On August 13, 2021 Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American:PLX) (TASE:PLX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development, production and commercialization of recombinant therapeutic proteins produced by its proprietary ProCellEx plant cell-based protein expression system, reported the entry into definitive agreements (the "Exchange Agreements") relating to exchanges (the "Exchanges") of an aggregate of $54.65 million principal amount of the Company’s outstanding 7.50% Senior Secured Convertible Notes due 2021 (the "Existing Notes") for an aggregate of $28.75 million principal amount of newly issued 7.50% Senior Secured Convertible Notes due 2024 (the "Exchange Notes"), $25.90 million in cash and accrued and unpaid interest through the closing date (Press release, Protalix, AUG 13, 2021, View Source [SID1234586550]). The Exchanges are expected to close as soon as practicable, subject to satisfaction of certain closing conditions. Following the closing of the Exchanges, the Company expects that $3.27 million aggregate principal amount of the Existing Notes will remain outstanding.

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"The exchange of the notes underscores Protalix’s commitment to addressing our capital structure while continuing development of our pegunigalsidase alfa program and our early pipeline," said Dror Bashan, Protalix’s President and Chief Executive Officer. "We believe that the participation of so many of our institutional note holders, including funds managed by Highbridge Capital Management, LLC, UBS O’Connor LLC, Citigroup Global Markets, Whitebox Advisors, and Tulip Capital, is a telling vote of confidence in Protalix."

Like the Existing Notes and at equal priority, the Exchange Notes will be secured by perfected liens on all of the material assets of the Company and its subsidiaries. Interest on the Exchange Notes will be payable semi-annually at a rate of 7.50% per annum. The Exchange Notes will mature three years after issuance, unless earlier purchased, converted, exchanged or redeemed, and will be guaranteed by the Company’s subsidiaries.

Holders may require the Company to repurchase their Exchange Notes upon the occurrence of certain events that constitute a fundamental change under the indenture that will govern the Exchange Notes (the "Indenture") at a purchase price equal to the principal amount thereof plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the fundamental change purchase date.

Holders may convert their Exchange Notes at any time prior to the close of business on the business day immediately preceding the stated maturity date of the Exchange Notes. Upon conversion, the Company may, at its election, deliver shares of the Company’s common stock ("Common Stock"), cash or a combination of shares of Common Stock and cash based on the applicable conversion rate. However, until the Company obtains stockholder approval to issue additional shares of Common Stock upon conversion of the Exchange Notes, the Company will be required to settle at least a portion of its conversion obligation in cash. The Company intends to seek stockholder approval promptly in order to be able to settle conversions of the Exchange Notes in Common Stock.

The initial conversion rate will be based on a 32.5% premium to the closing price of the Common Stock on the NYSE American at the close of trading on August 13, 2021.

The Indenture includes covenants customary for instruments of this type, including, without limitation, restrictions on the Company’s ability to incur additional indebtedness, create liens on its properties, pay dividends and make restricted payments or certain investments, and also requires the Company to apply a portion of the proceeds from certain asset sales or licensing arrangements to repay the Exchange Notes, in each case subject to certain exceptions.

"This exchange transaction allows us to continue to advance our lead drug candidate, PRX-102, towards approval and to progress our early stage pipeline candidates," said Eyal Rubin, Protalix’s Sr. Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

This announcement is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any of these securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation, or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale is unlawful. The offer and sale of the Exchange Notes and the shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion of the Exchange Notes, if any, will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933 or any state securities laws, and unless so registered, the Exchange Notes and such shares may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and applicable state laws.

On August 13, 2021 GT Biopharma, Inc. ("GT Biopharma" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: GTBP), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company focused on developing innovative therapeutics based on the Company’s proprietary natural killer (NK) cell engager (TriKE) protein biologic technology platform, reported a general business update of events in the second quarter ending June 30, 2021 (Press release, GT Biopharma, AUG 13, 2021, View Source [SID1234586568]).

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"I am pleased with the corporate and clinical development milestones that GT Biopharma continues to achieve throughout the first half of 2021," said Anthony J. Cataldo, GT Biopharma’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "The Company continues to demonstrate that our proprietary TriKE platform technology is both safe and efficacious, demonstrated through our recent positive, interim data announcement of our ongoing Phase I/II dose expansion clinical trial of GTB-3550 TriKE. The TriKE platform is robust, focusing not only on hematologic cancers but also on solid tumor cancers such as lung, prostate, breast and ovarian cancers. The TriKE platform includes our B7H3, PD-L1 and HER2 TriKE product candidates. Our breadth of indications and the utility of TriKE as a therapeutic agent reduces the risk profile of our therapeutic platform and pipeline. Our collaborative efforts were strengthened through the Company’s research agreement with Dr. Jeffrey S. Miller and the University of Minnesota, and signifies that we are continuing to hit important strides in the clinic. These positive milestones reinforce GT Biopharma’s need to continue developing this first-in-human treatment for patients living with AML, MDS and other CD33+ hematologic cancers."

Clinical Highlights

Reported Positive, Interim Data Results from First-in-Human GTB-3550 TriKE Phase I Clinical Trial for the Treatment of Refractory/Relapsed Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and High-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS): In June 2021, GT Biopharma and Dr. Jeffrey S. Miller presented positive, interim results from the Phase I dose-escalation portion of the Phase I/II dose expansion clinical trial of GTB-3550 TriKE at the 2021 Raymond James Human Health Innovation Conference. Results demonstrated that 57% of patients achieved significant reduction in AML/MDS cancer cell burden, with one patient reaching up to 63.7% reduction in bone marrow blast levels. Across all patients, treatment of GTB-3550 TriKE was well tolerated and no signs of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) were detected. This portion of the Phase I/II dose expansion trial is focused on determining the recommended Phase II dose, the maximum tolerated dose (MTD), optimal dose schedule, safety and tolerability of GTB-3550 TriKE administration. The Phase I safety study is expected to complete later this fall and the Company has scheduled an interim data publication for September 16-21, 2021 at the European Society for Medical Oncology Conference to be held in Paris, France.
Corporate Highlights

Announced Strategic Research Agreement with Dr. Jeffrey S. Miller of the University of Minnesota: In July 2021, GT Biopharma announced that it has entered a research agreement with Dr. Jeffrey S. Miller, associated with the University of Minnesota to further develop the Company’s proprietary TriKE technology. This agreement reinforces the clinical success that TriKE continues to demonstrate in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).
Inclusion in the Russell 2000 Index: In June 2021, GT Biopharma was added to the Russel 2000 Index, signifying corporate and clinical development milestones that the Company continues to achieve. This listing enhances GT Biopharma’s visibility to a broader investment community, and increases long-term growth potential as the Company continues to achieve important clinical milestones associated with both their robust preclinical and clinical pipelines.
Announced $16M Cash Increase from Warrant Exercise Proceeds: In July 2021, the Company announced a $16M increase in cash from exercised warrant proceeds that were a part of the recent $27M financing completed in February of this year. This capital will be used to further develop the TriKE technology in both preclinical and clinical pipelines.
Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call at 8:30 a.m. EST today to provide a general business update. To join the call U.S. callers should dial 1-877-870-4263 and international callers should dial 1-412-317-0790. All participants should ask to be connected to the GT Biopharma conference call.

A live webcast of the event will be available by visiting the "Presentations" page in the Investors section of GT Biopharma’s website at www.gtbiopharma.com/news-media/presentations. A replay of the webcast will be archived for 30 days following the presentation.

About GTB-3550 TriKE

GTB-3550 is the Company’s first TriKE product candidate being initially developed for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and other CD33+ hematologic cancers. GTB-3550 is a single-chain, tri-specific scFv recombinant fusion protein conjugate composed of the variable regions of the heavy and light chains of anti-CD16 and anti-CD33 antibodies and a modified form of Interleukin 15 (IL-15). The natural killer (NK) cell-stimulating cytokine human IL-15 portion of the molecule provides a self-sustaining signal that activates NK cells and enhances their ability to kill. We intend to study GTB-3550 in CD33 positive leukemias such as AML, MDS and other CD33+ hematopoietic malignancies.

On August 13, 2021Processa Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PCSA), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing drugs to improve the survival and/or quality of life for patients who have an unmet medical need condition, reported that financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, and provides corporate update (Press release, Processa Pharmaceuticals, AUG 13, 2021, View Source [SID1234586520]).

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Dr. David Young, CEO and chairman of Processa, commented, "During the second quarter we made significant progress advancing our clinical programs, in-licensed another clinical asset – RX-3117 – and will have four clinical programs with addressable markets of $500 million to $1.5 billion. Looking at upcoming milestones, we have begun to develop the biomarker assays for 3117 in pancreatic cancer patients with the expectation that the assay validation will be completed in the first half of 2022. We also anticipate filing an IND in September for PCS12852 with site initiation beginning before year end. Additionally, we expect interim data for PCS6422 in the fourth quarter of 2021 and interim data for PCS499 during the first half of 2022. Taken altogether, we see a consistent cadence of upcoming catalysts and tremendous amount of near-term value creation."

Recent Highlights and New Developments

Dosed our first two patients in the PCS499 Phase 2B ulcerative Necrobiosis Lipoidica (NL) trial. NL is a rare, chronic, idiopathic, granulomatous disease that can significantly effect a patient’s quality of life and is caused by a number of diverse pathophysiological changes in a patient. There are no approved treatments for NL or ulcerative NL and no acceptable standard of care. Approximately 30% of NL patients have the ulcerative form of NL.
Dosed our first patient in our Phase 1B trial evaluating the safety and PK of PCS6422 and capecitabine when administered to patients with advanced, refractory GI cancer. The combination of PCS6422 and capecitabine is expected to improve the benefit-risk profile of capecitabine by improving capecitabine safety and/or efficacy.
Licensed in PCS3117 (formerly RX-3117), an oral, anticancer agent with an improved pharmacological profile relative to gemcitabine. PCS3117 has a family of patents extending into 2036 as well as U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Orphan Designation for the treatment of Pancreatic Cancer. Processa has begun to develop biomarkers assays to better predict which patients with pancreatic or non-small cell lung cancer are more likely to benefit from PCS3117 over gemcitabine and other chemotherapeutic agents.
Joined the Russell Microcap , resulting in automatic inclusion in the appropriate growth and value style indexes. FTSE Russell determines membership for its Russell indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes.
Upcoming Clinical Drug Development Milestones

Second half of 2021

Complete enrollment of 8-10 patients for the PCS499 Phase 2B interim analysis
Submit PCS12852 IND application to FDA for Gastroparesis and initiate sites
Begin assay development of biomarkers for PCS3117 in pancreatic cancer
Complete interim analysis of PCS6422 Phase 1B trial in GI cancer
2022

Interim analysis of PCS499 Phase 2B trial in ulcerative NL
Final analysis of PCS499 Phase 2B trial in ulcerative NL
Enroll and complete PCS12852 Phase 2A gastroparesis trial
Complete assay validation of biomarkers for PCS3117 and initiate sites for Phase 2B pancreatic cancer trial
Determine the maximum tolerated dose for capecitabine in the PCS6422-capecitabine combination Phase 1B GI cancer trial
Financial Results for the second quarter of 2021

Our cash and cash equivalents totaled $20.8 million as of June 30, 2021, compared to $15.4 million as of December 31, 2020 and we had 15.6 million shares of common stock outstanding as of August 2, 2021.

Our research and development expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2021 were $1.6 million compared to $427 thousand for the three months ended June 30, 2020. General and administrative expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2021 were $1.3 million compared to $375 thousand for the three months ended June 30, 2020. Our total stock-based compensation included in general and administrative expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2021 was $674 thousand compared to $87 thousand for the three months ended June 30, 2020. We reported a net loss for the three months ended June 30, 2021 of $3.2 million compared to a net loss for the comparable prior year period of $733 thousand. Our net loss per share for the three months ended June 30, 2021 was $0.20 compared to net loss per share for the three months ended June 30, 2020 of $0.13.

Conference Call Information

To participate in this event, please dial in approximately 5 to 10 minutes before the beginning of the call.

On August 13, 2021 PureTech Health plc (Nasdaq: PRTC, LSE: PRTC) ("PureTech" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing highly differentiated medicines for devastating diseases, reported the appointment of Julie Krop, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer (Press release, PureTech Health, AUG 13, 2021, View Source [SID1234586551]). Dr. Krop will oversee all clinical development, regulatory, CMC, and medical affairs for the Company’s advancing Wholly Owned Pipeline.

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"We are pleased to welcome Julie to our senior leadership team as our Wholly Owned Pipeline rapidly grows and advances across multiple areas of significant patient need," said Daphne Zohar, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PureTech. "Julie is a biopharmaceutical industry veteran with a wide breadth of expertise across multiple therapeutic areas and orphan indications. Over the course of her career, she has overseen development of eight therapeutics that advanced through Phase 3, including three FDA approvals. We believe her expertise in mid- to late-stage clinical development, in addition to her extensive experience as a board-certified physician and leader in regulatory affairs, will be important assets as we advance our lead program, LYT-100, towards potential registration-enabling development in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and potentially other progressive fibrosing interstitial lung diseases."

Dr. Krop joins PureTech from Freeline Therapeutics, a clinical-stage gene therapy company, where she served as Chief Medical Officer. Prior to this role, Dr. Krop served as Chief Medical Officer of AMAG Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Covis group for $647 million), where she oversaw clinical development, regulatory affairs, clinical operations, medical affairs, program management and pharmacovigilance. During her time at AMAG, Dr. Krop was responsible for the oversight of three FDA approvals. Earlier in her career, she held leadership positions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Stryker Regenerative Medicine, Peptimmune, Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer. Dr. Krop received her M.D. from Brown University School of Medicine and completed an internal medicine residency at Georgetown University Hospital. Additionally, she completed fellowships in epidemiology, clinical trial design and endocrinology as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

"I am thrilled to join the leadership team at PureTech during such an exciting time in the Company’s growth and clinical development," said Dr. Krop. "PureTech’s research and development model is a truly unique approach that has fostered a broad wealth of expertise within the Company that now powers the team’s innovative development efforts across multiple therapeutic candidates. I look forward to helping drive PureTech’s mission and advancing an incredibly promising pipeline of investigational therapies for patients in need."

On August 13, 2021 BioAtla, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCAB), a global clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of Conditionally Active Biologic (CAB) antibody therapeutics, reported financial results for the second quarter of 2021 and provided an update on its business (Press release, BioAtla, AUG 13, 2021, View Source [SID1234586569]).

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"BioAtla is advancing potentially registration-enabling Phase 2 clinical trials for our two lead CAB product candidates. With strong financial resources, we are also broadening our development pipeline to include several additional ADC and bispecific CAB candidates," stated Jay M. Short, Ph.D., Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of BioAtla, Inc. "Our clinical objectives in 2021 include providing Phase 2 interim data readouts by year-end for CAB-AXL-ADC and CAB-ROR2-ADC. Our Phase 1 trials for these product candidates demonstrated encouraging results in difficult to treat cancer indications, particularly in patients with late-stage disease refractory to other lines of therapy," added Scott Smith, President of BioAtla.

Advancing clinical trials for lead candidates

BA3011 (Mecbotamab Vedotin)
We are developing BA3011, CAB-AXL-ADC, a conditionally activated antibody drug conjugate targeting the receptor tyrosine kinase AXL, as a potential therapeutic for multiple solid tumor types, including soft tissue and bone sarcoma, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and ovarian cancer, with other potential indications in the future. On March 1, 2021 the Office of Orphan Drug Products (OODP) at FDA granted Orphan Drug Designation to BA3011 for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma. Phase 1 results in sarcoma patients have been submitted for presentation at the Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS) 2021 Annual Meeting in November. As previously indicated, we have initiated a potentially registration-enabling Phase 2 clinical trial (BA3011-001) of BA3011 given as monotherapy or in combination with a PD-1 inhibitor in soft tissue and primary bone sarcoma patients 12 years and older that are high AXL tumor membrane expressors (AXL high), and a Phase 2 study (BA3011-002) in AXL high NSCLC patients that have previously progressed on PD-1/L1, EGFR or ALK inhibitor therapy. Enrollment continues in our sarcoma Phase 2 trial in the U.S. and initiated in Asia this quarter with first patient dosing in Taiwan. A pre-planned Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) was held and the IDMC recommended BioAtla continue the BA3011-001 study without modifications. Additional Interim analyses in the sarcoma and NSCLC trials are anticipated this year and early 2022. In addition, the commencement of a multi-center investigator-initiated Phase 2 clinical trial for BA3011 in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer in combination with a PD-1 inhibitor has been approved by Health Canada and is expected to begin enrollment in the second half of this year in Canada and the United States.

BA3021 (Ozuriftamab Vedotin)
BA3021, CAB-ROR2-ADC, is a CAB antibody drug conjugate directed against ROR2, a receptor tyrosine kinase that is overexpressed across many different solid tumors including lung, head and neck, melanoma and breast. We are developing BA3021 as a potential therapeutic for multiple solid tumor types, including NSCLC, melanoma, squamous cell cancer of the head and neck (SSCHN) and ovarian cancer. Based on phase 1 data we believe BA3021 has broad potential as a cancer therapy for patients with advanced solid tumors that have previously progressed on a PD-1 inhibitor. We are enrolling a Phase 2 trial of BA3021 monotherapy or in combination with a PD-1 inhibitor in ROR2 high melanoma patients that have previously progressed on PD-1/L1 inhibitor and ROR2 high NSCLC patients that have previously on PD-1/L1, EGFR or ALK inhibitor therapy. A Phase 2 study in ROR2 high SSCHN patients is anticipated to initiate in second half of 2021. A BA3021 in combination with a PD-1 inhibitor Phase 2 clinical trial for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer has been approved by Health Canada and is expected to begin enrollment in the second half of this year in Canada and the United States.

BA3071
BA3071, is a CAB anti-CTLA-4 antibody that is being developed as an immuno-oncology agent with the goal of delivering efficacy comparable to the approved anti-CTLA-4 antibody, ipilimumab, but with lower toxicities due to the CAB’s tumor microenvironment-restricted activation. Like BA3011, BA3021 and our other CAB candidates, BA3071 is designed to be conditionally and reversibly activated in the tumor microenvironment via the Protein-associated Chemical SwitchTM or PaCSTM mechanism discovered by BioAtla scientists. This proprietary system enables reduction of systemic toxicity and potentially enables safer combination therapies, such as with anti-PD-1 antibody checkpoint inhibitors in the case of BA3071. We are currently in a global collaboration with BeiGene, and are developing BA3071 as a potential therapeutic for multiple solid tumor indications, including renal cell carcinoma, NSCLC, small cell lung cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, melanoma, bladder cancer, gastric cancer and cervical cancer. Our goal is to initiate a Phase 1/2 study for BA3071 in 2021.

Plans to advance development of several bispecific CAB candidates
We have also leveraged our CAB technology to develop bispecific antibodies, which bind both a tumor-specific antigen and a T cell receptor (CD3) using CAB antigen-binding domains. With this design, bispecific antibodies can induce potent T cell responses against tumors expressing the tumor target antigen. We have shown in preclinical experiments that our CAB bispecific molecules meet or exceed the activity of conventional bispecifics and reduce systemic activation of potentially fatal immune responses. We advanced two CAB bispecific antibody product candidates, EpCAM/CD3 and B7-H3/CD3, into IND-enabling studies in the second half of 2020. We also are evaluating additional candidates including EGFR and Nectin-4 for CAB CD3 bispecific modalities. Nectin-4 is also progressing as a CAB ADC candidate. Overall, we are advancing multiple pre-clinical assets with the potential to submit up to four US INDs by the end of 2022 for our CAB bispecific or ADC molecules.

Second quarter 2021 financial results
Cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2021 were $207.6 million. We expect current cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund planned operations into 2023.

Research and development (R&D) expenses were $14.9 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2021 compared to $2.9 million for the same quarter in 2020. We expect our R&D expenses to increase substantially for the foreseeable future as we continue to invest in R&D activities to advance our product candidates, and our clinical programs and expand our product candidate pipeline.

General and administrative (G&A) expenses were $15.9 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2021 compared to $1.8 million for the same quarter in 2020. We expect our G&A expenses to increase as a result of operating as a public company. In addition, we expect our intellectual property expenses to increase as we expand our intellectual property portfolio.

Net loss for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021 was $30.4 million compared to a net loss of $6.2 million for the same quarter in 2020. Net cash used in operating activities for the first six months of 2021 was $28.5 million compared to net cash used in operating activities of $6.9 million for the same period in 2020.