Alterome Therapeutics Launches With $64M Series A Financing

On January 19, 2022 Alterome Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing alteration-specific targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer, reported the closing of a $64M Series A financing (Press release, Alterome Therapeutics, JAN 19, 2022, View Source [SID1234605658]). The financing was led by OrbiMed, with participation from Nextech Invest, Vida Ventures, Boxer Capital, and others. Alterome Therapeutics was co-founded by Eric Murphy, Ph.D., and Ryan Corcoran, M.D., Ph.D.

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Dr. Murphy, an industry veteran with 20 years in oncology research and drug discovery, will serve as the Company’s chief executive and chief scientific officer. He most recently served as co-founder and chief scientific officer of Kinnate Biopharma. Dr. Corcoran, Scientific Director of the Termeer Center for Targeted Therapy and Director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, will serve on the board of directors and scientific advisory board.

"The Alterome team is grateful for the dedication and support provided by this world class investor syndicate that enables a tabula rasa to advance the precision oncology field by creating alteration-specific medicines," commented Dr. Murphy of Alterome Therapeutics, Inc.

In conjunction with the financing, Carl Gordon, Ph.D., CFA, Managing Partner at OrbiMed, Thilo Schroeder, Ph.D., Partner at Nextech, and Arjun Goyal, M.D., M.Phil, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Vida Ventures, will join the board of directors.

"We are pleased to work with this experienced management team and investor syndicate to raise the bar in targeted oncology," commented Dr. Gordon of OrbiMed.

"Founded on compelling science, Alterome’s novel approach has the potential to transform the treatment paradigm for cancer patients globally," commented Dr. Goyal of Vida Ventures.

CURALEAF COMPLETES ACQUISTION OF BLOOM DISPENSARIES

On January 19, 2022 Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (CSE: CURA / OTCQX: CURLF) ("Curaleaf" or the "Company"), a leading international provider of consumer products in cannabis, reported the completion of its previously announced acquisition of Bloom Dispensaries ("Bloom"), a vertically integrated, single state cannabis operator in Arizona (the "Transaction") (Press release, Curaleaf Holdings, JAN 19, 2022, View Source [SID1234606759]). With the close of the Transaction, Curaleaf’s retail footprint has reached 13 dispensaries in Arizona and 121 nationwide.

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Boris Jordan, Executive Chairman of Curaleaf, stated, "Bloom is an excellent strategic fit for Curaleaf as it further expands our capacity and retail footprint in Arizona with an attractive set of assets, enabling us to better serve the state’s US$1.4 billion-plus annual market opportunity. Adding to these benefits, Bloom will be immediately accretive to our adjusted EBITDA margins. On behalf of the Board of Directors and management team, I am pleased to officially welcome Bloom to the Curaleaf family."

Joseph Bayern, CEO of Curaleaf, stated, "We are very excited to complete our acquisition of Bloom. Bloom is an ideal asset to expand Curaleaf’s presence in Arizona having built a strong and profitable business by consistently delivering the highest quality products to the market. Arizona represents a significant market opportunity with strong long-term growth potential, and we believe the combination of our two companies will enable Curaleaf to accelerate our growth strategy in the state."

Bloom Dispensaries Highlights:

·2021 revenue of approximately US$66 million and EBITDA margins of more than 40%.
·Four retail dispensaries located in the cities of Phoenix, Tucson, Peoria, and the only dispensary currently in Sedona.
·Two adjacent cultivation and processing facilities located in north Phoenix totaling approximately 63,500 sq. ft. of space.

Transaction Details:

Under the terms of the agreement, Curaleaf paid an aggregate purchase price of approximately US$211 million on a cash and debt free basis with target working capital. The purchase price is subject to standard adjustments based on the actual working capital in the company at close. The purchase price will be paid US$51 million in cash at close, with the remaining approximately US$160 million to be paid through the issuance three promissory notes of US$50 million, US$50 million, and US$60 million due, respectively, on the first, second and third anniversary of closing of the Transaction. At the option of the sellers of Bloom, the third promissory note may be paid by the Company by issuing up to 4,881,392 subordinate voting shares of Curaleaf Holdings at a fixed price of US$13.85 per share on the third anniversary of closing. The notes will be recourse only to shares and assets of Bloom and will not be guaranteed by any Curaleaf entity.

Engitix builds liver disease pipeline with series A and drug collaboration

On January 19, 2022 Engitix reported that With the close of its Series A round at €48M ($54M), the tissue models company has shifted its business from providing drug discovery services to developing its own treatment pipeline for liver diseases (Press release, Engitix, JAN 19, 2022, View Source [SID1234610299]).

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When Engitix was spun out of University College London in 2016, the startup primarily aimed to provide tissue models to pharmaceutical companies for speeding up drug discovery in liver disease. As the company closes a €48M Series A round and drug discovery partnership with the Milan-based Dompé Farmaceutici this week, Engitix is reinforcing its plans to become a drug developer in its own right.

Drug candidates are typically tested in the lab using cell cultures, which are easy to grow and screened in large numbers. However, they don’t well resemble the structures of human organs, which are made up of cells and the extracellular matrix between them.

Engitix is developing drug testing models that are a closer imitation of real organs than cell cultures. The company sources extracellular matrix scaffolds from diseased and healthy organs from biobanks and grows cells on the scaffold to simulate a real organ.

Many companies are working on ways to screen drug candidates using more informative methods than cell cultures. Earlier this week, the Swiss startup EraCal deployed a high-throughput drug screening model based on zebrafish in a drug discovery collaboration with Novo Nordisk. There are also many firms that bioprint organs using polymer gels and cells.

By using human tissue scaffolds, Engitix’s models can shed light on local conditions influencing the behavior of tumor cells, such as blood vessels and immune cells, known as the microenvironment.

AIM ImmunoTech to Present at the Virtual Investor 2022 Top Picks Conference

On January 19, 2022 AIM ImmunoTech Inc. (NYSE: American AIM) ("AIM" or the "Company"), an immuno-pharma company focused on the research and development of therapeutics to treat multiple types of cancers, immune disorders, and viral diseases, including COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, reported that Thomas K. Equels, M.S. J.D., Chief Executive Officer of AIM, will present at the Virtual Investor 2022 Top Picks Conference on Wednesday, January 26, 2022 at 10:00 AM ET (Press release, AIM ImmunoTech, JAN 19, 2022, View Source [SID1234605569]).

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As part of the virtual event, the Company will provide a corporate presentation, followed by a moderated interactive Q&A session. In addition to the moderated portion of the event, all investors and interested parties will have the opportunity to submit questions live during the event. Interested parties may also pre-submit questions in advance of the live event, which can be sent via the conference website at virtualinvestorco.com. The Company will answer as many questions as possible during the event.

A live video webcast of the presentation will be available on the Events page of the Investors section of the Company’s website (aimimmuno.com). A webcast replay will be available two hours following the live presentation and will be accessible for one year.

Gamida Cell Provides Update on Omidubicel BLA Submission

On January 19, 2022 Gamida Cell Ltd. (Nasdaq: GMDA), an advanced cell therapy company committed to cures for cancer and other serious diseases, reported that following receipt of positive Type B meeting correspondence from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday, the company plans to initiate a rolling Biologics License Application (BLA) submission for omidubicel, a potentially life-saving treatment for patients with blood cancers in need of stem cell transplant (Press release, Gamida Cell, 19 19, 2022, View Source [SID1234605659]). As previously disclosed, in late 2021 the FDA requested a revised analysis of the manufacturing data generated at Gamida Cell’s wholly owned commercial manufacturing facility to demonstrate the analytical comparability to the Lonza clinical manufacturing site that produced omidubicel for the Phase 3 study. Gamida Cell and the FDA have now reached alignment that analytical comparability has been established between the commercial manufacturing facility and the product that was manufactured for the Phase 3 study. Based on this demonstration of comparability, along with the positive clinical results of the Phase 3 study, the FDA has agreed that the initiation of a rolling BLA submission is appropriate. Additional clinical data will not be required to initiate the BLA submission.

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"We are very pleased that our productive interactions with the FDA have resulted in alignment on the omidubicel manufacturing comparability analysis and agreement to initiate a rolling submission of our BLA application," said Julian Adams, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Gamida Cell. "Omidubicel is the first bone marrow transplant product to receive Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the FDA and has the potential to be the first FDA-approved advanced cell therapy for allogeneic bone marrow transplant. Initiating the BLA submission will move us one step closer toward bringing potentially curative therapies to patients. We plan to complete the full BLA submission in the first half of this year, which will be an important achievement for Gamida Cell and the bone marrow transplant community."

About Omidubicel

Omidubicel is an advanced cell therapy under development as a potential life-saving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell (bone marrow) transplant solution for patients with blood cancers. Omidubicel is the first bone marrow transplant graft to receive Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the U.S. FDA and has also received Orphan Drug Designation in the U.S. and EU. For more information about omidubicel, please visit View Source

Omidubicel is an investigational therapy, and its safety and efficacy have not been established by the FDA or any other health authority.