. These geographically diverse sites will drive enrollment and bring a convenient trial location to western United States.

John P. Micha, MD, President/Founder/Board Member of WCRF and founder of GOA, commented, "GL-ONC1 immunotherapy is one of the most exciting and promising gynecologic oncology treatment modalities to come along in recent years for late stage ovarian cancer. Our patients and staff have renewed hope that we will be able to improve clinical outcomes in the not too distant future."

About the Study

The open label, Phase 2 study (NCT02759588) is currently recruiting participants with recurrent ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer. It is expected to enroll up to a total of 40 patients in two cohorts. Patients will receive GL-ONC1 as a monotherapy treatment regimen, consisting of intraperitoneal bolus infusions on 2 consecutive days. The study’s primary endpoint is progression-free survival, and secondary endpoints include incidence of adverse events, anti-tumor response, objective response, disease control rate, and overall survival.

About GL-ONC1

GL-ONC1, Genelux’ lead product candidate, is an attenuated therapeutic vaccinia virus, a non-pathogenic virus, modified by Genelux to increase its safety, tumor selectivity and anti-tumor activity. Virus-mediated oncolysis results in immunogenic cell death and triggers immune activation and memory for long-term immunotherapy against cancer. Clinical results in over 100 subjects treated in Genelux studies have shown GL-ONC1 is well tolerated with documented antitumor activities and clinical benefits.

About Gynecologic Oncology Associates (GOA) & Women’s Cancer Research Foundation (WCRF)

Founded in 1985, GOA is the largest gynecologic oncology practice on the West Coast. WCRF is a nonprofit organization. The physicians from the WCRF have been pioneers in clinical research to improve cure rates for women with ovarian, uterine, endometrial, cervical and other gynecological cancers. WCRF designs, conducts and publishes research on leading-edge medical advances. WCRF has developed collaborative research relationships with many prominent pharmaceutical and biotech companies. GOA/WCRF physicians have received many honors in recognition of their excellence in cancer care, including Best Physicians in Orange County, America’s Best Oncologists, ACOG/Ortho National Research Award and many other honors for teaching and clinical care

On January 3, 2018 Siamab Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel cancer therapeutics, reported that Jeff Behrens, president and chief executive officer, will present at the 10th annual Biotech Showcase conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, January 9, 2018 at 1:45 p.m. PT (Press release, Siamab Therapeutics, JAN 3, 2018, View Source [SID1234522845]). The conference will be held January 8-10, 2018, at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square.

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"We look forward to presenting an overview of our glycan-targeting platform to treat solid tumors"

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Mr. Behrens will provide an overview of the company, its proprietary technology platform and its development pipeline, including the ST1 program. ST1, Siamab’s lead monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapeutic, is in late stage preclinical development formatted as an antibody drug conjugate (ADC) for the treatment of solid tumors expressing Sialyl-Tn (STn). Mr. Behrens will also present new data on targeting STn+ myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), major regulators of the tumor anti-immune response that act by suppressing T cells. Siamab has for the first time identified and utilized the presence of STn on MDSCs to target and deplete MDSCs in vivo, providing a potential new therapeutic approach for the treatment of solid tumors.

"We look forward to presenting an overview of our glycan-targeting platform to treat solid tumors," said Mr. Behrens. "We will be focusing on promising new data from the ST1 program that points to STn+ MDSCs as an exciting and untapped immune-oncology target. ST1 has demonstrated excellent efficacy and safety in multiple IND-enabling tumor models as a direct anti-cancer therapy, and it may also have the potential to deplete MDSCs, which are known to be potent suppressors of tumor immunity."

Siamab’s proprietary technology platform enables the development of highly specific mAb therapeutics, including ADCs, bi-specific antibodies and CAR-T cell therapies, targeting cancer cell surface glycans called tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs). TACAs are an emerging set of tumor antigens that are implicated in immune suppression, chemoresistance and a cancer stem cell (CSC) phenotype. 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. In addition, STn is expressed on multiple biomarkers including the CSC biomarkers CD44 and MUC1, which reside on both CSCs and mature malignant cells in some cancer types.

Siamab scientists have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of their anti-STn antibody therapeutic in multiple preclinical studies. The company’s lead ST1 ADC was shown to inhibit tumor progression in cell line-derived and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mouse models of ovarian and pancreatic cancer, with complete regression observed in some treatment arms. In addition, preclinical evaluation has demonstrated the compound’s safety across species, including in non-human primates.

Siamab is also 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 pharmacodynamics action of the anti-STn therapeutic in the clinic.

On January 3, 2018 Molecular Partners AG (SIX: MOLN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of drugs known as DARPin therapies, reported that it will present at the 36th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Wednesday, 10 January, 2018 at 8:30 AM Pacific Standard Time (11:30 AM Eastern Time; 5:30 PM CET) (Press release, Molecular Partners, JAN 3, 2018, View Source [SID1234522863]).
The presentation, followed by a Q&A session, will be hosted by Dr. Patrick Amstutz, CEO of Molecular Partners.

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The presentation will be webcast live and can be accessed on the day via this link. A copy of the presentation handout as well as a replay of the webcast will be made available on the company’s website www.molecularpartners.com under the Investors section. The replay will be available for 30 days following the presentation.