On October 27, 2021 Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) ("Takeda") reported the exercise of its option to acquire GammaDelta Therapeutics Limited ("GammaDelta"), a company focused on exploiting the unique properties of gamma delta (γδ) T cells for immunotherapy (Press release, Takeda, OCT 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234592057]). Through the acquisition, Takeda will obtain GammaDelta’s allogeneic variable delta 1 (Vδ1) gamma-delta (γδ) T cell therapy platforms, which includes both blood-derived and tissue-derived platforms, in addition to early-stage cell therapy programs.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

"We’re committed to developing cell therapies that will have an impact on large segments of patients by focusing on off-the-shelf, allogeneic cell therapies that are highly accessible and have the potential to address solid tumors. Collaborating with scientific innovators with unique technology platforms and deep domain expertise, such as the GammaDelta team, allows Takeda to identify and accelerate the most promising approaches that can be developed into products to impact the lives of cancer patients," said Christopher Arendt, Ph.D., Head of Oncology Cell Therapy and Therapeutic Area Unit of Takeda. "Gamma-delta T cell-based therapies represent a differentiated approach to target both solid tumors and hematological malignancies, and we are eager to integrate GammaDelta’s cell therapy platforms into our immuno-oncology R&D efforts."

Takeda exercised its option to acquire GammaDelta for a pre-negotiated upfront payment as well as potential development and regulatory milestones. The acquisition follows a multi-year collaboration between Takeda and GammaDelta Therapeutics formed in 2017 to develop GammaDelta’s novel γδ T cell therapy platforms, in which Takeda received an equity stake and an exclusive right to purchase GammaDelta. The deal is expected to be finalized in Q1 of Takeda’s fiscal year 2022. Closing of the transaction is contingent on completion of review under antitrust laws, including the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 in the U.S.

"Takeda’s exercise of their acquisition option is the culmination of years of a fruitful collaborative partnership and recognizes GammaDelta Therapeutics’ promising progress in developing novel platform technologies to treat solid tumors and hematological malignancies," said Dr. Paolo Paoletti, CEO of GammaDelta. "Through our work together, we’ve made great strides in developing our proprietary γδ T cell therapy platforms, which have enabled the development of a pipeline of innovative cell therapies and allowed for the advancement of our first program into Phase 1 clinical development. This acquisition builds on the tremendous work of our talented team and provides the foundations to enable rapid development of a portfolio of innovative allogeneic cell therapies, focused on improving outcomes for patients with cancer."

Tim Haines, Chair and Managing Partner of Abingworth, the founding investor in GammaDelta, added: "We are delighted to have been involved in the creation of GammaDelta and to have worked closely with the leadership team and alongside an excellent partner in Takeda to progress this world-class UK academic science to the next stage of its development."

Takeda seeks to broaden the impact of immunotherapy in cancer treatment by focusing on mechanisms that leverage innate immunity. Innate immune responses serve as the body’s first defense mechanism against disease and involve the orchestration of a broad arsenal of mechanisms and cell types, including γδ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells, that may help to overcome cancer’s ability to evade immune recognition. GammaDelta’s cell therapy platforms include technologies designed to generate both blood- and tissue-derived allogeneic immunotherapies based on γδ T cells for the treatment of hematological malignancies and solid tumors. Both platforms have enabled the creation of a portfolio of selective non-engineered and genetically-engineered allogeneic cell therapies that are highly active preclinically against solid tumors and hematological malignancies.

Takeda’s Commitment to Oncology

Our core R&D mission is to deliver novel medicines to patients with cancer worldwide through our commitment to science, breakthrough innovation and passion for improving the lives of patients. Whether it’s with our hematology therapies, our robust pipeline, or solid tumor medicines, we aim to stay both innovative and competitive to bring patients the treatments they need. For more information, visit www.takedaoncology.com

On October 27, 2021 Checkmate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: CMPI) ("Checkmate"), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing its proprietary technology to harness the power of the immune system to combat cancer, reported that Alan Fuhrman has been appointed as interim President and CEO (Press release, Checkmate Pharmaceuticals, OCT 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234592077]). Mr. Fuhrman succeeds Barry Labinger, who has transitioned from his roles as President and CEO and Director.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

"We believe that vidutolimod has significant potential as a novel investigational therapeutic for melanoma and other difficult to treat tumor types. Our strategic priority is to rapidly advance our vidutolimod clinical program toward meaningful clinical data, and I am excited to lead the Company at this important time," said Alan Fuhrman interim President and CEO.

"On behalf of the entire Board, I want to thank Barry for his contributions to Checkmate, and we wish him much success with his future endeavors," said Mike Powell, Chairman of the Board of Directors.

The Board has initiated a candidate search to identify a permanent CEO.

On October 27, 2021 Biomica Ltd., an emerging biopharmaceutical company developing innovative microbiome-based therapeutics and a subsidiary of Evogene Ltd. (NASDAQ: EVGN, TASE: EVGN), and Rambam Health Care Campus reported the signing of a clinical trial agreement (CTA) for initiating a first in-human proof-of-concept (POC) for BMC128, Biomica’s drug candidate (Press release, Evogene, OCT 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234592097]).

The study is titled, "A Phase 1, Open-Label Study to Evaluate the Safety and Tolerability of BMC128 in Combination with anti-PD-1 in Patients with Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), Melanoma or Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC)." The study is designed primarily to evaluate the safety and tolerability of Biomica’s microbiome-based immuno-oncology drug candidate, BMC128, in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) immunotherapy (an anti PD-1 agent).

The initiation of this study is pending approval by the Israeli Ministry of Health (MoH).

Dr. Elran Haber, CEO of Biomica, stated: "We are very excited to work with one of Israel’s leading healthcare institutions, the Rambam Health Care Campus, and we look forward to initiating our first in-human POC study for BMC128, for the treatment of refractory cancer patients. Based on the compelling preclinical results achieved to-date, we are thrilled to take this next step in advancing BMC128 through the clinical development process. We hope that this important collaboration will be followed by further partnerships with additional leading medical institutions."

Dr. Ruth Perets, Head of Rambam’s Oncology Phase 1 Clinical Trials, stated: "We are thrilled to lead this clinical trial, aiming to target the important issue of ICI resistance. ICIs have revolutionized the field of oncology, providing prolonged survival in many malignancies. However, resistance to ICI eventually occurs in most patients, and evidence suggests that the gut microbiota plays a role in ICI resistance. We are excited to the test the ability of BMC128 to overcome ICI resistance and help provide patients meaningful and long responses to treatment."

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

As previously reported, treatment with BMC128 in combination with ICI immunotherapy, significantly enhanced anti-tumor activity in various preclinical models. This resulted in an increased response of tumors to anti-PD1, as demonstrated in an improved Objective Response Rate (ORR) and Percent Tumor Growth Inhibition (%TGI). Response to BMC128 was correlated with a desired anti-tumor immunological profile. BMC128 changed the course of response to ICI, leading to stimulation of the immune system which shifted cold-tumors into hot-tumors.

Biomica’s immuno-oncology program is based on the premise that the gut microbiome affects the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy, specifically that of the ICI involving the blockade of PD-1 or PD-L1 and CTLA-4 as suggested in scientific literature1,2. Fecal microbial transplantation has been recently reported to increase response in patients resistant to immune-checkpoint therapy3,4. However, the specific microbial entities driving this response are currently unknown.

BMC128 is a rationally designed microbial consortium identified and selected through a detailed functional microbiome analysis using PRISM, a proprietary high-resolution microbiome analysis platform powered by Evogene’s MicroBoost AI platform.

About BMC128:

Developed as a Live Bacterial Product (LBP), BMC128 is a rationally-designed LBP consortium comprised of four unique bacterial strains, natural inhabitants of the human intestinal tract, that harbor specific functional capabilities with the potential to enhance immunological therapeutic responses and facilitate anti-tumor immune activity through multiple biological processes.

Rationally-designed consortia are multi-strain products designed to restore diversity and specific functionality to a host’s microbial community with individually selected, cultured bacteria.

1 Zitvogel et al. 2018, Science 359 (6382)
2 Thompson J, et al. Microbiome & immunotherapy: Antibiotic use is associated with inferior survival for lung cancer patients receiving PD-1 inhibitors. J Thorac Oncol 12(suppl 2):S1998, 2017
3 Baruch E, et al. 2021. Fecal microbiota transplant promotes response in immunotherapy-refractory melanoma patients. Science, 371 (6529)
4 Davar D, et al. 2021. Fecal microbiota transplant overcomes resistance to anti–PD-1 therapy in melanoma patients. Science, 371 (6529)

On October 27, 2021 Shanghai Fosun Pharma reported a $628 million deal to acquire a 73% stake in Chengdu Antejin Biotech, a vaccine company (Press release, Fosun Pharma, OCT 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234593963]). Fosun paid $174 million to nine Antejin shareholders, and it contributed its own vaccine subsidiary, Dalian Aleph Biomedical at a value of $454 million, for the remainder. Antejin is developing a 13-valent pneumonia vaccine intended for infants, a competitor to Pfizer’s Prevnar 13. In the US, Pfizer’s Prevnar 20 was recently approved to launch while Antejin is developing a 24-valent pneumonia conjugate candidate.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

On October 27, 2021 Bio-Path Holdings, Inc., (NASDAQ:BPTH), a biotechnology company leveraging its proprietary DNAbilize antisense RNAi nanoparticle technology to develop a portfolio of targeted nucleic acid cancer drugs, reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reviewed and cleared the Investigational New Drug (IND) application to initiate a Phase 1/1b clinical trial of prexigebersen-A (liposomal Grb2-A or BP1001-A) in patients with solid tumors, including ovarian, endometrial, pancreatic and triple negative breast cancer (Press release, Bio-Path Holdings, OCT 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234591996]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

"This IND clearance for prexigebersen-A marks an important regulatory milestone for Bio-Path, as we progress our fourth drug candidate into the clinic. Given the formulation enhancements, encouraging pre-clinical data and safety profile we have seen to-date, we are eager to begin this first-in-human study," said Peter Nielsen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bio-Path Holdings. "We are particularly encouraged as prexigebersen-A has been shown to enhance chemotherapy efficacy in preclinical solid tumor models and we look forward to confirming these earlier results."

Prexigebersen-A is a modified drug product with the same drug substance as prexigebersen but includes formulation enhancements to produce smaller drug nanoparticles. The goal of this product enhancement was to produce smaller drug nanoparticles that could pass through vasculature pore spaces, thereby enabling release of the drug product into the interior of the tumor to enhance drug effectiveness.

In April 2018, data were presented demonstrating the treatment of solid tumors in gynecologic malignancies with prexigebersen-A at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting. The data showed an eighty-six percent (86%) decrease in tumor burden (p<0.05), and multinodular burden (p<0.01) in the combination prexigebersen-A/paclitaxel group compared with control. In addition, there was no apparent toxicity with mice on combination therapy losing less weight than the control group. This work was subsequently published in the journal Oncotarget in 2020.

"Given the encouraging pre-clinical results that have been generated to-date, we are optimistic that prexigebersen-A may offer much needed respite to patients suffering with solid tumors who face limited treatment options," said Jorge Cortes, M.D., Director of the Georgia Cancer Center and Chairman of the Bio-Path Scientific Advisory Board.

The Phase 1/1b clinical trial is anticipated to be conducted at several leading cancer centers in the United States, including The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Mary Crowley Research Center. Eventually, we expect to have six sites to conduct the clinical trial. Initially, a total of six evaluable patients are scheduled to be treated with prexigebersen-A monotherapy in a standard 3+3 design, with a starting dose of 60 mg/m2. The approved treatment cycle is two doses per week over four weeks, resulting in eight doses administered over twenty-eight days. The Phase 1b portion of the study will commence after successful completion of prexigebersen-A monotherapy cohorts and will assess the safety and efficacy of prexigebersen-A in combination with paclitaxel in patients with recurrent ovarian or endometrial tumors.

The IND review process was performed by the FDA’s Division of Oncology 1, Office of Oncologic Diseases and involved a comprehensive review of data submitted by the Company covering pre-clinical studies, safety, chemistry, manufacturing and controls, and the protocol for the Phase 1/1b clinical trial.