CTI BioPharma to Report Third Quarter 2017 Financial Results on November 6, 2017

On October 30, 2017 CTI BioPharma Corp. (CTI BioPharma) (NASDAQ and MTA: CTIC) reported that management plans to report its third quarter 2017 financial results on Monday, November 6, 2017, after the close of the U.S. financial markets (Press release, CTI BioPharma, OCT 30, 2017, View Source [SID1234521285]). Following the announcement, members of the management team will host a webcast conference call to discuss the results and provide a general corporate update at 4:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. PT). Access to the event can be obtained as follows:

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!

Monday, November 6
1:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. ET/10:30 p.m. CET
1-888-461-2021 (domestic)
+1 719-325-2359 (international)

To access the live audio webcast or the subsequent archived recording, visit CTI BioPharma’s website, www.ctibiopharma.com. Webcast and telephone replays of the conference call will be available at approximately two hours after completion of the call. Callers can access the replay by dialing 1-888-203-1112 (domestic) or +1 719-457-0820 (international). The access code for the replay is 1048572. The telephone replay will be available until Monday, November 13, 2017.

Five Prime Therapeutics Presents Preclinical Data Demonstrating Potent Anti-Tumor Activity with FPT155

On October 30, 2017 Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:FPRX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing innovative immuno-oncology protein therapeutics, reported that new preclinical data demonstrating potent anti-tumor activity with FPT155, its novel therapeutic CD80-Fc fusion protein, were featured in a poster presentation yesterday during 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) (Press release, Five Prime Therapeutics, OCT 30, 2017, View Source [SID1234521297]). The conference is being held October 26-30, 2017, in Philadelphia. A PDF of the poster, “FPT155, a novel therapeutic CD80-Fc fusion protein, with potent anti-tumor activity in preclinical models,” will be made available on the Publications page of the Five Prime website.

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!

“The work done in preclinical models with FPT155 suggests that it has the potential to be a potent T cell co-stimulator with strong antitumor activity, and it may have a synergistic effect when combined with anti-PD1 therapy,” said Bryan Irving, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Research at Five Prime. “These results are very encouraging, and we are working to complete IND-enabling studies in anticipation of an IND filing for FPT155 in mid 2018.”

Five Prime has developed FPT155, a novel CD80 (B7.1) extracellular domain (ECD)-Fc fusion protein, as a co-stimulatory molecule designed to stimulate T cell activation and break tumor immune tolerance. In vitro studies show that FPT155 induces T cell activation and cytokine production via CD28, but is dependent on co-engagement of the T cell antigen receptor, differentiating it from a CD28 “superagonist.” A murine FPT155 was generated to investigate FPT155’s impact in preclinical models and was found to be well tolerated with potent efficacy in syngeneic tumor models, including the induction of complete tumor regression in the CT26 model. mFPT155 promotes the infiltration of T cells into the tumor core and increases the ratio of effector T cells to regulatory T cells, thus inducing a favorable microenvironment for an effective antitumor immune response. Furthermore, in preclinical studies combination of mFPT155 and anti-PD1 therapy leads to stronger antitumor efficacy compared to either therapy alone.

Pelican Therapeutics, a Subsidiary of Heat Biologics, Receives Second Tranche of its $15.2 Million CPRIT Grant Award

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.

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!

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.

Clinical Data for X4P-001-IO in Combination with Inlyta® (Axitinib) Demonstrated Encouraging Overall Response Rates (Including a Complete Response) and Disease Control Rates in Patients with Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

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]).

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!

Know more, wherever you are:
Latest on AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-NCI-EORTC through 1stOncology, book your free 1stOncology demo here.

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.

NewLink Genetics Announces FDA Orphan-Drug Designation for Indoximod 

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]).

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!

“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.