On June 24, 2021 SkylineDx reported to invest in research and development in the field of Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC), as part of a Dutch consortium including the Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, University Medical Center Rotterdam (EMC) (Press release, SkylineDx, JUN 24, 2021, View Source [SID1234584346]). The collaboration focuses on the discovery and validation of a model that identifies the SCC patient at high risk of developing metastasis. These high-risk patients would benefit from an intensive surveillance program to closely monitor the progress of their disease. The second objective is to enrich the model by adding genomic information to identify the most aggressive tumors among high-risk patients. Those patients may benefit from more aggressive or adjuvant treatment to reduce their risk of metastasis. This collaboration has a unique starting point because the researchers have extensive experience and will work with the unique infrastructure of large national routinely collected health care datasets of metastatic SCC patients.

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Squamous Cell Carcinoma is the second most common form of skin cancer and is diagnosed approximately 1.8 million times per year in the United States [2]. Exact number of people who develop or die from SCC is unknown as this cancer is not well-tracked globally and notably understudied. In general, 95% of patients have a good prognosis and will not develop SCC-related metastasis.

"Unfortunately, we lack predictive models that can differentiate these patients with a good prognosis from the patients at high risk of developing metastasis. Consequently, in current clinical practice, the entire patient population receives an intensive 5-year follow-up regime, putting an unnecessary burden on both patients and the healthcare system", comments Dr. Marlies Wakkee, Dermatologist at EMC. "This consortium is a strong collaborative effort between different experts from a scientific and a business perspective to develop and translate the scientific project to clinical practice. Through the support of this investment, we have the opportunity to truly improve the diagnostic, treatment and follow-up pathways of patients with this type of skin cancer".

"There is a huge medical unmet need affecting millions of Squamous Cell Carcinoma patients globally each year. I am confident that together with EMC, we can develop the prediction models into actionable molecular tests, ready for clinical use", concludes Dharminder Chahal, CEO SkylineDx. "After several research and study initiatives in melanoma, we now continue to expand our scope and add value as a company in a broader field of skin cancer".

On June 24, 2021 Takara Bio Inc. reported that it has entered into a License and Supply Agreement with BioNTech Cell & Gene Therapies GmbH ("BioNTech"), a BioNTech SE company (www.BioNTech.de), Germany, under which Takara Bio grants BioNTech a commercial license to use applicable patents relating to RetroNectin (Press release, Lifescience Newswire, JUN 24, 2021, View Source [SID1234584381]). Under this agreement, Takara Bio provides BioNTech with reliable supplies of RetroNectin.

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The patented technologies licensed to BioNTech are based on Takara Bio’s proprietary RetroNectin method, which includes a technology enabling highly efficient gene transduction to cells by retrovirus/lentivirus vector and expansion of T-cells with high efficiency. With such advantages, RetroNectin method is one of the mostly used standard protocols utilized for "Engineered T-cell Therapy", which includes promising TCR and CAR gene therapies recently raising higher expectations.

Under the agreement signed with Takara Bio, BioNTech is allowed to use RetroNectin for production of its cell & gene therapy products, therapies in which a patient’s T cells are genetically engineered to express a CAR for the treatment of multiple solid tumors.

Takara Bio is promoting supply of RetroNectin to clinical development of Engineered T-cell Therapy actively pursued worldwide in recent years, and expects higher sales growth in the future.

On June 24, 2021 Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:KPTI), a commercial-stage pharmaceutical company pioneering novel cancer therapies, reported the expansion of its royalty agreement with entities managed by HealthCare Royalty Management, LLC (HCR) for up to $100 million in new financing to support the ongoing development and commercialization of XPOVIO (selinexor), the Company’s first-in-class, oral Selective Inhibitor of Nuclear Export (SINE) compound, and for the clinical development of Karyopharm’s other programs, including eltanexor (Press release, Karyopharm, JUN 24, 2021, View Source [SID1234584315]). XPOVIO is currently marketed in the U.S. for multiple hematologic malignancy indications and has received conditional marketing authorization by the European Commission for patients with heavily pretreated multiple myeloma. Eltanexor is currently being investigated for the treatment of patients with refractory myelodysplastic syndrome.

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Under the terms of the amended agreement, Karyopharm received $60 million and is eligible to receive two additional $20 million payments subject to certain prespecified future development and commercial milestones. HCR will receive tiered royalty payments based on worldwide net revenues of XPOVIO and any other future products. This expanded agreement follows a previous investment of $75 million that HCR made in Karyopharm in September 2019.

Karyopharm expects that the $60 million received from HCR under this expanded royalty agreement, combined with its existing cash, cash equivalents and investments, and the cash expected to be generated from product sales, will be sufficient to fund its operations into the middle of 2023.

"We are thrilled to expand our relationship with HCR and this additional non-dilutive financing provides Karyopharm with immediate and substantial capital to support the ongoing commercialization and clinical development of XPOVIO and our other products in future cancer indications, including in a variety of high unmet need solid tumor settings," said Richard Paulson, MBA, President and Chief Executive Officer of Karyopharm. "As we continue to make progress on our commercialization efforts, we are delighted to have the support and confidence of HCR to further expand our clinical development efforts on behalf of patients across the globe."

Clarke Futch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of HCR stated: "Based on the strong relationship we have built with the Karyopharm team over the past few years and our increasing confidence in the long-term potential for XPOVIO, we are delighted to broaden our investment in Karyopharm and further support the expansion of XPOVIO, including into solid tumors."

On June 24, 2021 Mevion Medical Systems reported that the first proton center in the Mountain West, the Senator Orrin G. Hatch Center for Proton Therapy, has opened at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah (U of U) and began treating patients on May 11th with the MEVION S250i Proton Therapy System (Press release, Mevion Medical Systems, JUN 24, 2021, View Source [SID1234584331]). Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mevion team successfully installed the MEVION S250i in 7 months from the delivery of the accelerator.

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HCI is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Mountain West and serves a geographic region that includes all of Utah, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Wyoming.

"After more than a decade of monitoring and evaluating the evolution of proton therapy technology, along with the needs of our patients, we are excited to officially launch our proton center and to provide this extraordinary treatment option to our patients," said Bill Salter, Ph.D., Senior Director of Radiation Oncology at HCI and Professor and Chief of the Division of Medical Physics at the U of U. "Our initial experience of treating both adult and pediatric tumors has already made evident the unique clinical capabilities of proton technology."

The center features Mevion’s industry leading HYPERSCAN pencil beam scanning technology and Adaptive Aperture pMLC. The powerful duo provides faster and more precise dose delivery and minimizes damage to surrounding healthy tissue and sensitive organs at risk. HCI has also integrated a diagnostic CT on-rail system and a surface-guidance tracking system, enabling a state-of-art Image-Guided Proton Therapy (IGPT) configuration to align and treat patients with the upmost accuracy.

Thanks to the reduced size and complexity of the MEVION S250i, the HCI Center for Proton Therapy was placed in a small available space alongside HCI’s existing radiation therapy department. This significantly decreased the project construction and operation cost and allows the cancer center to share existing resources and give patients access to all of HCI’s cancer treatment and research offerings under one roof.

"It is to our greatest pleasure that the underserved patients in the Mountain West now have access to proton therapy," said Tina Yu, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Mevion Medical Systems. "We are honored to partner with HCI to make this happen and look forward to our many years of collaboration and research to further advance this superior treatment modality."

As the leading supplier of compact proton therapy systems in the United States, Mevion has been selected by more leading cancer centers, including NCI-Designated Cancer Centers, and has treated over 6,000 patients worldwide.

On June 24, 2021 Fosun Kite Biotechnology reported its autologous CD19-directed CAR-T cell therapy Axicabtagene Ciloleucel (FKC876) (axicabtagene ciloleucel) has been approved by China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma (r/r LBCL) after two or more lines of systemic therapy, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) not otherwise specified, primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL), high-grade B-cell lymphoma and DLBCL arising from follicular lymphoma[1] (Press release, Fosun Kite Biotechnology, JUN 24, 2021, View Source [SID1234584347]).

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Axicabtagene Ciloleucel (FKC876) is an autologous CD19-directed CAR-T cell therapy manufactured in China pursuant to a license from Kite, a Gilead Company ("Kite") of Kite’s Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel), which is the world’s first approved CAR-T cell therapy for adult patients with certain types of NHL. This NDA approval is based on results of a single-arm, open label, multi-center bridging trial which has evaluated and proven the efficacy and safety of Axicabtagene Ciloleucel (FKC876) in the treatment of Chinese patients with refractory intermediate invasive DLBCL.

WU Yifang, Chairman and CEO of Fosun Pharma, says, "CAR-T cell therapy is one of the significant cancer treatment breakthroughs in recent years. It is a great pleasure to work with Kite, a world-leading partner, to bring Axicabtagene Ciloleucel (FKC876) in China together, which is also an important milestone for Fosun Pharma’s global innovation and R&D cooperation. Thanks to NMPA for the rigorous review and recognition of China’s first CAR-T cell therapy. Focusing on unmet clinical needs, Fosun Pharma will continue to take innovative R&D as the core driving force and strive to provide patients with more high-quality, accessible and innovative medicines and treatment options."

MEI Jingping, Chairwoman of Fosun Kite, says, "As the first commercialized product of Fosun Kite, the approval of Axicabtagene Ciloleucel (FKC876) brings a revolutionary treatment option to cancer patients in China. We will continue to guard this innovative vein-to-vein treatment circle with high-quality and rigorous service chains to benefit more cancer patients."

Terence O’Sullivan, Vice President, International Region at Kite comments: "As the world’s first approved CAR-T cell therapy for NHL, Kite’s Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel) has been used in thousands of patients around the world. Thank you to the dedicated healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers who worked with the team at Fosun Kite to make this fast and reliably manufactured treatment option, with the potential of survival for patients facing these challenging and aggressive cancers available in China."

Dr. MA Jun, Director of the Harbin Institute of Hematology & Oncology, Chief Supervisor of Supervisory Committee at the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology, "Thanks to the reform of national medicines review and approval system in recent years, China’s lymphoma diagnosis and treatment level has progressed rapidly, and CAR-T cell therapies have seen even more significant changes. As China’s first CAR-T product approved by NMPA, Axicabtagene Ciloleucel (FKC876)’s approval for marketing. shows China’s innovation to establish new review guidelines and standards for cell therapies, and determination to bring in world-leading technologies and medicines to benefit cancer patients in China."

Dr. WU De-pei, Chair of the Department of Hematology at the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Co-Lead Investigator of Axicabtagene Ciloleucel (FKC876) clinical trial, "As a type of malignant cancer with heterogeneity in clinical manifestation, prognosis and other aspects, DLBCL is still facing a large number of unmet medical needs in China. As the first regulatory approved and commercially available CAR-T, the approval of Axicabtagene Ciloleucel (FKC876) provides oncologists with one more option and hope of long term survival to a patient population that previously exhausted all viable treatment options."

Dr. ZHAO Wei-li, Vice Chair of Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Lead Investigator of Axicabtagene Ciloleucel (FKC876) clinical trial, comments, "The bridging trial results has demonstrated remarkable similarity between Axicabtagene Ciloleucel (FKC876) and Yescarta in terms of efficacy and safety in the treatment of Chinese adult patients with r/r LBCL. In the bridging trial, 79.2% of patients had achieved a response after a single infusion[1]; Zuma-1 data showed the best objective response rate was 83%, with 58% in complete remission[2]. Overall, Axicabtagene Ciloleucel (FKC876) has demonstrated durable response and survival rate with a manageable safety profile."

HUANG Hai, CEO of Fosun Kite, says, "We really appreciate NMPA’s recognition of Axicabtagene Ciloleucel (FKC876) manufacturing process, quality control and clinical efficacy. We will continue to fulfill our mission "focus on cancer cure". A big thanks to Professor ZHAO Wei-li’s team from Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University as the Lead Investigator, together with Professor WU De-pei’s team from the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Professor Hu Yu’s team from Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Professor . Zhang Hui-lai’s team from Tianjin Cancer Hospital, their trust and efforts in the registered clinical trials have promoted successful approval of Axicabtagene Ciloleucel (FKC876) in China. With patients at the center of what we do, Fosun Kite is working hard to make this revolutionary cancer treatment accessible to benefit patients in China as soon as possible."

About Large B-cell Lymphoma

Lymphoma refers to a class of heterogeneous cancers that are specific to the lymphatic system. It is divided into two categories based on cell type: Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), and the latter is much more common. Epidemiology estimates 88,090 newly diagnosed NHL patients in China in 2018[4]. LBCL is the most common subtype of NHL among adult lymphoma patients, and it is a type of malignant cancer with heterogeneity in clinical manifestation, prognosis and other aspects; DLBCL incidence is approximately one-third of all NHL in China[5]. Studies have shown 40%-50% of DLBCL patients would become relapsed or refractory after first line treatments[6,7], 73% r/r DLBCL patients would not respond to two or more lines of treatments[8]. A study of 603 patients with r/r DLBCL showed median overall survival of only 6.3 months[8] indicating the limitations with current standard of care, associated with poor outcomes and creating a high unmet need.

About Yescarta

Yescarta is an autologous CD19-directed CAR-T cell therapy of Kite, approved for the U.S. market on October 18, 2017 by FDA for the treatment of adult patients with r/r LBCL after two or more lines of systemic therapy, including DLBCL not otherwise specified, primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma, and high-grade B-cell lymphoma and DLBCL arising from follicular lymphoma. According to an ongoing single-arm, multi-center, open-label clinical study (ZUMA-1) carried out by Kite evaluating efficacy and safety of axicabtagene ciloleucel in 101 adult patients with r/r LBCL, 1-year follow-up results showed the best objective response rate of 82%, with 54% of patients achieved a complete remission[9]; at a median follow-up of 27.1 months post-infusion, the best objective response rate was 83%, with 58% in complete remission and 39% remain in complete remission[2]; at a median follow-up of 51.1 months, 44% of patients were alive and the median overall survival was 25.8 months[3], confirming that axicabtagene ciloleucel can bring long-term survival benefits to patients.