On July 22, 2024 NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, LLC (NorthStar) and BWXT Medical Ltd., a subsidiary of BWX Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BWXT) reported that they have signed a Master Services Agreement (MSA), which will facilitate the production of actinium-225 (Ac-225), a critical medical isotope used to kill cancer cells while minimizing the impact to healthy tissues (Press release, NorthStar Medical Radiostopes, JUL 22, 2024, View Source [SID1234645010]).

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Medical isotopes are essential for a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, including cancer treatments and advanced imaging techniques. Pursuant to the multi-year MSA, the companies will work together to process and purify radium-226 that will be irradiated to produce Ac-225. The scope of the agreement also includes potential target design projects and exploration of opportunities to provide backup supply to each other’s customers.

Jonathan Cirtain, president and chief executive officer of BWXT Medical, stated, "We are pleased to enter into this agreement with NorthStar. This collaboration is a significant step forward in our mission to support healthcare providers and patients by providing high-quality medical isotopes. Together, we are accelerating our radium-226 target design and fabrication efforts and establishing another irradiation relationship that will enable us to expand our production of Ac-225."

BWXT Medical will collaborate closely with NorthStar, a global innovator in the development, production and commercialization of radiopharmaceuticals used for therapeutic applications and medical imaging, to streamline production processes, enhance safety protocols and innovate new methods of isotope generation. This collaboration will leverage the strengths of both organizations, combining cutting-edge technology with extensive industry knowledge.

"At NorthStar, we believe we’re on the cusp of a global paradigm shift in the development and commercialization of effective new radiodiagnostics and radiotherapies that can potentially be applied to devastating cancers and rare, complex conditions," said Dr. Frank Scholz, NorthStar’s president and chief executive officer. "This agreement could be instrumental to the radiopharmaceutical industry and patient health. We are excited to collaborate with BWXT on actinium production and believe our complementary technical capabilities will play a critical role in bringing novel therapies to patients who so urgently need them."

BWXT Medical recently announced that it has submitted a Drug Master File (DMF) for Actinium-225 API to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). DMFs are submissions to FDA used to provide confidential, detailed information about facilities, processes or articles used in the manufacturing, processing, packaging and storing of human drug products.

An active DMF enables clinical investigators or pharmaceutical companies to reference the filing in their regulatory submissions. BWXT Medical’s Ac-225 has been used in an early clinical study, and the DMF is now ready for reference to support later stage clinical studies and, ultimately, new drug applications.

On July 22, 2024 TransCode Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNAZ) ("TransCode" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage RNA oncology company committed to more effectively treating cancer using RNA therapeutics, reported that it intends to offer to sell shares of its common stock (and/or pre-funded warrants ("Pre-funded Warrants") in lieu thereof) in a best efforts public offering (Press release, TransCode Therapeutics, JUL 22, 2024, View Source [SID1234645046]). All of the shares of common stock (and/or Pre-funded Warrants) are to be sold by the Company.

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ThinkEquity is acting as the sole placement agent for the offering.

The offering is subject to market conditions and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the offering. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering primarily for product development activities, including one or more clinical trials with TTX-MC138, its lead therapeutic candidate, and related investigational new drug (IND) enabling studies, and for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

The securities will be offered and sold pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-268764), including a base prospectus, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on December 13, 2022, and declared effective on December 16, 2022. The offering will be made only by means of a written prospectus forming part of the effective shelf registration statement. A preliminary prospectus supplement describing the terms of the offering, and an accompanying prospectus has been or will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to the offering may also be obtained from the offices of ThinkEquity, 17 State Street, 41st Floor, New York, New York 10004. Before investing in this offering, interested parties should read in their entirety the preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus and the other documents that the Company has filed with the SEC that are incorporated by reference in such preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, which provide more information about the Company and such offering.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction.

On July 22, 2024 Oncopeptides, a biotech company focused on difficult-to-treat cancers, reported entry of the first patient in a new study evaluating the real-world effectiveness and safety of Pepaxti in German patients (Press release, Oncopeptides, JUL 22, 2024, View Source [SID1234646794]). The study, which will include 100 patients across around 50 sites in Germany, aims at gathering evidence on Pepaxti’s effectiveness and safety in a real-world clinical practice and is the first Pepaxti study engaging treating physicians at multiple German sites.

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The study, named HARBOUR, will assess real-life clinical outcomes of Pepaxti treatment of patients suffering from refractory, relapsed multiple myeloma (RRMM) in a patient population that mirrors the indication of Pepaxti. The study marks another step forward in Oncopeptides’ ongoing efforts to strengthen the medical understanding of Pepaxti and will support the evidence base for the Pepaxti indicated population.

"Initiating the HARBOUR study with the enrollment of the first patient is a pivotal step forward to address the unmet needs of RRMM patients," says Dr. med. Johannes Waldschmidt, the Scientific Leader of the study from Universitätsklinikum Würzburg, Germany. "This partnership with Oncopeptides offers an opportunity for the German medical community to contribute to significant advancements in myeloma treatment and patient care."

"Our aim is to understand the performance of Pepaxti in the real world. It is important evidence to generate, not only for the German market but for the full European commercialization," says Sofia Heigis, CEO of Oncopeptides. "We are happy to for the first time initiate a study across Germany and also the very first study that is fully focused on our target population."

For more information, please visit the German Clinical Trials Register or Oncopeptides’ web site where questions and answers for investors will also be published.

On July 22, 2024 Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALGS, "Aligos"), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapeutics to address unmet medical needs in liver and viral diseases, reported that it has entered into a clinical trial collaboration agreement with Xiamen Amoytop Biotech Co., Ltd. ("Amoytop") (Press release, Aligos Therapeutics, JUL 22, 2024, View Source [SID1234644997]).

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Under the terms of the agreement, Amoytop will sponsor and perform a Phase 1b exploratory clinical study evaluating the efficacy and safety of ALG-000184 in combination with PEGBING (Mipeginterferon alfa-2b) in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients in China. The clinical study is expected to begin after approval by the National Medical Products Administration in China.

"We are pleased to build on our existing relationship with Amoytop, as they have proven to be a valuable partner," stated Lawrence Blatt, Ph.D., MBA, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer at Aligos Therapeutics. "We look forward to initiating this exploratory study to evaluate the combination of ALG-000184 with PEGBING, one of the approved drugs for CHB patients in China, to assess the potential benefits of a combinatory approach."

ALG-000184 is a potent best/first-in-class oral small molecule capsid assembly modulator (CAM-E) being developed for CHB. It is designed to exploit the dual role of CAMs by disrupting hepatitis B cccDNA levels and its derived transcripts by reducing expression of viral markers such as DNA, RNA, and the relevant antigens (HBsAg, HBeAg, HBcrAg). Phase 1a studies have demonstrated after single and multiple daily doses that ALG-000184 was well-tolerated, with no safety signals observed, and demonstrated linear pharmacokinetics (PK) and excellent antiviral activity. In longer term Phase 1b studies of ALG-000184 300mg x ≤96 weeks ± entecavir (ETV), ALG-000184 monotherapy has demonstrated best-in-class reductions in HBV DNA, RNA, HBsAg, HBeAg, and HBcrAg without viral breakthrough to date.

PEGBING, independently developed by Amoytop, is the world’s first 40kD pegylated interferon α-2b injection. With dual effects of inhibiting viral replication and enhancing immunity, PEGBING is mainly used in the clinical treatment of viral hepatitis and is the first-line drug for the antiviral treatment of chronic hepatitis B, which plays an important role in improving the clinical cure rate of hepatitis B and reducing the risk of liver cancer.

"We are pleased to deepen our cooperation in the field of liver disease treatment and look forward to working together to provide a new treatment solution for patients in need," said Sun Li, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Amoytop. "Amoytop is committed to further optimizing the chronic hepatitis B combination treatment pathway and hopes that the cooperation will lead to better clinical value drugs and drug combinations."

The Phase 1b study will be a randomized, double blinded, active controlled study to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics, and antiviral activity of oral once daily doses of 300 mg ALG-000184 + PEGBING + entecavir (ETV) compared with 300 mg ALG-000184 + ETV or PEGBING + ETV in treatment naïve or currently-not-treated HBeAg-positive and nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) suppressed HBeAg-negative subjects with CHB for 48 weeks.

On July 22, 2024 Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Naoki Okamura, "Astellas") and Graduate School of Medicine / Faculty of Medicine, Osaka University (President: Shojiro Nishio "Osaka University") reported that Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine (a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas, "AIRM"), Universal Cells (a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas) and Osaka University have entered into a research collaboration to develop innovative pluripotent stem cell*1-derived cartilage organoid cell therapy for the treatment of intervertebral disc degenerative disease (Press release, Astellas, JUL 22, 2024, View Source [SID1234644998]).

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Universal Cells holds the rights to Universal Donor Cell (UDC) technology to create cell therapy products from pluripotent stem cells that have reduced risk of immune rejection by genetically modifying Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) using gene editing technology.

Under the terms of the agreement, the three parties aim to combine the cartilage tissue creation protocol established by Professor Noriyuki Tsumaki of (Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences / Premium Research Institute for Human Metaverse Medicine) the Department of Tissue Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, a leading researcher in cartilage diseases, Universal Cells’ UDC technology, and AIRM’s exceptional R&D expertise in cell therapy, and jointly create an innovative cell therapy for intervertebral disc degenerative disease.

Yoshitsugu Shitaka, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer (CScO) of Astellas
"Astellas is committed to achieving our VISION of being "on the forefront of healthcare change, turning innovative science into VALUE for patients". We hope to provide our cutting-edge UDC technology to academia and startups globally, and deliver next-generation cell therapies to patients. This partnership is an important step in the open innovation using UDC technology."

Professor Noriyuki Tsumaki, M.D., Ph.D., (Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences / Premium Research Institute for Human Metaverse Medicine) Department of Tissue Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University
"We believe that our cartilage-like tissue has the potential to regenerate intervertebral discs. We hope that combining our research with Astellas’ UDC technology and R&D cell therapy system will accelerate and realize the development of regenerative therapies to treat intervertebral disc degenerative disease."