On May 26, 2021 Luye Pharma Group announced that its holding subsidiary, Boan Biotech, reported that it has signed an agreement with AstraZeneca China regarding the promotion rights to the anticancer drug Boyounuo (Bevacizumab Injection), under which the former will grant to the latter exclusive promotion rights in the county markets across 21 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions of China (Press release, Boan Biotech, MAY 26, 2021, View Source [SID1234595076]).

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The partnership is based on integrating the strengths and resources of both companies at various levels of markets in China. Boan Biotech will coordinate its own business team, commercial networks and resources in the field of oncology to ensure better access to Boyounuo for patients in key markets. In addition, Boan Biotech will join hands with AstraZeneca to leverage their many years of broad market coverage and channel development in China, especially at the county level, enabling more patients to benefit from the drug.

Boyounuo, a bio-antibody drug developed by Boan Biotech was recently approved for marketing by China’s National Medical Products Administration, for treating advanced, metastatic or recurrent non-small-cell lung cancer and metastatic colorectal cancer. To make it available to patients as quickly as possible, the company arranged the delivery of the first batch of product within ten days of announcing the official approval. Prescriptions have been issued in many cities across the country.

Ms. Hua Jiang, Chief Executive Officer of Boan Biotech said: "AstraZeneca has a broad range of innovative resources and a global network with years of development experience in the oncology therapeutic field and county markets. Our strategic collaboration with AstraZeneca provides an important supplement and extension to the commercial network for Boyounuo. We will leverage our respective strengths in channels and patient coverage at multiple market levels, as well as explore active collaboration opportunities in overseas markets, to provide high-quality and affordable drugs for more patients."

Mr. Leon Wang, Executive Vice President, International and China President at AstraZeneca said: "At AstraZeneca, patients are at the centre of everything we do. Deeply rooted in China county areas for many years, we work with various parties to ensure more patients benefit from innovative holistic disease management solutions. Boan Biotech is a comprehensive biopharmaceutical company with capabilities across the industry value chain, as well as excellent R&D and manufacturing teams. With their position as a leading local company, we are delighted to be working together and looking forward to our close collaboration in the future, bringing more innovative solutions to patients at the county level and expanding on continued efforts to meet the growing health needs in China."

On May 25, 2021 The Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation reported that it has launched a new initiative in Brazil, awarding four grants aimed at improving the delivery of high-quality care for lung cancer and skin cancer to medically underserved and rural communities (Press release, Bristol-Myers Squibb, MAY 25, 2021, View Source;First-Global-Cancer-Disparities-Grants-in-Brazil/default.aspx [SID1234580534]). The organizations that have received grants are focused on community outreach and disease education, strengthening collaborations among primary care physicians and oncologists, and supporting efforts to promote early diagnosis and treatment.

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These four grants are part of the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation’s Global Cancer Disparities Initiative, which supports grantees in Brazil, China, nine countries in Africa and the United States. The grantees in Brazil exemplify the Foundation’s strategy to identify organizations that are pioneering innovative health equity solutions and provide funding to enable them to develop, test, measure and demonstrate the effectiveness of programs to improve access to high-quality healthcare.

"Even before COVID-19, disparities in care for lung cancer and melanoma patients in Brazil have long been driven by barriers both inside and outside the clinic," said John Damonti, president of the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation. "These grantee projects have the potential to strengthen health systems, community education and patient support services, and serve as examples for advancing equity in cancer care throughout Latin America, particularly in this difficult era of COVID-19."

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Brazil, and skin cancers including melanoma occur at three to four times the rate of the global average. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted patient education and support programs as well as medical services for patients, increasing the vulnerabilities of patients and those who are at risk of diagnosis.

In 2020, the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation issued a special request for proposals for programs that would enable 1) people at high-risk for cancer to commence screening, detection, diagnosis, treatment and palliative care, and 2) current cancer patients to continue to receive clinical care and supportive services in the era of COVID19.

Organizations that were awarded grants are leading organizations with track records of successful program implementation and commitment to health equity. The organizations are:

Barretos Cancer Hospital. Barretos Cancer Hospital was created in 1967 to meet the needs of public cancer treatment outside the city of São Paulo and has several branches in Brazil. It was awarded two grants, each for a separate project. One project will improve skin cancer screening through teledermatology and improve the workflow and referral pathway to link patients to diagnostic and treatment services. The other project will establish lung cancer and melanoma mobile units to identify high-risk individuals and implement telehealth services at health units to provide access to diagnosis and treatment and to retain patients in care.

Instituto Oncoguia. With its Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation grant, Instituto Oncoguia, a leading non-governmental organization in fighting cancer in Brazil, will be able to employ patient navigators to provide personalized support to help patients receive diagnoses and begin treatment without unnecessary delays or loss to follow-up for patients with lung cancer.

Irmandade Santa Casa de Porto Alegre. The oldest hospital in Rio Grande do Sul, Irmandade Santa Casa de Porto will use the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation grant to integrate specialized health care in oncology with primary health care through teleconsultation and patient navigation to promote early diagnosis of lung cancer and expedite access to providers at specialty cancer hospitals.

On May 25, 2021 Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, reported that the Board of Directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share of the company’s common stock for the third quarter of 2021 (Press release, Merck & Co, MAY 25, 2021, View Source [SID1234580550]). Payment will be made on July 7, 2021 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 15, 2021.

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On May 25, 2021 Autolus Therapeutics plc (Nasdaq: AUTL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation programmed T cell therapies, reported a publication in Nature Cancer that gives new insight into the mechanism of long-term durability of effect in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients treated with AUTO1 (Press release, Autolus, MAY 25, 2021, View Source [SID1234580566]).

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AUTO1 CAR T cells from pediatric ALL patients who still had CAR T cells detectable in the blood more than two years after their treatment were compared with patients who had lost their AUTO1 CAR T cells one to two months post treatment. The study shows that a subset of AUTO1 CAR T cells called Stem Cell Memory T-cells (TSCM) appear critical in both the initial anti-leukemic response and for long term immune surveillance. This suggests that this sub-group of AUTO1 CAR T cells contribute to the long-term durability of effect that AUTO1 has in these patients.

"AUTO1 has been designed to have an optimized interaction between its chimeric antigen receptor and the CD19 target on cancer cells," said Dr Martin Pule, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Autolus. "This means AUTO1 can efficiently deliver a kill and disengage rapidly like a normal T cell, leading to less exhaustion and less T cell differentiation. This unique property of AUTO1 potentially contributes to the enrichment and maintenance of this stem cell memory subset that appears to be critical to the long-term durability observed in pediatric ALL patients treated with AUTO1."

On May 25, 2021 ESSA Pharma Inc. ("ESSA" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: EPIX), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapies for the treatment of prostate cancer, reported that Dr. David R. Parkinson, Chief Executive Officer of ESSA, will participate in a fireside chat at the upcoming Jefferies Virtual Healthcare Conference (Press release, ESSA, MAY 25, 2021, View Source [SID1234580582]). Dr. Parkinson, along with Peter Virsik, ESSA’s Chief Operating Officer, and David S. Wood, ESSA’s Chief Financial Officer, will be available for one-on-one meetings. The conference will take place from June 1 – June 4, 2021.

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A webcast of the fireside chat can be accessed on the Investors/Events & Presentations section of ESSA’s website at www.essapharma.com. Following the event, the webcast will be archived on the Company’s website for 90 days.