Nirogy Therapeutics Appoints Simon Pedder, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer

On January 12, 2022 Nirogy Therapeutics ("Nirogy" or "the Company"), a privately-held biotechnology company developing novel small molecules to target cellular transporters, reported that it has appointed life science veteran Simon Pedder, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and to the Company’s Board of Directors (Press release, Nirogy Therapeutics, JAN 12, 2022, View Source [SID1234598625]). Dr. Pedder takes over the position from the founding CEO, Vincent Sandanayaka, Ph.D., who will be transitioning to the role of President and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). Dr. Pedder brings over 30 years of drug development and commercialization experience to Nirogy.

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"We are delighted to have Simon join us as CEO and on the Board. He brings considerable development know-how to the team at a pivotal time in the Company’s growth, as we prepare to file our first IND for our lead oncology candidate in the next 12 months," said Dennis McWilliams, a Partner at Santé Ventures and member of Nirogy’s Board of Directors. "Simon’s guidance and expertise in clinical development, regulatory processes, and the commercialization of products in the oncology and autoimmune spaces will be critical as we advance our pipeline and grow the company."

"I am thrilled to join Nirogy as it pioneers a new approach to drug development by targeting cellular transporters. The breadth of targets that Nirogy’s platform has the potential to reach is exciting as we look to develop new potential medicines to address significant unmet medical needs for people suffering from cancer and autoimmune diseases," said Dr. Pedder.

"It has been a pleasure to lead Nirogy since its inception. I look forward to focusing on the science as CSO and working with Simon to advance our new potential modality of treating cancer and autoimmune diseases," said Vincent Sandanayaka, Founder, President and CSO of Nirogy. "Simon brings a wealth of team-building and development experience that will help shepherd our company into clinical development and beyond."

Dr. Pedder joins Nirogy from Athenex Pharmaceuticals, where he served as served as Chief Business and Strategy Officer. Prior to Athenex, he was President and CEO of Cellectar Biosciences and of CEO of Chelsea Therapeutics before that. Earlier in his career, Dr. Pedder held senior leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Hoffmann-LaRoche, including as an Officer of the Company, Vice President of Oncology Pharma Business, Life Cycle Leader and Global Project Leader of Pegasys/IFN, and as global Head of the Hepatitis Franchise. Under Dr. Pedder’s leadership, he oversaw the development and commercialization of numerous global brands, such as Tasmar, Copegus, Northera, and Kliseryi and Pegasys, which became the standard of care for Hepatitis B and C for over a decade.

Dr. Pedder began his career as a faculty member in the Department of Pharmacology in College of Medicine in the University of Saskatchewan, where he obtained his Ph.D. in Clinical Pharmacology. In addition to his Ph.D. in Pharmacology, Simon obtained a Master of Science in Toxicology from Concordia University, a Joint Honors Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies/Biology from the University of Waterloo and completed the Roche-sponsored Pharmaceutical Executive Management Program at Columbia Business School.

Deep Lens and Hematology-Oncology Associates of Central New York Collaborate to Improve Clinical Trial Matching for Oncology Patients

On January 12, 2022 Deep Lens and Hematology-Oncology Associates of Central New York (HOA CNY) reported that they have entered into a collaboration to expand the clinical trial program and improve trial matching capabilities for the upstate New York-based practice (Press release, Deep Lens, JAN 12, 2022, View Source [SID1234598642]). Deep Lens is a digital healthcare company that utilizes proprietary artificial intelligence-based technology solutions and other services to help improve efficiencies related to clinical trial recruitment and enrollment. Hematology-Oncology Associates of CNY (HOA CNY) is a private comprehensive cancer center that has been serving patients in four locations across Central New York since 1982. This partnership will expand HOA CNY’s clinical research program by increasing the breadth of trials available to patients and it will accelerate the trial matching process, enabling patients the ability to get into trials faster.

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"Clinical research has been a number one priority for our practice since our doors opened almost 40 years ago. We’ve worked hard to build and expand our clinical trial program so that all of our patients have every possible option to receive access to the newest therapies in development," said Steven Duffy, MD at HOA CNY. "We’re delighted to partner with Deep Lens – the adoption of their progressive technology and other support services will help improve the speed and accuracy of matching patients to trials and will allow our staff the ability to focus more of their time on patient care."

It is estimated that more than 15,000 oncology clinical trials are actively recruiting patients; however, fewer than 1 in 30 patients participate in a clinical trial. Limited trial site resources make it time-consuming to identify eligible patients, especially as trial protocols increase in complexity. The Deep Lens technology and other services support care teams by automating the identification of potentially eligible patients at the time of diagnosis and matching them to relevant trials in real-time.

"HOA CNY is an exceptional community-based oncology practice that already has deep relationships with leading institutions and organizations that provide them the ability to conduct and participate in clinical research," said Tyrone Richardson, vice president, provider sales for Deep Lens. "Deep Lens’ technology will add to the already-robust HOA CNY research program by bringing more trials to the practice and improving efficiencies related to the matching and enrollment process. We are thrilled to help HOA CNY support its patient community by improving access to new therapies."

Deep Lens’ VIPER will pre-screen all patients from HOA CNY’s EMR (OncoEMR) and integrate molecular data feeds from Caris Life Sciences, Guardant Health, Foundation Medicine as well as all pathology feeds to automatically identify qualified patients for clinical trials. Deep Lens’ pre-screening and clinical trial matching solution is provided at no cost to oncology practices.

Deep Lens is working with a significant number of community oncology practices representing every region in the U.S. It is estimated that approximately 85 percent of cancer patients are diagnosed and treated at local, community-based oncology practices. Deep Lens is committed to expanding important oncology research by making trials more accessible to a larger and more diverse population within these local community settings.

2seventy bio Shares Key Milestones and Business Updates for 2022

On January 11, 2022 2seventy bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSVT), an emerging immuno-oncology cell therapy company, reported an update on the company’s outlook for 2022 (Press release, 2seventy bio, JAN 11, 2022, View Source [SID1234598573]).

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"It has been a privilege to launch 2seventy bio with such a strong foundation out of the gate including a first-in-class CAR-T for multiple myeloma with $1-2B late lines global peak sales potential, a highly differentiated product engine already delivering candidates to the clinic, strong financial health with a disciplined operating structure and a team that has extensive experience in the cell therapy field," said Nick Leschly, chief kairos officer. "As we double down on our goal of leading the future of oncology cell therapy, our vision is simple: design, learn and iterate to build the most powerful T-cell based solutions for patients with cancer. We are one of few companies that have the tools, infrastructure, experience and heart to deliver these new medicines with potential to create more time for our patients."

ABECMA

Since receiving FDA approval for ABECMA on March 26, 2021, ABECMA has generated approximately $150M in total U.S. revenue, which is shared equally by 2seventy bio and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS). In response to significant demand, 2seventy bio and BMS are investing to increase capacity across the supply chain, with the goal to improve capacity and treat substantially more patients in the U.S. commercial setting. We anticipate U.S. revenue of $250-300M in 2022. We expect revenue to be driven by continued strong demand in 2022-2023 and to grow into 2023 and beyond. We continue to invest in earlier lines of therapy with data anticipated from the proof-of-concept KarMMa-2 study in second-line patients by the end of 2022, and potentially pivotal data, anticipated in 2023, from the registrational KarMMa-3 study in third-line patients. Based on the forecasted commercial ramp and the investment in earlier lines of therapy, we expect that ABECMA’s success will contribute cash back to fund the rest of the 2seventy bio pipeline starting in 2023.

Recently presented results from the ongoing CRB-402 clinical study of bb21217, a next-generation anti-BCMA CAR T, confirmed the hypothesis that bb21217 has more naïve T cell-phenotype and delivered encouraging durability of responses for patients achieving complete response. Based on the strength of the ABECMA clinical data and high commercial interest, 2seventy bio and BMS do not plan to pursue further development of bb21217. 2seventy bio will leverage the learnings from this program to further strengthen its oncology pipeline.

PIPELINE

"With the IND for our first regulatable CAR T cell program (SC-DARIC33 for the treatment of pediatric and young adult AML), in collaboration with Seattle Children’s Therapeutics, cleared earlier in 2021 and the recent clearance of the IND for our bbT369 program for the treatment of B-NHL, we have achieved our goal of delivering two INDs in 2021," said Philip Gregory, D.Phil., chief scientific officer. "More than just numbers, each of these programs is an example of the type of bold and innovative product candidates that will be the hallmark of 2seventy bio’s medicines. Of course, this is just the beginning of what we anticipate emerging from our research engine, which is fueled by a suite of tools and technologies that enable us to focus on the biology of cancer and create fit-for-purpose cell therapies with the goal of achieving deep and durable responses."

bbT369 IND Cleared – In December 2021, the FDA cleared the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for bbT369, an investigational dual-targeted CAR T cell therapy with a gene edit for patients with relapsed/refractory B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL). bbT369 has three layers of innovation. First, it targets a novel combination of antigens highly expressed in B cell lymphomas (CD79a and CD20) in an effort to achieve improved anti-tumor efficacy and to address antigen escape, a known mechanism of resistance to CD19-targeted CAR T cell therapy. Second, we provide split co-stimulation to drive robust T cell activation in response to either antigen. Third, the CAR T cell is also edited to remove CBLB, a negative regulator of T cell function, which we believe will drive increased expansion, resist anergy and maintain potency in sub-optimal conditions for T cell activation. Preclinical studies demonstrated bbT369 activity against single and low antigen tumors and achieved deep and durable responses. CRC-403 (NCT05169489), an open-label, multi-site Phase 1/2 dose-escalation study of bbT369, will begin enrollment in early 2022 and will serve as a proof-of-concept assessment of 2seventy bio’s proprietary gene editing platform, dual-targeting strategies and split co-stimulation signaling technology.

MUC-16 Program – Today, as part of a strategic collaboration between Regeneron and 2seventy bio, the companies named their first CAR-based solid tumor program utilizing bbT4015, an engineered CAR T cell therapy targeting MUC16. MUC16 is a large extracellular protein expressed on >80% of ovarian tumors. Preclinical data have shown robust single agent (CAR T alone) activity, including in stringent tumor rechallenge models. This program represents a platform for titratable pharmacologic combination approaches to enhance CAR T cell activity with the goal of developing a best-in-class cell therapy. The companies anticipate pursuing an IND in 2023.

FINANCIAL OUTLOOK

2seventy bio entered 2022 with approximately $360M in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. The company has done significant work and prioritization in order to reshape the cost structure and increase the proportion of investment on R&D while streamlining general and administrative costs. 2seventy bio anticipates a net cash spend of $220-250M for 2022 and a cash runway into the second half of 2023 based on existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.

UPCOMING ANTICIPATED MILESTONES

ABECMA

Anticipate $250-300M total U.S. revenue in 2022
Increasing manufacturing capacity throughout 2022
KarMMa-2 study in 2L proof-of-concept data in 2022
KarMMa-3 study in 3L+ registrational data in 2023
Pipeline

Infusion of first patients in PLAT-08 study of SC-DARIC33 in AML in 2022
Initial assessment of feasibility of SC-DARIC33 drug product manufacturing and drug regulated anti-CD33 activity in 2H 2022
Infusion of first patients in CRC-403 study of bbT369 in B-NHL in 2022
Initial assessment of feasibility of bbT369 drug product manufacturing and patient safety in 2H 2022
Investor Content Available on 2seventybio.com

An updated corporate presentation can be found on the investor relations section of our website, View Source For more detail on 2seventy bio’s pipeline, programs and strategic vision, please visit View Source to view video messages from our leadership team.

About ABECMA (idecabtagene vicleucel; ide-cel)

ABECMA is the first-in-class B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapy approved in the U.S. for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma after four or more prior lines of therapy, including an immunomodulatory agent, a proteasome inhibitor and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody. ABECMA has also received approval in the European Union, Canada and Switzerland. ABECMA recognizes and binds to BCMA on the surface of multiple myeloma cells leading to CAR T cell proliferation, cytokine secretion and subsequent cytolytic killing of BCMA-expressing cells. ABECMA is being jointly developed and commercialized in the U.S. as part of a Co-Development, Co-Promotion and Profit Share Agreement with 2seventy bio and Bristol Myers Squibb. Bristol Myers Squibb continues to assume sole responsibility for ABECMA drug product manufacturing and commercialization outside of the U.S.

2seventy bio and Bristol Myers Squibb’s broad clinical development program for ABECMA includes clinical studies (KarMMa-2, KarMMa-3, KarMMa-4, KarMMa-7) in earlier lines of treatment for patients with multiple myeloma, including newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. For more information visit clinicaltrials.gov.

Orion Corporation and CuraTeQ Biologics expand their biosimilar distribution agreement in Europe

On January 11, 2022 Orion Corporation ("Orion") and CuraTeQ Biologics Private Limited ("CuraTeQ"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aurobindo Pharma Ltd., reorted that they have expanded their biosimilar distribution agreement to the Baltic countries (Press release, Orion , JAN 11, 2022, View Source [SID1234598590]). The original marketing and distribution agreement signed in 2020 covered the Nordics, Austria, Hungary and Slovenia.

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Under the agreement, Orion will have the right to sell and market CuraTeQ’s biosimilars in the Nordics, the Baltics, Austria, Hungary and Slovenia. All the products under the agreement are still in development or regulatory phases and the launches in Orion territories are estimated to take place in 2023–2026 depending on the success of the development and regulatory approvals.

Virve Laitinen, SVP Specialty Products of Orion Corporation said: "We are pleased to further expand our long-term collaboration with Aurobindo and CuraTeQ. Overall this agreement will strengthen Orion’s position as one of the leading generics providers in the Nordics and Baltics as we can make these cost-effective treatments available for healthcare professionals and patients."

Satakarni Makkapati, CEO of CuraTeQ Biologics said "Orion has a demonstrated and proven track record of successfully commercialising biosimilars in the Nordics and Baltic countries. Orion’s understanding of the biosimilars adoption along with extensive commercial infrastructure in the Nordics and other territories in the EEA make it an ideal partner to expand the accessibility of our biosimilar products in selected markets of Europe, complementing our group’s wide footprint in other European markets."

Corporate Presentation, dated January 11, 2022

On January 11, 2022, Verastem, Inc. Presented the Corporate Presentation (Presentation, Verastem, JAN 11, 2022, View Source [SID1234598610]).

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