On February 5, 2017 Abbisko Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discover and develop innovative medicines, reported the completion of a $28 million Series A financing from a leading group of healthcare investors, including Lilly Asia Ventures, Sinopharm Capital, Jianxin Capital, and TF Capital (Press release, Abbisko Therapeutics, FEB 5, 2017, View Source;article_id=43 [SID1234521011]).

The proceeds will be used to support Abbisko Therapeutics’ drug research and development effort, including the creation of a state-of-the-art R&D center and advancing a drug discovery pipeline with multiple programs in oncology and other disease areas.

"We are fortunate to have a number of the world’s premier healthcare investors participated in this round of financing." said Dr. Yao-chang Xu, founder and CEO of Abbisko. "We have a new but highly experienced drug research and development team. Investors agree with our strategy and philosophy, providing strong financing support to enable our quick start. We will seize the opportunities to become a critical force and leading company in the discovery of novel medicines in China and the world. We hope to bring revolutionary therapeutic solutions to patient as soon as possible".

"At present, China’s innovative drug discovery is in a golden period of time with vigorous development and progress. In a very rapid fashion, Abbisko has built up a top notch R&D team and established a strong pipeline." said Ai’min Wu, Partner and President of Sinopharm Capital. "Sinopharm Capital fully recognizes Abbisko’s expertise and strategy and believes in that, under the leadership of Dr. Yao-chang Xu and the management team, Abbisko has a great potential to become one of the leading biopharmaceutical companies in China and in the industry. Sinopharm Capital is pleased to participate the creation and development of Abbisko Therapeutics and will continue to dedicate in helping domestic biomedical companies to be competitive with international leading players.

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!

On February 5, 2017 Abbisko Therapeutics Co., Ltd. reported the successful completion of its series A round financing at $28 million (Press release, Abbisko Therapeutics, FEB 5, 2017, View Source;article_id=70 [SID1234556289]). This round was led by Lilly Asia Ventures and followed by Sinopharm Capital, Jianxin Capital, and TF Capital.

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 fund raised in this round will be used to support new drug research of Abbisko Therapeutics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Abbisko), including setting up a new drug R&D center, building an innovative drug R&D team and establishing antitumor drug R&D pipelines.

Abbisko is a new innovative biopharmaceutical company established in Zhangjiang of Shanghai. The company’s founding members previously held significant R&D leadership and management positions in several Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies (Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Eli Lilly and AbbVie) and China’s leading pharmaceutical companies (Hengrui and Hansoh). They have extensive project leadership and team management experience in novel drug development and clinical trials. Abbisko will focus on unmet needs of patients especially those of Chinese patients, follow international standards for new drug development, and dedicate itself to the research and development of innovative therapeutics with global intellectual property rights.

Dr. Yao-chang Xu, Abbisko’s founder, board chairman and CEO, commented on this round of financing: "We are gratified that several of the world’s leading investment institutions participated in this very important round of financing. We are a new but highly experienced drug development team. The investors agree with our strategy and philosophy. As a result, our team can set sail quickly and seize the opportunities brought by the rapid development of biotech sector in China. We’ll work hard to bring more revolutionary treatment solutions to suffering patients as soon as possible."

Mr. Aimin Wu, Sinopharm Capital’s president and partner, said: "At present, China’s innovative drug R&D are in a golden age of development. Abbisko has established a top-notch R&D team with a fast growing cutting-edge product pipelines. Sinopharm fully recognize and appreciates Abbisko’s R&D strength and supports its direction. Led by Dr. Yao-chang Xu, Abbisko is capable of becoming a super star company in the biomedical sector. Sinopharm is honored to participate in the establishment and development of Abbisko, helping domestic biomedical companies to compete with international innovative enterprises."

With Abbisko’s successful establishment and completion of this round of investment, an important new force has risen for China’s innovative drug R&D.

On February 6, 2017 Innate Pharma SA (the "Company" – Euronext Paris: FR0010331421 – IPH) reported top-line results from the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase II trial testing the efficacy of lirilumab as a single agent maintenance treatment in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission ("EffiKIR" trial) (Press release, Innate Pharma, FEB 4, 2017, View Source [SID1234517640]). The study did not meet its primary efficacy endpoint of leukemia-free survival (LFS).

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!

Two arms of the trial tested single agent lirilumab at different doses and treatment intervals (0.1 mg/kg q3months or 1 mg/kg q1month) whereas in the third arm, patients received placebo. There was no statistically significant difference between either lirilumab arms and the placebo arm on the LFS nor on other efficacy endpoints. As announced in March 2015, one arm of the trial was discontinued upon DSMB recommendation. This arm has now been identified as the 1 mg/kg q1month arm of the trial. At the time of its decision, the DSMB assessed that the objective of achieving a superior LFS in this arm compared to placebo could not be reached. There was no concern with tolerance.

The adverse events encountered with lirilumab were consistent with the previously reported safety profile of lirilumab.

Data analyses are ongoing and the full trial data will be submitted to a future medical conference and for publication.

Lirilumab is being investigated in six trials sponsored by Bristol-Myers Squibb, across a range of solid and hematological cancer indications in combination with other agents, including nivolumab (see on clinicaltrials.gov).

Pierre Dodion, Chief Medical Officer of Innate Pharma, said: "Although we knew that this setting was challenging, we are disappointed by the results of the EffiKIR study and will investigate further to better understand the data in its entirety. However, Effikir is only one of seven studies currently investigating lirilumab. Lirilumab is tested in a broad and comprehensive combination program in multiple indications and we saw encouraging early efficacy signals of lirilumab in combination with nivolumab at the 2016 SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) meeting. We are looking forward to the next data sets as well as the next steps for the program in 2017."

On February 2, 2017 CytomX Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:CTMX), a biopharmaceutical company developing investigational Probody therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, reported the treatment of the first patient in the PROCLAIM (Probody Clinical Assessment In Man) CX-072 study, a Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating CX-072, a PD-L1-targeting Probody therapeutic, as monotherapy and in combination with Yervoy (ipilimumab) or Zelboraf(vemurafenib) in patients with all types of cancers (Press release, CytomX Therapeutics, FEB 2, 2017, View Source;p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2241629 [SID1234517635]).

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!

"Treating the first patient with CX-072 marks a key milestone as we advance our broad pipeline of innovative Probody therapeutics into clinical development within the PROCLAIM program," said Rachel W. Humphrey, M.D., chief medical officer of CytomX Therapeutics. "Advancement of this potentially transformational treatment, derived from our Probody technology platform, would not be possible without the patients who are willing to engage with the scientific community by enrolling in clinical trials. We thank them for their participation."

About the PROCLAIM-072 Trial
The first clinical trial under the international umbrella program PROCLAIM is the open-label, dose-finding Phase 1/2 study evaluating CX-072 as monotherapy and in combination with Yervoy (ipilimumab) or Zelboraf(vemurafenib) in patients with all types of cancers. As part of the study, CytomX aims to achieve three goals as part of the PROCLAIM-072 clinical trial:

Tolerability: Demonstrate that CX-072 is well tolerated in patients and potentially improves safety, particularly in the combination setting.
Anti-cancer activity: Demonstrate initial evidence of CX-072’s anti-cancer activity as monotherapy and in combination.
Translational program and Probody platform proof-of-concept: Explore mechanistic aspects of Probody activity in patients as observed in preclinical studies.

More information about the trial is available at clinicaltrials.gov.

On February 2, 2017 QB3@953, the Bay Area’s premier life science incubator, reported the collaboration between one of its member companies, Telo Therapeutics, and one of its sponsor companies, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (Press release, Telo Therapeutics, FEB 2, 2017, View Source [SID1234574485]). Telo Therapeutics is a start-up biotechnology company co-founded by Joe Costello, PhD, UCSF Professor of Neurological Surgery, and Robert Bell, PhD, a former post doc in Dr. Costello’s lab. GSK’s Discovery Partnerships with Academia (DPAc) group recently extended its 2015 collaboration agreement with QB3@953, and has now formed a collaboration with Telo Therapeutics to develop a novel precision medicine with the aim to reverse cancer cell immortality.

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’re delighted to collaborate with GSK because of their extensive chemistry resources and drug development expertise," said Dr. Costello.

"This collaboration is a tremendous step forward for Telo, and it will accelerate our development timeline towards patient trials faster than would be possible alone," added Dr. Bell, now CEO of Telo Therapeutics.

"Telo is exactly the type of innovative target concept that we were hoping to see through our collaboration with QB3@953," said Carolyn Buser-Doepner, Head of the GSK DPAc team. "The principal scientists and their innovative, early target concept are an excellent fit for the DPAc model."

Telo first became a member of QB3@953 and then a collaborator with GSK’s DPAc team as well as the recipient of GSK’s "golden ticket" lab bench at QB3@953. The "golden ticket" is provided by QB3@953 to allow sponsor companies to select a promising Bay Area biotech company of their choice to allocate use of state-of-the-art research equipment and lab space granted to partners of QB3@953. As a "golden ticket" company, Telo Therapeutics will have access to GSK’s allocated space and equipment for one year while the two companies work together to perform a series of small molecule screens. If promising drug candidates are identified through this collaboration, a longer multi-year partnership between the parties could be established to advance the drug to the clinic.

"The formation of the collaboration between Telo Therapeutics and GSK is a great example of how QB3@953 serves as a launch pad to pair local researchers possessing great science and entrepreneurial aspirations with partner resources necessary to advance innovative programs within new companies," said Doug Crawford, QB3@953 Managing Director.