Astellas Announces Status of Acquisition of Own Shares

On March 1, 2022 Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Kenji Yasukawa, Ph.D. "the Company") reported the status of acquisition of its own shares as stated below (Press release, Astellas, MAR 1, 2022, View Source [SID1234609201]). The acquisition was implemented pursuant to the provision of its Articles of Incorporation in accordance with Article 459, paragraph 1 of the Companies Act.

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Particulars

Class of shares acquired: Common stock of the Company

Total number of shares acquired: 14,838,800 shares

Total amount of acquisition cost: 29,357,828,600 yen

Period of acquisition: From February 3, 2022 to February 28, 2022

Method of acquisition: Purchased on the Tokyo Stock Exchange

(Reference)

Details of the resolution at the meeting of the Board of Directors (announced on February 2, 2022)
 - Class of shares to be acquired: Common stock of the Company
 - Total number of shares to be acquired: Up to 29 million shares
               (Ratio to the total number of shares outstanding
               [excluding treasury stock]: 1.57%)

Accumulated Company’s own shares acquired through February 28, 2022, pursuant to the above board resolution
 - Total number of shares acquired: 14,838,800 shares
 - Total amount of acquisition cost: 29,357,828,600 yen

AstraZeneca and Neurimmune close exclusive global collaboration and licence agreement to develop and commercialise NI006

On March 1, 2022 Alexion, AstraZeneca’s Rare Disease group, reported that it has closed an exclusive global collaboration and licence agreement with Neurimmune AG for NI006, an investigational human monoclonal antibody currently in Phase Ib development for the treatment of transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), an underdiagnosed, systemic condition that leads to progressive heart failure and high rate of fatality within four years from diagnosis (Press release, AstraZeneca, MAR 1, 2022, View Source [SID1234609230]).1,2

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Alexion has been granted an exclusive worldwide licence to develop, manufacture and commercialise NI006.

NI006 is an ATTR depleter that specifically targets tissue-deposited, misfolded transthyretin, with the potential to treat patients with advanced ATTR-CM. NI006 adds a novel and complementary approach to AstraZeneca and Alexion’s pipeline of investigational therapies focused on amyloidosis and strengthens the Company’s broader commitment to addressing cardiomyopathies that can lead to heart failure (HF).

Financial considerations
Under the terms of the agreement, the upfront payment from Alexion to Neurimmune is $30m. Alexion will make additional contingent milestone payments of up to $730m upon achievement of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones. It will also pay low-to-mid teen royalties on net sales of any approved medicine resulting from the collaboration.

Neurimmune will continue to be responsible for completion of the current Phase Ib clinical trial on behalf of Alexion, and Alexion will pay certain trial costs. Alexion will be responsible for further clinical development, manufacturing and commercialisation following the Phase Ib trial.

Notes

Heart failure
HF is a life-threatening chronic disease that prevents the heart from pumping sufficient levels of blood around the body. HF affects approximately 64 million people worldwide. HF remains as fatal as some of the most common cancers in both men (prostate and bladder cancers) and women (breast cancer).3 Chronic HF is the leading cause of hospitalisation for those over the age of 65 and represents a significant clinical and economic burden.4

AstraZeneca’s ambition is to be the leading company in HF. AstraZeneca is investing in multiple investigational therapies with diverse mechanisms of action to address the spectrum of patient need in this area.

ATTR-CM
Cardiomyopathy due to ATTR is caused by aging or genetic mutations resulting in misfolded TTR protein and accumulation as amyloid fibrils in the cardiac myocardium. In patients with ATTR-CM, both the mutant and wild type TTR protein builds up as fibrils in tissues, including the heart. The presence of TTR fibrils interferes with the normal functions of these tissues. As the TTR protein fibrils enlarge, more tissue damage occurs and the disease worsens, resulting in poor quality of life and eventually death.

Worldwide, there are an estimated 300,000-500,000 patients with ATTR-CM5,6; however, many of those patients remain undiagnosed.

NI006
NI006 is an investigational human monoclonal antibody that specifically targets misfolded transthyretin and is designed to directly address the pathology of ATTR-CM by enabling removal of amyloid fibril deposits in the heart, with the potential to treat patients with advanced ATTR-CM.

Long term study confirms efficacy of our T-cell activating immunotherapy in combination with checkpoint inhibitor

On March 1, 2022 ISA reported the publication of extension data from a key study using lead product ISA101b in the Journal of ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (Press release, ISA Pharmaceuticals, MAR 1, 2022, View Source [SID1234609264]). The study, ISA101 and nivolumab for HPV-16+ cancer: updated clinical efficacy and immune correlates of response, is performed by Guimaraes Sousa, Michael Curran, Bonnie Glisson et al. in collaboration with the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas .

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The initial study by Massarelli et al. was published in 2018*. It investigated ISA101b in combination with anti-PD1 checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab (OPDIVO) in head-and-neck cancer. In this open-label study, 22 patients with recurrent/metastatic Human Papilloma Virus type 16-positive (HPV16+) OroPharyngeal Cancer (OPC) were treated. The Objective Response Rate (ORR) in this difficult to treat patient population was 36%, with a median Overall Survival (mOS) of 17.,5 months.

Two patients in the first study displayed a Complete Response to treatment. This follow-up study shows they survived disease-free for more than 44 months.

Prof. Dr. Cornelis Melief, Chief Scientific Officer of ISA Pharmaceuticals, said: "We are delighted to see the results of this key study published as we continue to develop an exciting pipeline of cancer vaccines. Our work shows that a combination of ISA101b and anti-PD-1 remains a promising treatment vastly improving patient prognosis and long-term responses."

ISA’s product portfolio consists of multiple synthetic long peptide (SLP) therapeutics for cancer and infectious diseases. The SLP approach is designed to unleash a durable and broad T cell immune response to specific diseases. It enables a patient’s own immune system to attack and destroy tumour cells or viruses for significant clinical benefit. ISA101b is based on this technology and is currently being studied in HPV16+ cancers in combination with Libtayo (cemiplimab) in three phase 2 clinical trials under a strategic collaboration with Regeneron. Libtayo is an anti-PD-1 antibody that is being jointly developed by Regeneron and Sanofi.

*Massarelli et al, JAMA Oncology 2018

Repare Therapeutics Provides Business Update and Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Financial Results

On March 1, 2022 Repare Therapeutics Inc. ("Repare" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: RPTX), a leading clinical-stage precision oncology company enabled by its proprietary synthetic lethality approach to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics, reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2021 (Press release, Repare Therapeutics, MAR 1, 2022, View Source [SID1234609282]).

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"We achieved several key milestones in 2021 to advance our innovative, synthetic lethality-based pipeline across multiple clinical programs," said Lloyd M. Segal, President and Chief Executive Officer of Repare. "We are particularly pleased with important progress in our RP-3500 program and to have initiated our second clinical program, RP-6306, a first-in-class oral PKMYT1 inhibitor, and look forward to starting IND-enabling studies of our Polθ inhibitor program in the first half of 2022 as part of our growing clinical pipeline."

Mr. Segal added: "2022 is expected to be another exciting year for Repare, beginning in the first quarter 2022 with the Phase 2 (Module 2) expansion of the RP-3500 TRESR trial and the initiation of the TRESR Phase 1 monotherapy pediatric module in the first quarter of 2022. We anticipate comprehensive monotherapy TRESR Module 1 clinical data in the second quarter of 2022, and also look forward to initial data from the Phase 1 RP-6306 monotherapy MYTHIC trial in late 2022."

2021 Highlights and 2022 Outlook:

Announced initial Phase 1 RP-3500 monotherapy data from Phase 1/2 TRESR trial at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-NCI-EORTC
Initial Phase 1 results provided clinical proof of concept and validated Repare’s SNIPRx platform for molecular selection of tumors for therapy with RP-3500.
Preliminary data showed that monotherapy RP-3500 appears safe and well tolerated, with compelling early efficacy signals across multiple genotypes and tumor types in heavily pretreated patients.
Recommended Phase 2 dose and schedule for further monotherapy RP-3500 evaluation was determined to be 160mg, taken weekly for 3 days on and 4 days off.
Key TRESR Milestones in 2022:
Initiated a monotherapy Phase 2 TRESR trial of RP-3500 for the treatment of solid tumors with specific synthetic-lethal genomic alterations including those in the ATM gene (ataxia telangiectasia mutated kinase), in tumors with ATM loss of function and in tumors with other STEP2 genomic alteration in February 2022.
Initiated recruitment in a Phase 1 pediatric module of TRESR trial of RP-3500 monotherapy and enrollment of a first patient is expected in the first quarter of 2022.
Comprehensive monotherapy Phase 1 (Module 1) clinical data from 120 patients enrolled in the Phase 1/2 TRESR trial of RP-3500 is expected in the second quarter of 2022.
Determination of recommended Phase 2 dose of RP-3500 in combination with gemcitabine, a trial that began enrolling patients in December 2021, is expected in the second half of 2022.
Early clinical data readout for PARPi combination from Phase 1/2 TRESR trial and ATTACC trial of RP-3500 in combination with, collectively, three marketed PARP inhibitors is expected in the third quarter of 2022.
Advanced RP-6306, a first-in-class, oral PKMYT1 inhibitor both as monotherapy and in combination with gemcitabine and in combination with FOLFIRI
In December 2021, the Company began dosing in a Phase 1 clinical trial of RP-6306, a first-in-class small molecule candidate targeting PKMYT1, in combination with gemcitabine for the treatment of molecularly selected advanced solid tumors.
In February 2022, the Company initiated recruitment in the Phase 1 MINOTAUR clinical trial of RP-6306 in combination with FOLFIRI for the treatment of molecularly selected advanced solid tumors.
Early readout of monotherapy Phase 1 clinical data is expected in late 2022.
Advanced the development of earlier stage discovery programs
The Company is expected to initiate IND-enabling studies of its third synthetic lethal asset, the Polθ inhibitor program, in the first half of 2022.
Recent Corporate Updates:

Appointed Philip Herman to Executive Leadership Team as EVP Commercial & New Product Development
In January 2022, the Company appointed Philip Herman as EVP Commercial & New Product Development. Mr. Herman was most recently Chief Commercial Officer of Y-mAbs Therapeutics and led the successful launch of DANYELZA (naxitamab).
In November 2021, the Company announced the closing of an upsized follow-on public offering yielding aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $101.2 million, or net proceeds of approximately $94.3 million, after deducting underwriting commissions and offering expenses of $0.8 million.
Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Financial Results:

Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities: Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities as of December 31, 2021 were $341.9 million, including the proceeds from the follow-on public offering in November 2021. Repare believes its current cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities will be sufficient to fund planned operations through 2023.
Research and development expenses, net of tax credits (Net R&D): Net R&D expenses were $28.0 million and $90.0 million for the three and twelve month periods ended December 31, 2021, respectively, as compared to $12.4 million and $40.1 million for the three and twelve month periods ended December 31, 2020. The increase in Net R&D expenses for the three and twelve month periods were primarily due to increases in development costs related to the Company’s RP-3500 and RP-6306 programs, as well as increases in personnel related expenses, including share-based compensation.
General and administrative (G&A) expenses: G&A expenses were $7.6 million and $26.2 million for the three and twelve month periods ended December 31, 2021, respectively, as compared to $4.8 million and $14.3 million for the three and twelve month periods ended December 31, 2020, respectively. The increase in G&A expenses for the three and twelve month periods were due to personnel related costs, including share-based compensation and, for the twelve month period, the increase was also due to D&O insurance which increased as a result of the Company’s IPO in June 2020.
Net loss: Net loss was $28.3 million, or $0.70 per share and $106.9 million, or $2.83 per share, in the three and twelve month periods ended December 31, 2021, respectively, and $15.3 million, or $0.41 per share and $53.4 million, or $2.66 per share in the three and twelve month periods ended December 31, 2020, respectively.
About Repare Therapeutics’ SNIPRx Platform

Repare’s SNIPRx platform is a genome-wide CRISPR-based screening approach that utilizes proprietary isogenic cell lines to identify novel and known synthetic lethal gene pairs and the corresponding patients who are most likely to benefit from the Company’s therapies based on the genetic profile of their tumors. Repare’s platform enables the development of precision therapeutics in patients whose tumors contain one or more genomic alterations identified by SNIPRx screening, in order to selectively target those patients most likely to achieve clinical benefit from resulting product candidates.

iTeos to Present at the Cowen 42nd Annual Health Care Conference

On March 1, 2022 iTeos Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ITOS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering the discovery and development of a new generation of highly differentiated immuno-oncology therapeutics for patients, reported that Michel Detheux, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, will present at the Cowen 42nd Annual Health Care Conference on Tuesday, March 8, 2022 at 12:50 p.m. ET (Press release, iTeos Therapeutics, MAR 1, 2022, https://investors.iteostherapeutics.com/news-releases/news-release-details/iteos-present-cowen-42nd-annual-health-care-conference [SID1234609300]).

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A live webcast of the virtual presentation will be available on the Investors section of the company’s website at View Source An archived replay will be available for approximately 30 days following the presentation.