On February 8, 2021 Lion TCR reported abstracts presentation at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) Digital Liver Cancer Summit 2021 on 05-06 February 2021 for the use of its lead T-cell product, LioCyx-M for the treatment of unresectable Hepatitis B virus (HBV)- related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a Phase 1 study (NCT03899415), with an oral abstract (O07) selected for Highlights in the Best of Liver Cancer Summit (Press release, Lion TCR, FEB 8, 2021, View Source [SID1234574729]).

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We have previously presented clinical data for this study at the 2020 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) Annual Meeting, highlighting the use of LioCyx-M as a promising TCR-T immunotherapy for primary HCC. Here, we present an updated clinical data (poster abstract P065), with supporting biomarker analysis data (oral abstract O07).

The median overall survival was 33.57 months with a follow-up period of 47.9 months and an objective response rate of 16.7%. LioCyx-M infusions were well tolerated with no cytokine release syndrome (CRS), neurotoxicity or other systemic immune-related adverse events observed. Two patients had a self-limiting and localized liver inflammation upon infusion of 1x10E05 cells/kg per bodyweight that fully resolved despite the advanced pathological liver condition of the patient.

A total of 3 patients had elevations of serum chemokines and/or activation of the T cell compartment upon receiving the treatment, indicative of treatment induced immunological alterations. These alterations were followed with subsequent tumour destruction (partial response as per modified RECIST) in one patient with a durable tumour response lasting approximately 30 months, or a stable disease in the other 2, implicating the LioCyx-M treatment induced immunological alterations with anti-tumour response.

Overall, the clinical and biomarker data highlight the good safety profile and efficacy of LioCyx-M. Further exploration of efficacy of LioCyx-M treatment for advanced HBV-HCC is warranted in a Phase 2 study. Lion TCR is actively applying for global multi-center Phase II clinical trials, including the US FDA, Singapore HSA and China NMPA.

Details of oral presentation:

Abstract Title Immunological alterations induced by HBV-TCR T cell immunotherapy associates with treatment response of primary HBV related-HCC
Presenter Name Dr Tan Anthony Tanoto
Abstract Number O07 (Click here for oral presentation slides)

Details of poster presentation:

Abstract Title Phase 1 study of autologous hepatitis B virus (HBV)-specific T cell receptor (TCR) T-cells, LioCyx-M in unresectable HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
Presenter Name Prof Fu-Sheng Wang
Abstract Number P065 (Click here for poster)

The full abstracts are attached in this release and will be published in The Digital Liver Cancer Summit 2021 abstract book on 22 January at 10:00 CET.

Abstract O07 has been chosen to be highlighted in the Best of Liver Cancer Summit.

On February 8, 2021 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Deerfield Management Company, a healthcare investment management firm focused on advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy, reported that have formed a major translational research partnership to accelerate the development of therapeutics and diagnostics for cancer (Press release, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, FEB 8, 2021, View Source [SID1234574745]). Deerfield has committed up to $130 million over the next 10 years to advance research at Dana-Farber and translate scientific discoveries with potential applications for patients.

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Riverway Discoveries represents the first time Deerfield has created a second such partnership with one of its academic collaborators. In the first agreement, announced in 2018, Deerfield committed $80 million to create the Center for Protein Degradation at Dana-Farber.

"Translational funding in biomedical research, when the promise of success is not obvious or guaranteed, can often be the engine that ensures innovative research moves forward, paving the way for important discoveries and new and better therapies," said Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, president and CEO, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. "I am hopeful that this investment by Deerfield at Dana-Farber now will eventually help improve the lives of people with cancer everywhere."

"Supporting the innovation engines at institutions with world class science, investigators and leadership through financial, operational and translational expertise focused on projects with the potential to change lives can ultimately lead to the financial success of the institutions. This may be the most powerful way we can help support the healthcare ecosystem," stated James Flynn, Deerfield managing partner. "Dana Farber is the perfect example of an institution with all the fundamentals where a flywheel of innovation can be supported with translational funding. We are pleased to be an innovation partner with now two separate collaborations focused on the most exciting and life saving translational projects."

Getting new therapeutics to patients is a driver in Dana-Farber’s research and drug discovery work. Building on Dana-Farber’s history and strong foundation of scientific leadership, innovation and drug development, this partnership with Deerfield and Riverway Discoveries will support the preclinical development, spurring commercialization to help advance the most promising research expeditiously. Advancing the drug pipeline forward more swiftly, enables new treatments to be developed more quickly, delivering on the ultimate goal of improving patient care and saving lives.

"We are thrilled to collaborate again with Deerfield, as our previous partnership in protein degradation is enabling us to advance an exciting portfolio of discoveries. This new partnership will give scientists across Dana-Farber a new pathway to incubate cutting-edge science that will advance cancer care," said Lesley Solomon, Senior Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer at Dana-Farber. "Many promising innovations outgrow the laboratory as they require greater resources than an academic setting can typically provide. Dana-Farber’s partnership with Deerfield will catalyze important innovation growth."

Starting later this month, Dana-Farber researchers may submit proposals on projects for consideration by a Riverway Discoveries joint steering committee whose membership comprises equal scientific leadership representing Dana-Farber and Deerfield. Through Riverway Discoveries, Deerfield will provide funding and operational support for accepted projects.

On February 8, 2021 Enzychem Lifesciences (KOSDAQ: 183490), a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative medicines to improve the lives of patients with cancer and inflammatory diseases, reported it will present new study data regarding its lead drug candidate, EC-18 in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy, at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) 2021 Annual Meeting, held virtually, April 10-15 and May 17-21 (Press release, Enzychem Lifesciences, FEB 8, 2021, View Source [SID1234574763]).

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ICI is approved and used in the treatment of various cancers. However, some carcinomas are refractory to ICI and the treatment effect diminishes through drug resistance. Adenosine-induced tumor progression and drug resistance are major obstacles to ICI therapy. Effective removal of adenosine surrounding the tumor can improve the ICI effect and suppress tumor progression.

"We are excited to present our in vitro cell analysis results at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper), that support EC-18’s unique mechanism of action and synergistic therapeutic effect in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors," said Ki Young Sohn, CEO & Chairman, Enzychem Lifesciences. "Based on these results, EC-18 has an anti-tumor effect by quickly eliminating eAdo extracellular adenosine (eAdo), which is a key factor for successful ICI therapy. PLAG, the active pharmaceutical ingredient of EC-18, may help cancer cells absorb and remove eAdo, thereby, effectively inhibiting tumor growth and changing the tumor microenvironment. PLAG may enhance the therapeutic effect of ICI in the treatment of LLC-1 lung carcinoma cells."

Details of the virtual poster presentation are below:
Abstract Title: Suppressive effect of PLAG on tumor progression and its synergistic therapeutic effect with ICI therapy through adenosine clearance.
Date: Saturday, April 10, 2021
Abstract Number: 1447
Session: Targeting the Tumor Microenvironment in Drug Development

The virtual abstract is available in the program section of the virtual AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) annual meeting website: View Source

On February 8, 2021 Anticancer Bioscience (ACB), pioneers in synthetic lethal approaches to precision oncology, reported that having successfully closed an additional financing round, raising CNY63m (~USD10m), it has already achieved positive animal data in its small molecule program targeting MYC overexpression (Press release, Anticancer Bioscience, FEB 8, 2021, View Source [SID1234574730]).

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The financing, by a small syndicate of undisclosed, experienced Chinese angel investors adds to the previous seed financing of CNY68.75m (~USD11m) and is being used to support further expansion of ACB’s proprietary screening libraries and discovery platforms, with the goal of progressing two of its programs towards IND enabling studies this year.

ACB is an international private company, commercialising discoveries emerging from China’s world-leading cancer research at the J. Michael Bishop Institute of Cancer Research.

The Company is using its unique screening libraries and discovery platforms in cancer biology to uncover novel mechanisms to induce cancer cell death, without harming healthy cells. Synthetic lethality is possible when the same genetic changes that enable carcinogenesis also make the cancer cell overly dependent on specific pathways and proteins. Attacking these dependencies with drugs can yield dramatic anti-cancer effects, while leaving normal cells healthy. Synthetic lethality enables targeting of drivers of carcinogenesis that are not currently amenable to drug development.

The Company has five distinct synthetic lethality programs in drug development. These include:

Oncogene enabled synthetic lethality (focused on MYC inhibition)

Tumour suppressor synthetic lethality

Polyploid cell synthetic lethality

Centrosome amplification/delustering therapy

Restoration of contact inhibition

ACB has invested in proprietary small molecule and natural product libraries, that comprise novel scaffolds of drug-like molecules and natural medicinal botanicals, with over 20,000 botanical samples already collected and curated. ACB’s small molecule libraries are based on novel scaffolds upon which further diversity can be assembled. These general-utility new scaffold-drug fragment (GUNS-DF) libraries, are being expanded and evolved through iterative screening/optimization processes for multiple phenotypic screening projects.

In the company’s lead MYC inhibition program, a novel chemical series with low nM activity has been identified in model cell lines. Already, functional activity of ACB’s lead ‘HJ’ compound series has been demonstrated in vitro that mimics inhibition of Aurora B kinase. Inhibition of Aurora B kinase is known to elicit synthetic lethality in cells overexpressing MYC. The synthetic lethal phenotype includes the induction of cell cycle arrest early in mitosis followed by accumulation of polyploid cells. ACB is further exploring a second MYC inhibitory compound series.

Founder, President, and CEO of ACB, Dr. Dun Yang, said, "With the additional financing, we are well placed to accelerate our synthetic lethal approach and to maximise the value of our libraries and pipeline. Already a provisional filing covering the novel library of HJ compounds has been completed and this is the first GUNS-DF library for which ACB has filed for PCT patent protection, testifying to the utility of our library technology platform. We expect to follow this with additional composition of matter filings as we progress our MYC and other discovery programs."

ACB’s goal is to generate first-in-class oncology drugs for a broad range of indications (targeting over 30% of cancer patients), with a focus on therapies disabling previously untargeted mitotic regulators. Overexpression of MYC engenders vulnerability in mitosis and many other cellular processes. It is the most commonly deregulated oncoprotein, making targeting it through synthetic lethality an attractive strategy for cancer therapy.

Since its foundation in 2016, ACB has grown to almost 50 employees in Chengdu China, Hyderabad, India, San Francisco, USA, and St Andrews, UK.

On February 8, 2021 Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) has selected nine new genomics companies to join the second global funding cycle of Illumina Accelerator in the U.S. and UK (Press release, Illumina, FEB 8, 2021, View Source [SID1234574746]). The global company creation engine, focused on partnering with entrepreneurs to build breakthrough genomics startups, invested in four companies for the second funding cycle of Illumina Accelerator Cambridge, UK and five companies for the twelfth funding cycle of Illumina Accelerator San Francisco Bay Area.

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Today, Illumina also announces over £20 million in initial UK capital commitments have been secured from a select group of investors, including a £10 million commitment from cornerstone investor LifeArc, a leading UK independent medical research charity. The UK commitments will provide pound-for-pound match funding to every Illumina Accelerator Cambridge graduate that secures between £500,000 up to £4 million in qualified new capital, within one year of graduation.

"The UK capital commitments will be instrumental in driving value for our Illumina Accelerator Cambridge startups as they strive to unlock the power of the genome," said Amanda Cashin, Ph.D., co-founder and Global Head of Illumina for Startups.

During two, six-month funding cycles per year, Illumina Accelerator provides the selected startups with access to seed investment, access to Illumina sequencing systems and reagents, as well as business guidance, genomics expertise, and fully operational lab space adjacent to Illumina’s campuses in Cambridge, UK or the San Francisco Bay Area. The newest companies to join Illumina Accelerator’s portfolio of genomics startups include:

Illumina Accelerator Cambridge

BiotaX Labs LTD, a spinoff from Technion Research and Development Foundation (TRDF) Israel, is harnessing the power of the microbiome to diagnose and provide effective, tailored and safe microbial treatments.
Broken String Biosciences Limited, a genomics company from Cardiff, UK, is developing a platform of novel sequencing tools to assess genome stability and to unlock the next generation of innovative medicines, including cell and gene therapies.
Mitra Bio Limited, a skin longevity company from London, UK, is building a non-invasive skin multi-omics platform to unravel skin health and delay ageing.
MultiplAI Health LTD, a diagnostics company from London, UK and Buenos Aires, Argentina, is leveraging advances in genomics and artificial intelligence to develop universal remote screening for cardiovascular diseases.
Illumina Accelerator SF Bay Area

Doloromics Inc., a pain therapeutics discovery company from Dallas, Texas, is building a proprietary platform for discovery of disease-specific pain mechanisms, biomarkers and therapeutics.
Flightpath Biosciences, Inc., a biotechnology company from Berkeley, California is advancing microbiome-targeted therapeutics and diagnostics for the treatment of rare infectious diseases.
Oshun Medical Inc., a women’s health diagnostics company from the SF Bay Area, is working to predict pregnancy complications in women around the world.
Parallel Health Inc., a skin microbiome company from the SF Bay Area, aims to revolutionize skin and body care by providing deep insights and true personalization through best-in-class testing and targeted microbial formulations.
Rubik Therapeutics, Inc., a cancer therapeutics company from Greater Boston, is leveraging computational biology and genome-wide screens to develop engineered cell therapies for solid tumor indications.
"Our newest investments demonstrate the depth and breadth of genomics applications across the globe," said Alex Aravanis, M.D, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer at Illumina. "These nine genomics startups are focused on discovering breakthrough therapeutics, diagnostics, and direct-to-consumer applications to transform human health and beyond."

Illumina Accelerator is accepting applications for the next global funding cycle, which are due by March 1, 2021. Through a single, global application process, Illumina Accelerator will select up to five companies in each location. To learn more and apply, please visit our website.
(Press release, Illumina, FEB 8, 2021, View Source [SID1234574746])