Rakovina Therapeutics Inc. Announces 2024 Financial Results and Provides Corporate Update

On April 30, 2025 Rakovina Therapeutics Inc. (TSX-V: RKV) (FSE: 7JO), a biopharmaceutical company advancing next-generation cancer therapies through artificial intelligence (AI)-powered drug discovery reported the financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ending December 31, 2024 and provided a corporate update (Press release, Rakovina Therapeutics, APR 30, 2025, View Source;utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rakovina-therapeutics-inc-announces-2024-financial-results-and-provides-corporate-update [SID1234652392]).

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2024 Highlights and Recent Developments

On April 29, 2025, we announced the intention to appoint Yevgeniy Meshcherekov and David Kideckel to the Company’s board of directors, subject to receiving approval from the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company also announces that Michael Liggett has retired from the Board. Subject to TSXV approval, Mr. Meshcherekov will replace Mr. Liggett as the chair of the audit committee of the Board
On April 28 & 29, 2025, we presented pre-clinical data related to the development of our kt-2000 and kt-5000 programs at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) annual meeting. These data demonstrate that select candidates derived from our AI collaborations may meet our target product profile for a PARP-1 selective lead candidate (kt-2000) and for an ATR-inhibitor (kt-5000).
On March 12, 2025, we announced that we had received the first synthesized batch of AI-generated ATR inhibitor compounds developed in collaboration with Variational AI.
On January 30, 2025, we announced the listing of common shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE) under the ticker symbol "7J0".
On January 13, 2025, we announced the successful achievement of a shortlist of AI-generated molecules targeting ATR (Ataxia Telangiectasia and Rad3-related protein) with specific designs for central nervous system (CNS) penetration.
On January 6, 2025, we announced the receipt of initial synthesized drug candidates: AI-generated PARP-inhibitor compounds for in vitro and in vivo validation in our laboratories.
On December 13, 2024, we announced the closing of an oversubscribed $3.0 million private placement offering (the "Private Placement"). The Private Placement consists of 50,000,000 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.06 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (each, a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to subscribe for and purchase one Common Share of the Company for a period of 24 months from the date of issue at a price of $0.10 per Common Share. Rakovina retains the right to accelerate the Warrant exercise period if, upon written notice to the holder, the 20-day volume-weighted average price of its Common Shares exceeds $0.30.
On November 22, 2024, we delivered a poster presentation highlighting initial results of our Deep Docking and generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) PARP-inhibitor program at the Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas.
On October 25, 2024, we presented our research on kt-3283, our lead small-molecule bifunctional inhibitor of PARP and HDAC enzymes at the 36th EORTC-NCI-AARC Symposium in Barcelona, Spain.
On October 23, 2024, we announced the receipt of initial results from the Company’s Deep Docking AI partnership following the evaluation of billions of molecular structures. This process resulted in a short-list of drug candidates that have been optimized to a specific target-product profile.
On September 17, 2024, we announced a research collaboration with Variational AI to employ the proprietary Enki AI platform to identify and develop novel small-molecule therapies against select DDR kinase targets for the treatment of cancer.
On July 26, 2024, we announced the final closing of an over-subscribed non-brokered private placement financing of units priced at $0.10 per unit with each unit consisting of one common share and one common share purchase warrant with an exercise price of $0.20 per warrant and a term of three years for gross proceeds to the Company of $2 million (the "2024 Private Placement"). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to subscribe for and purchase one Common Share at a purchase price of $0.20 for a period of three years from the date of issuance. If the closing price for the Common Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange is $0.25 or greater for five consecutive trading days, the Company will have the right to accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants, upon written notice to the holder, to the date that is 30 days following such notice.
On May 8, 2024, we announced the expansion of our collaborations with the University of British Columbia ("UBC") and our medicinal chemistry partner, Pharma Inventor Inc. to support the Company’s AI drug discovery initiatives.
On March 27, 2024, we announced a collaboration agreement with Dr. Artem Cherkasov granting Rakovina exclusive access to the proprietary Deep Docking AI Platform for DNA-damage response targets. We are using the Deep Docking platform to quickly analyze billions of molecular structures to evaluate their potential as targeted cancer drugs.
Summary Financial Results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2024

At December 31, 2024, the Company had positive working capital of approximately $321,442.

For the three- and twelve-months ending December 31, 2024, the Company reported a net loss of $1,483,988 and $4,072,618, respectively. Research and development operating expenses were $744,533 and $2,341,600 for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2024, respectively. General and administrative expenses were $650,268 and $1,446,451 for the three- and twelve-months ending December 31, 2024, respectively. Total cash operating expenses related to research and development and general and administrative expenses for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2024, were $3,165,554 and $1,243,517 respectively.

Selected Financial Information As at December 31, 2024 $
Cash & cash equivalents 1,312,743
Working capital 321,442
Intangible assets 3,977,473
Total Assets 6,240,920
Total liabilities 1,942,005
Deficit (14,997,929)
Total equity 4,298,915
Statements of net loss and comprehensive loss data: For the three months ended December 31, 2024 $ For the year ended December 31, 2024 $
Research & Development 744,533 2,341,600
General and administrative 650,268 1,446,451
Net loss and comprehensive loss (1,483,988) (2,612,925)
Basic and diluted income (loss) per share (0.01) (0.05)
Operating cash burn 1,243,517 3,165,554
Weighted average shares outstanding 100,089,471 82,549,477
Rakovina Therapeutics’ financial statements as filed with SEDAR can be accessed from the Company’s website at: View Source

Rein Therapeutics to Present at The Citizens Life Sciences Conference 2025

On April 30, 2025 Rein Therapeutics ("Rein") (NASDAQ: RNTX), a biopharmaceutical company advancing a novel pipeline of first-in-class medicines to address significant unmet medical needs in orphan pulmonary and fibrosis indications, reported that Brian Windsor, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, will present at The Citizens Life Sciences Conference 2025 on Thursday, May 8, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. EDT in New York, NY (Press release, Aileron Therapeutics, APR 30, 2025, View Source [SID1234652374]).

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A live webcast of the event can be accessed at View Source A replay of the webcast will be available for 90 days following the presentation.

Purple Biotech Reports Final Data from Phase 2 Study of CM24 in Pancreatic Cancer Patients at AACR 2025 Annual Meeting: Improved Outcomes and Significant Efficacy in Biomarker-Enriched Subgroups

On April 30, 2025 Purple Biotech Ltd. ("Purple Biotech" or "the Company") (NASDAQ/TASE: PPBT), a clinical-stage company developing first-in-class therapies that seek to overcome tumor immune evasion and drug resistance, reported that a poster presentation titled "Final analysis of the randomized Phase 2 cohort of CM24 with nivolumab and chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer & potential serum biomarkers" is being presented during the session "Liquid Biopsy: Circulating Nucleic Acids 4 / Predictive Biomarkers 1" at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR 2025) on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 (Press release, Purple Biotech, APR 30, 2025, View Source;id=347386&p=2372871&I=1206939-c7Z3G6f3m8 [SID1234652394]).

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"These statistically significant biomarker results, with up to a 90% reduction in risk of death over the control group, are highly encouraging and we believe warrant a biomarker-driven Phase 2b study," stated Purple Biotech CEO Gil Efron. "The new, previously unpublished data presented at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) demonstrate significant overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) benefit for patients meeting the criteria of either serum CEACAM1 or tumor CEACAM1 biomarkers. With these final data reported, we believe CM24 could potentially be positioned as a therapy targeting CEACAM1 in cancers with large unmet needs."

At AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) 2025, Purple Biotech presented final data from its randomized, controlled, open-label, multicenter Phase 2 study (NCT04731467), which established proof of concept in a biomarker-enriched subgroup of 31 patients with advanced/metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) who were post-first line therapy, and compared treatment with CM24 + nivolumab + Nal-IRI/5FU/LV against treatment with Nal-IRI/5FU/LV alone.

The following is a summary of the findings.

The combination of CM24, nivolumab and Nal-IRI/5FU/LV chemotherapy was well tolerated and demonstrated quantitative improvement in all efficacy parameters, including OS, PFS, objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR) and CA19-9, in previously treated PDAC patients.

Without consideration of biomarkers, a consistent improvement in the treatment arm compared to the control arm was observed, as follows:

Prolongation of 2.4 months in OS HR=0.81 (p-0.575) and prolongation of 1.9 months in PFS HR=0.75 (p=0.463) vs. control arm
Higher ORR in experimental arm vs control arm (25% vs 6.7%)
Higher DCR in experimental arm vs control arm (62.5% vs 46.7%)
Consistent and continuous decrease in CA19-9 was observed in experimental arm vs control arm increase
Biomarker results included the following:

A statistically significant benefit to patients with defined pre-treatment ranges of serum CEACAM1 or tumor CEACAM1 expression (H score) compared to the control arm (representing a subgroup of 52% of patients):

Subgroup analyses of 16/31 patients meeting the criteria of CEACAM1+Tumor cell H score 115-275 or serum CEACAM1 levels 6K-15K pg/mL
78% reduction in risk of death (HR 0.22, 95% CI 0.07-0.7, p=0.006) and 95% reduction in the risk of progression or death (HR 0.05, 95% CI 0.01-0.44, p=0.0003)
Prolongation of 3.7 months in OS and 2.9 months in PFS
Statistically significant results in patients with defined pre-treatment serum CEACAM1 or myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels (representing a subgroup of 80% of patients):

Subgroup analyses for 24/30 patients meeting the criteria of MPO levels 200-600 ng/mL or serum CEACAM1 levels 6K-15K pg/mL
61% reduction in risk of death (HR = 0.39, 95% CI 0.16-0.98, p=0.039) and 72% reduction in the risk of progression or death (HR=0.28, 95% CI 0.11-0.73, p=0.006)
Prolongation of 2.4 months in OS and 2.2 months in median PFS
A statistically significant benefit for CM24-nivolumab treatment in patients with high CEACAM1+Tumor cell H score and low PD-L1 CPS (representing a subgroup of 38% of patients):

Subgroup analyses of 10/26 patients meeting the criteria of high CEACAM1+Tumor cell H score 115 and Low CPS 1 (
90% reduction in risk of death (HR = 0.1, 95% CI 0.01-0.89, p=0.013) and 81% reduction in the risk of progression or death (HR = 0.19, 95% CI 0.04-1.02, p=0.033)
Prolongation of 4 months in OS and 2 months in PFS
"The identification of CEACAM1 as a potential biomarker, both in serum and at the tumor, corresponds with the multi-faceted function of CEACAM1, as part of the neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) structure affecting NET-related tumor immune evasion, metastasis and other cancer-associated complications, such as thrombosis, at the level of the whole body, as well as modulation of the tumor microenvironment (TME)," stated Purple Biotech VP of Research and Development, Dr. Hadas Reuveni. "Targeting CEACAM1 by CM24 suggests a potential new approach that may address tumor-associated mechanisms affecting the patient at the levels of the tumor, the TME and the whole body. The biomarker data accumulated in this clinical study may help us to direct the treatment of patients who might have a higher chance to benefit from the treatment and could expand our understanding of CEACAM1 and NETs in cancer biology."

Final conclusions from the study:

The combination of CM24, nivolumab, and Nal-IRI/5FU/LV chemotherapy was well tolerated and
demonstrated quantitative improvement in all efficacy parameters, including OS, PFS, ORR and CA19-9, in previously treated PDAC patients.

Based on post-hoc analyses – serum CEACAM1 and MPO, a NET marker, are demonstrated as potential predictive biomarkers for CM24-based therapy, consistent with its mechanism of action (MoA) in targeting CEACAM1 to modulate immune evasion and NET activities.
Results imply that both serum and tumor CEACAM1 levels are potential predictive biomarkers for CM24 based therapy, suggesting multifaceted MoA and the crosstalk of the tumor with the TME and the whole body.
Improved outcome in patients with high tumor CEACAM1 expression and low PD-L1 CPS further support the mechanistic rationale of the CM24/nivolumab combination and highlight its potential in disease settings where immuno-oncology is less effective.
"The design of the randomized trial enabled us to evaluate the benefit of CM24 and nivolumab in combination with standard of care chemotherapy and to analyze potential biomarker data to better prepare for the next study." stated Purple Biotech Head of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs, Dr. Michael Schickler. "We currently expect the design of the next Phase 2b study to include an additional group testing CM24 alone in combination with standard of care with patients selected based on the identified biomarkers, potentially in indications such as gastric and/or biliary tract cancer, in addition to PDAC."

The poster will be available at the Publication section on Purple Biotech’s website following its presentation at the conference.

Fixed-duration Calquence-based regimens recommended for approval in the EU by CHMP for 1st-line chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

On April 29, 2025 AstraZeneca reported that a fixed-duration regimen of Calquence (acalabrutinib) in combination with venetoclax, with or without obinutuzumab, has been recommended for approval in the European Union (EU) for the treatment of adult patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) (Press release, AstraZeneca, APR 29, 2025, View Source [SID1234652259]).

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The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) based its positive opinion on results from the AMPLIFY Phase III trial, which were presented at the American Society of Haematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper) 2024 Annual Meeting and published in The New England Journal of Medicine.1

Results showed Calquence plus venetoclax reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 35% compared to standard-of-care chemoimmunotherapy (investigator’s choice of fludarabine-cyclophosphamide-rituximab or bendamustine-rituximab; hazard ratio [HR] 0.65; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.49-0.87; p=0.0038). Calquence plus venetoclax with obinutuzumab demonstrated a 58% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared to standard-of-care chemoimmunotherapy (HR 0.42; 95% CI 0.30-0.59; p<0.0001).2

At three years, 77% of patients treated with Calquence plus venetoclax and 83% of patients treated with Calquence plus venetoclax and obinutuzumab were progression free, versus 67% of patients treated with chemoimmunotherapy.1 Median progression-free survival (PFS) was not reached for either experimental arm versus 47.6 months for chemoimmunotherapy.1

Wojciech Jurczak, MD, Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Institute of Oncology, Kraków, Poland and investigator for the trial, said: "Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia is an incurable cancer which means patients live with the disease and stay on treatment for many years, which can have long-term effects. The fixed-duration Calquence regimens will allow patients to take breaks from their treatment, reducing the risk of long-term adverse events and drug resistance."

Susan Galbraith, Executive Vice President, Oncology Haematology R&D, AstraZeneca, said: "With this recommendation, Calquence plus venetoclax can potentially be the only all-oral second-generation BTK inhibitor option approved in Europe for patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Calquence has demonstrated efficacy and safety in fixed-duration and treat-to-progression regimens providing patients and their doctors more treatment flexibility."

CLL is the most common type of leukaemia in adults, with an estimated 27,000 patients diagnosed in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy in 2024.3

The safety and tolerability of Calquence was consistent with its known safety profile, and no new safety signals were identified.

Regulatory applications for Calquence plus venetoclax, with or without obinutuzumab, in this setting are currently under review in several countries based on the AMPLIFY results.

Notes

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL)
CLL is the most prevalent type of leukaemia in adults, with over 117,000 new cases globally in 2021.4 Although some people with CLL may not experience any symptoms at diagnosis, others may experience symptoms, such as weakness, fatigue, weight loss, chills, fever, night sweats, swollen lymph nodes and abdominal pain.5 In CLL, there is an accumulation of abnormal lymphocytes within the blood, bone marrow and lymph nodes. As the number of abnormal cells increases, there is less room within the marrow for the production of normal white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets.6 This could result in infection, anaemia and bleeding. B-cell receptor signalling through BTK is one of the essential growth pathways for CLL.

AMPLIFY
AMPLIFY is a randomised, global, multi-centre, open-label Phase III trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of Calquence in combination with venetoclax, with or without obinutuzumab, compared to investigator’s choice of chemoimmunotherapy (fludarabine-cyclophosphamide-rituximab or bendamustine-rituximab) in adult patients with previously untreated CLL without del(17p) or TP53 mutation.7 Patients were randomised 1:1:1 to receive either Calquence plus venetoclax, Calquence plus venetoclax with obinutuzumab for a fixed duration or standard-of-care chemoimmunotherapy.7 Both the Calquence containing arms were administered for a fixed duration of 14 cycles (each 28 days), and the standard-of-care chemoimmunotherapy was for 6 cycles.7

The primary endpoint is PFS in the Calquence and venetoclax arm as assessed by an Independent Review Committee and PFS in the Calquence plus venetoclax with obinutuzumab is a key secondary endpoint.7 Other key secondary endpoints include OS and undetectable measurable residual disease.7 The trial includes 27 countries across North and South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania.7

The AMPLIFY trial enrolled patients from 2019 to 2021, continuing through the COVID-19 pandemic.7 Patients with blood cancer remain at a disproportionately high risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19, including hospitalisation and death compared to the general population.8

Calquence
Calquence (acalabrutinib) is a second-generation, selective inhibitor of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK). Calquence binds covalently to BTK, thereby inhibiting its activity.9 In B-cells, BTK signalling results in activation of pathways necessary for B-cell proliferation, trafficking, chemotaxis and adhesion.

Calquence is approved for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) in the US, Japan and China, approved for CLL in the EU and many other countries worldwide. Calquence is also approved for the treatment of adult patients with previously untreated MCL in the US and other countries. It is also approved for the treatment of adult patients with MCL who have received at least one prior therapy in China and several other countries. Calquence is not currently approved for the treatment of MCL in Japan.

As part of an extensive clinical development programme, Calquence is currently being evaluated as a single treatment and in combination with standard-of-care chemoimmunotherapy for patients with multiple B-cell blood cancers, including CLL, MCL and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Nouscom Presents Positive Final Results from Completed Phase Ib/II Study of Neoantigen Immunotherapy NOUS-209 at AACR 2025, Demonstrating a Highly Potent and Durable Immune Response in Lynch Syndrome Carriers

On April 29, 2025 Nouscom, a clinical-stage biotech company developing next-generation neoantigen-targeted off-the-shelf and personalized cancer immunotherapies, reported complete safety and immunogenicity results from a Phase Ib/II study evaluating NOUS-209 in individuals with Lynch Syndrome (LS) at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2025 (Press release, NousCom, APR 29, 2025, View Source;utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nouscom-presents-positive-final-results-from-completed-phase-ib-ii-study-of-neoantigen-immunotherapy-nous-209-at-aacr-2025-demonstrating-a-highly-potent-and-durable-immune-response-in-lynch-syndrome [SID1234652315]). The study found that NOUS-209 monotherapy was safe, well-tolerated and induced potent, broad and durable immune responses in all LS carriers evaluated.

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LS is a common inherited condition that significantly increases a person’s risk of developing microsatellite instability (MSI)-associated cancers over their lifetime. Managing LS is limited to frequent screenings or elective organ removal surgery. NOUS-209 is an investigational off-the-shelf cancer immunotherapy that targets tumors with mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR) and/or MSI. These tumors produce markers known as frameshift peptide neoantigens (FSPs). NOUS-209 is a pioneering approach to cancer interception comprising two proprietary viral vectors that deliver 209 shared FSP neoantigens and train the immune system to recognize and attack cancerous and pre-cancerous cells before tumors can fully develop.

The completed Phase Ib/II trial evaluated safety and immunogenicity in 45 LS carriers demonstrated;

Favorable Safety Profile: NOUS-209 was well tolerated, with no serious treatment-related adverse events across the entire study population.
Potent and Durable Immunogenicity Profile: Neoantigen-specific T cell responses were reported in 100% of evaluable participants (n=37). Responses were robust, reaching a mean of ~1100 interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) spot forming cells (SFC) per million of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs). Immune responses were durable, with tumor-specific T cells detected after 1 year in >85% of participants (n=33).
Broad, Polyspecific T Cell Response: Immune responses were confirmed against 115 different FSP neoantigens to date, validating the ability of NOUS-209 to elicit broad polyspecific immune responses.
Desired T Cell Phenotype: NOUS-209 induced neoantigen-specific CD8 and CD4 T cells, exhibiting an effector memory phenotype associated with long-lived immunity critical for sustained surveillance and ability to eliminate emerging tumor cells.
Demonstration of Tumor Cell Killing: T cells induced by NOUS-209 were shown to directly kill tumor cells ex vivo, confirming functional anti-cancer activity.
Target Validation in LS-Associated Premalignant and Cancer Lesions: The vast majority of the immunogenic FSP neoantigens were shown to be present in both pre-cancerous as well as cancer lesions from independent cohorts of LS carriers.
These data support the further clinical development of NOUS-209 as a monotherapy in LS carriers. Following positive Type B and C meetings with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Nouscom has a clear path forward for the advancement of NOUS-209 to a potentially registration-enabling Phase 2/3 clinical study for cancer interception in those living with LS.

"Currently, individuals with Lynch Syndrome rely on frequent screenings, such as colonoscopies, to manage their markedly increased risk of developing cancer. These latest data are a step toward a completely new approach – leveraging the immune system for cancer interception," said the study’s principal investigator, Eduardo Vilar-Sanchez, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Clinical Cancer Prevention at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. "NOUS-209 has shown clear evidence that the T cells it activates can persist over time, effectively target and kill tumor cells and develop into memory cells that support long-term immune protection. These findings support NOUS-209’s potential as a cancer interception strategy."

"Nouscom’s proprietary viral vector platform is uniquely positioned to deliver rapid, potent and broad immune activation against a large number of shared neoantigens, with minimal reactogenicity and durable immune responses," said Dr. Elisa Scarselli, Chief Scientific Officer of Nouscom. "These compelling Phase Ib/II data further reinforce our confidence in NOUS-209 monotherapy to safely and effectively prime the immune system to recognize and intercept pre-malignant and cancer lesions before they progress into tumors in LS carriers."

Dr. Marina Udier, Chief Executive Officer of Nouscom, added: "We are enormously pleased with these robust Phase Ib/II data and look to progress toward a potentially registration-enabling Phase 2/3 clinical study for cancer interception in LS. We remain deeply committed to advancing NOUS-209 and bring better solutions for people living with LS who urgently need and deserve a better way to manage their cancer risk."

The study was led by researchers at MD Anderson, in collaboration with the Cancer Prevention Clinical Trials Network and sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (grant # UG1CA242609) of the National Institutes of Health. These data were presented during the Hot Topics in Cancer Prevention session, and the abstract is available on the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) website here.