On November 15, 2021 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 that members of its senior management team will participate in two virtual investor conferences in November (Press release, Repare Therapeutics, NOV 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234595635]). Details are as follows :

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Northland Synthetic Lethality Investor Conference
Date: Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Time: 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time

Piper Sandler Healthcare Conference
Date: Monday, November 29 – Thursday, December 2, 2021

A live webcast of the Northland Synthetic Lethality Investor Conference panel discussions will be available starting Wednesday, November 17, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time in the Investor section of the Company’s website at View Source A replay of the webcast will be archived on the Company’s website for 90 days.

The prerecorded Piper Sandler Healthcare Conference fireside chat will be available on Monday, November 22, 2021 at 10 a.m. Eastern Time in the Investor section of the Company’s website at View Source A replay of the webcast will be archived on the Company’s website for 90 days.

On November 15, 2021 Senhwa Biosciences, Inc. (TPEx: 6492), a drug development company focusing on first-in-class therapeutics for oncology, rare diseases, and novel coronaviruses, reported that an abstract highlighting clinical design for their lead drug candidate, Pidnarulex (CX-5461), in patients with solid tumors and BRCA2 and/or PALB2 mutation, has been accepted for trial in progress poster presentation at the upcoming American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (2022 ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) GI) in San Francisco, 20-22 January, 2022 (Press release, Senhwa Biosciences, NOV 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234595651]).

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Inherited mutations in BRCA genes predispose to various early onset cancers. Approximately 10% and 19% of pancreatic cancer patients harboring BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations respectively and FDA has approved Lynparza (olaparib), the first poly ADP-ribose polymerase inhibitor (PARPi) as frontline maintenance in pancreatic cancer in late 2019. Unfortunately, resistance to PARPi associated with multiple mechanisms can be observed over time, suggesting a prominent unmet need for the development of new treatment options.

"Pidnarulex alone, has shown efficacy in tumor cells resistant to PARPi in the preclinical studies. When Pidnarulex was in combination with other chemotherapeutics, it even delayed the development of PARPi resistance. Therefore, we believe Pidnarulex demonstrates great potential as a treatment for pancreatic or other cancer patients who have acquired resistance to PARPi or other chemotherapies," said Tai-Sen Soong, Chief Executive Officer of Senhwa Biosciences.

The full abstract will be made available online via View Source at 5:00 PM (EST) on 18 January, 2022.

About Pidnarulex (CX-5461)

Specific mutations within the Homologous Recombination (HR) pathway may be exploited by Pidnarulex through a "synthetic lethality" approach by targeting the DNA repair defects in HR Deficient tumors. Specifically, Pidnarulex is designed to stabilize DNA G-quadruplexes of cancer cells, which leads to disruption of the cell’s replication fork. While acting in concert with HR pathway deficiencies, such as BRCA1/2 mutations, replication forks stall and cause DNA breaks, ultimately resulting in cancer cell death. On the other hand, PMCC postulates a different mechanism of action. Specifically, it is thought that Pidnarulex acts as a RNA Pol I Inhibitor.

On November 15, 2021 Valo Health, LLC ("Valo"), the technology company using human-centric data and artificial intelligence (AI) powered computation to transform the drug discovery and development process and Khosla Ventures Acquisition Co. (Nasdaq: KVSA) ("KVSA"), a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by affiliates of Khosla Ventures, LLC, reported that both companies have mutually agreed to terminate their previously announced agreement and plan of merger (the "Business Combination Agreement"), effective immediately (Press release, Valo Health, NOV 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234595734]).

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Both parties decided to terminate the Business Combination based on current market conditions, particularly in the biotechnology area.

"We formed KVSA to merge with companies that are impactful to the world as we recently did with KVSB when we merged with Nextdoor," said Samir Kaul, Founding Partner and Managing Director at Khosla Ventures. "Valo Health is a strong company and we wish them continued success as they move forward on a very solid plan. We will continue to look for other high-impact targets across a range of industries to deliver maximum shareholder value."

"We made this decision to ensure that Valo continues to be in an optimal position of strength to pursue our growth strategy and to deliver on our mission to transform drug discovery and development," said David Berry, Founder & CEO. "Our team has worked hard to ensure that all of the fundamentals of our business are strong. As we move closer to launching our first Phase 2 trial this year, our second Phase 2 trial in the first half of next year, and continue to aggressively build out the additional unique capabilities of our platform, we have tremendous momentum going into 2022 and beyond."

On November 15, 2021 Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Kenji Yasukawa, Ph.D., "Astellas") and Pantherna Therapeutics GmbH (CEO: Klaus Giese, Ph.D., "Pantherna") reported that the companies have entered into a technology evaluation agreement for the research of mRNA-based regenerative medicine (Press release, Astellas, NOV 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234595523]).

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Pantherna has a technology platform consisting of unique mRNA molecules (PTXmRNAs) for enhancing the efficiency of mRNA actions in the body, and lipid nanoparticles (PTXΔLNPs) for efficiently delivering mRNA.

Under this agreement, Pantherna’s state-of-the-art mRNA platform and Astellas’ high drug discovery capabilities will be utilized to promote research on the creation of new programs in the field of regenerative medicine and their application to treatment.

Astellas will be in charge of technology evaluation research aimed at providing drug discovery ideas and creating a therapeutic modality, and Pantherna will provide technical information and prepare candidate compounds for the technology evaluation research.

"We are excited and honored to collaborate with Astellas," said Pantherna’s Chief Executive Officer, Klaus Giese, Ph.D. "Astellas is an excellent partner for leveraging the unique aspects of our proprietary therapeutic mRNA technology, and this applied research is very important for the validation and broader application of the Pantherna mRNA technology in indications with high medical need."

"Astellas is engaged in the development of novel therapies using a new modality / technology based on the Focus Area approach strategy," said Taiji Sawamoto, Executive Vice President, Applied Research & Operations, at Astellas. "Pantherna is a leader in this area with a unique technology platform for mRNA. Through this collaboration, we will create an innovative regenerative medicine program with mRNA as a therapeutic modality, and we expect that we will be able to expand the treatment options of various diseases for which there has been no cure thus far."

On November 15, 2021 Glycotope GmbH, a biotechnology company developing antibodies against proteins carrying tumor-specific carbohydrate structures, reported it is presenting new data at the 2021 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) 36th Annual Meeting (Press release, Glycotope, NOV 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234595547]).

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Henner Kollenberg, Managing Director of Glycotope GmbH commented: "The data presented at SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) underlines our long-standing expertise in the generation, evaluation and pre-clinical development of highly novel antibodies targeting cancer indications. GT-00A x IL15, a TA-MUC1-targeting IL-15 fusion antibody is one of the first tumor-targeted immuno-cytokines. The preclinical data showed that our IL-15 immuno-cytokine has the potential to significantly outperform non-targeted IL-15 immuno-cytokines offering a highly needed alternative in the treatment of several solid-tumor indications. The data for GT-001, a Lewis Y targeting antibody, demonstrated superior specificity compared to previously developed anti-Lewis Y antibodies with the potential of improved efficacy and reduced side effects."

Poster details are as follows:

Abstract Number: 712

Title: Preclinical characterization of GT-00A x IL15: A novel IL-15-based immunocytokine with unique tumor targeting properties
Category: Poster Session: Immune-stimulants and immune modulators

Download: View Source GT-00AxIL15 Poster SIT2021

Abstract Number: 781
Title: GT-001 – anti-Lewis Y antibody with superior fine-specificity and reduced off-target binding

Category: Poster Session: Immuno-conjugates and chimeric molecules

Download: View Source GT-001 Poster SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper)2021

About GT-00A x IL15

GT-00A x IL15 is a TA-MUC1 targeting IL-15 immuno-cytokine fusion antibody. Cytokines have long been used for cancer therapy to activate the immune system, but side effects and short half-life limit their therapeutic application. The concept of specific targeting to the tumor and tumor microenvironment to exploit the full potential of IL-15 biology is unique within the competitive field of IL-15 (super)agonists. The immuno-cytokine attracts and activates immune cells (e.g. T and NK cells) directly at the tumor site thereby turning an "immune desert" into a "hot" tumor and inducing tumor cell lysis. A comprehensive non-clinical data package is available.

About GT-001

GT-001 is a humanized IgG1 mAb with unrivaled fine-specificity, specifically targeting the tumor-associated Lewis Y (LeY, CD174) carbohydrate antigen without cross-reactivity to related carbohydrates expressed on blood cells. GT-001 shows binding to a high percentage of breast cancers, non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, head and neck cancer, small cell lung cancer and ovarian cancer patient samples. The effective binding and internalization allows for ADC or CAR development.