Boston Children’s Hospital and ElevateBio Announce Five-Year Cell and Gene Therapy Collaboration

On June 29, 2021 Boston Children’s Hospital, which has the largest National Institutes of Health-funded pediatric research enterprise in the United States, and ElevateBio, a cell and gene therapy technology company focused on powering transformative cell and gene therapies, reported that they have entered into a five-year collaborative agreement to advance cell and gene therapy programs originating out of Boston Children’s Hospital with an introduction to Boston Children’s translational research capabilities.

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The agreement enables Boston Children’s and ElevateBio to form multiple cell and gene therapy companies together; provides Boston Children’s researchers access to ElevateBio’s core-enabling technologies, manufacturing, and leading expertise to advance their programs; and will guarantee Boston Children’s researchers dedicated viral-vector manufacturing space at ElevateBio BaseCamp, ElevateBio’s centralized world-class research and development manufacturing center. In addition, under this agreement, ElevateBio will commit to sponsored research agreements with Boston Children’s investigators as part of the company formation process.

"At Boston Children’s Hospital, we are proud of the foundation we’ve established as a leading innovator in cell and gene therapy, so collaborating with ElevateBio – a company so well-positioned to change the face of cell and gene therapy forever – is a natural fit into our overall vision," said David Williams, M.D., formerly Senior Vice President for Research and Chief Scientific Officer, currently Chief of Hematology / Oncology, Boston Children’s Hospital. "Using ElevateBio’s world-class enabling technologies, this alliance will help catalyze the science being conducted in the labs across Boston Children’s, moving potential treatments into the clinic and accelerating the development of multiple cell and gene therapy platforms."

"Boston Children’s Hospital is committed to accelerating the translation of our research into treatments that will improve patients’ lives," said Irene Abrams, Vice President of Technology Development and New Ventures, Boston Children’s Hospital. "and this relationship with ElevateBio is a key part of that effort."

"At ElevateBio, we have built unique end-to-end capabilities that leverage our suite of enabling technologies, technologic know-how, and world-class expertise to advance our own innovative cell and gene therapies as well as accelerate those of industry and academic collaborators," said David Hallal, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ElevateBio. "Boston Children’s Hospital has a strong history of innovation in the cell and gene therapy sector through ground-breaking science and spinning out companies to deliver medicines to patients. Through this collaboration, we’re excited to work with the team at Boston Children’s to form new companies, the first of which we’ve identified and will announce later this year, and also enable access to our cutting-edge viral vector manufacturing facilities that will help Boston Children’s researchers move their therapies through development more efficiently."

Nordic Life Science Days digital conference, April 20-23, 2021

On June 29, Bioneer reported that we will be participating in the Nordic Life Science Days 2021, from April 20th to 23rd (Press release, Bioneer, JUN 29, 2021, View Source [SID1234584839]).

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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

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Nordic Life Science Days is the largest Nordic partnering conference dedicated to the life science industry. This year the event will be in a digital format, where Bioneer will have a virtual booth, where you will find all information about our company and our high quality service.

You can book a meeting with our Sales and Business Development Manager Lovisa Sunesson on the Nordic Life Science Days platform, contact us via the available online chat or by mail .

Moreover you will be able to hear more about our company and specifically our disease modelling in our company presentation featuring Christian Clausen, Chief Scientific Officer at Bioneer.

Propella Announces First Patient Dosed in Phase 1/2a Trial of PRL-02 for Treatment of Metastatic Prostate Cancer; Next-Generation Androgen Biosynthesis Inhibitor with Long Duration of Activity and Superior Therapeutic Index

On June 29, 2021 Propella Therapeutics, Inc. ("Propella"), a private, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing best-in-class oncology therapeutics, reported the dosing of the first patient in the Phase 1/2a clinical trial studying its lead patented product candidate, PRL-02 (abiraterone decanoate), for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer (Press release, Propella Therapeutics, JUN 29, 2021, View Source [SID1234584461]).

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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

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The Phase 1 portion is an open-label, multi-center, dose-escalation study designed to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and preliminary clinical activity of PRL-02 and establish a recommended dose for the phase 2a portion (NCT04729114).

"PRL-02 may provide improved bioavailability and convenience over the currently available therapies while also providing patients a potentially safer treatment option than the approved androgen biosynthesis inhibitors" said Dr. Robert Dreicer, Professor of Medicine and Urology at the University of Virginia. "I am personally intrigued by the PRL-02 profile and its potential to be a clinically meaningful new option for the treatment of patients with metastatic prostate cancer."

According to William Moore, Propella Therapeutics President and CEO, "We are pleased to announce that the first patient has been dosed in the Phase 1/2a study evaluating our lead drug candidate, PRL-02, for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. Propella’s core mission is to develop a robust pipeline of innovative therapeutics with significantly improved efficacy and safety for patients suffering from advanced forms of cancer by leveraging our expertise in medicinal chemistry and lymphatic targeting. We chemically engineered our next-generation androgen biosynthesis inhibitor, PRL-02, to avoid the high daily oral doses and hepatic safety warnings that appear on the label of approved abiraterone acetate products. Based upon its long duration of activity and superior therapeutic index in preclinical models, we believe PRL-02 will significantly improve upon the current standard of care."

About Metastatic Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in men, and the second leading cause of cancer death, developing most often in older men. Metastatic disease occurs when prostate cancer cells travel through the lymphatic system or blood stream to other organs and tissues such as lymph nodes, liver, bone, and lungs. While early or localized prostate cancer remains highly curable, advanced prostate cancer) remains difficult to treat, with a 5-year survival rate of only 30%. Although there are several treatment options for metastatic prostate cancer, the reduction of androgen activity remains the most effective approach.

About PRL-02

PRL-02 is a next generation androgen biosynthesis inhibitor being developed for the treatment of prostate cancer. All androgen biosynthesis inhibitors approved for the treatment of prostate cancer block the CYP17 enzyme that is required for the biosynthesis of androgens, including testosterone. A large body of both historic and modern data support a role for androgens in prostate cancer pathogenesis and progression. PRL-02 is a patented prodrug of abiraterone designed for lymphatic targeting of tissues and tumors that express the CYP17 enzyme. PRL-02 is an intramuscular depot that, when given along with a gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist or antagonist, was engineered to precisely release the abiraterone needed to continuously block CYP17 enzyme for 3 months, while avoiding adverse liver and drug-drug interaction effects.

Exicure, Inc. to Present at Ladenburg Thalmann 2021 Healthcare Conference

On June 29, 2021 Exicure, Inc. (NASDAQ: XCUR), a pioneer in gene regulatory and immunotherapeutic drugs utilizing spherical nucleic acid (SNA) technology, reported that CEO David Giljohann will present a company update as well as participate in a series of 1×1 meetings at the Ladenburg Thalmann 2021 Healthcare Conference occurring July 13-14, 2021 (Press release, Exicure, JUN 29, 2021, View Source [SID1234584479]).

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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

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Presentation Date: July 13, 2021
Presentation Time: 1:00-1:25 PM in Track One
Location: The panel discussion will be webcast (available here)

Replays of the presentation will be available on Exicure’s website for 30 days following the presentation.

ISSCR 2021 – The Global Stem Cell Event Virtual, June 21, 2021

On June 29, 2021 Bioneer reported to participating to the ISSCR 2021, the Global Stem Cell Event Virtual, on June 21st and presenting at the focus session on developments to simplify and accelerate iPSC research with EBiSC (Press release, Bioneer, JUN 29, 2021, View Source [SID1234584840]).
The presentation if part of the Focus Sessions of the ISSCR Annual Meeting, where Dr. Benjamin Schmid and Dr. Mikkel Rasmussen from Bioneer will be presenting.

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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

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Focus Sessions provide in-depth coverage of specific topics of interest and are presented by interested academic and industry groups. These educational opportunities in science, society, and education are organized by members and open to all meeting attendees. Sessions are held live, with Q&A and chat, and will be available as on-demand programming for 30 days after the meeting.

The Focus Session on developments to simplify and accelerate iPSC research is organized by The European Bank for induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (EBiSC).

The European Bank for iPSCs (EBiSC) is a centralized repository, currently in a second project phase including both non-profit and commercial iPSC researchers (EBiSC2), working to make iPSC tools available and developing protocols which improve and simplify their use. This focus session will share how EBiSC2 partners are adapting and consolidating iPSC expansion, differentiation and cryopreservation approaches to help ease transition into high volume applications whilst also ensuring accessibility for non-expert users. We will discuss how the inclusion of iPSC tool lines in these protocol developments enables rapid generation of functionally mature derived cell types and how the associated iPSC datasets can be broadly shared in an ethically compliant manner. Lastly, common stumbling blocks will be discussed to raise awareness across the community.

See below the full program of the session:

The European Bank for iPSCs Program

Julia Neubauer, PhD, Fraunhofer-IBMT, Germany
Alfredo Cabrera-Socorro, PhD, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Belgium
Welcome and Overview

Julia Neubauer, PhD, Fraunhofer-IBMT, Germany
Approaches Towards Expansion, Differentiation and Banking Of iPSCs At High Volume

Mikkel Rasmussen, PhD, Bioneer, Denmark
Emilie Lemesre, PhD, Servier, France
iPSC-Derived Hepatocytes in Drug Screening and Toxicology

Alfredo Cabrera-Socorro, PhD, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Belgium
Development of A Fully Human Neuronal and Astrocyte Co-Culture Assay Amenable For Electrophysiological Studies In Functionally Mature Neurons

Benjamin Schmid, PhD, Bioneer, Denmark
Gene-Editing in iPSCs – Unexpected Pitfalls: On-Target Effects

Andreas Kurtz, PhD, Fraunhofer-IBMT, Germany
Collection, Standardisation and Sharing Of iPSC Associated Datasets Using Open Tools

Eugenia Jones, PhD, Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics, USA
Common Non-Scientific Challenges in The Generation, Use and Sharing Of iPSC Lines.

Panel Discussion: Upcoming Challenges In iPSC Research from An Academic and Industry Perspective.