On June 22, 2021 Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARWR) and Horizon Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ: HZNP) reported a global collaboration and license agreement for ARO-XDH, a previously undisclosed discovery-stage investigational RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutic being developed by Arrowhead as a potential treatment for people with uncontrolled gout (Press release, Arrowhead Research Corporation, JUN 22, 2021, View Source [SID1234584218]).

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Gout is a serious and painful form of arthritis that is caused by excess uric acid in the blood. In the United States, there are more than nine million gout patients and approximately a third of those patients are treated with oral urate-lowering therapies. However, a meaningful portion of treated patients do not respond sufficiently to treatment and therefore continue to experience painful and debilitating gout symptoms. XDH represents a clinically validated target that is the primary source of serum uric acid (sUA). High levels of sUA, if left untreated or undertreated, can potentially lead to serious long-term or even permanent damage to the bones, joints and organs.

Under the terms of the agreement, Arrowhead will conduct all activities through preclinical stages of development of the siRNA therapeutic. Horizon will receive a worldwide exclusive license to the therapeutic and will be wholly responsible for clinical development and commercialization. Arrowhead will receive $40 million as an upfront payment from Horizon and is eligible to receive up to $660 million in potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones, and is further eligible to receive royalties in the low- to mid-teens range on net product sales.

"We believe Horizon’s expertise in the clinical development and commercialization of therapies for gout makes them an ideal partner. We look forward to working closely with Horizon as we

advance this potential new therapy for patients in need," said Christopher Anzalone, Ph.D., Arrowhead’s president and CEO. "This collaboration with Horizon also represents further expansion of our rapidly growing pipeline of investigational RNAi therapeutics that utilize Arrowhead’s proprietary Targeted RNAi Molecule (TRiMTM) platform."

"As a commercial and clinical leader in gout, we understand the disease and its impact, and that there is still a tremendous unmet treatment need," said Tim Walbert, chairman, president and CEO, Horizon. "The collaboration with Arrowhead adds an additional program to our research and development focus to discover and develop new, innovative medicines that continue to improve gout treatment across the continuum of care."

On June 22, 2021 Affimed N.V. (Nasdaq: AFMD), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company committed to giving patients back their innate ability to fight cancer, reported that it will release first quarter 2021 results on Thursday, July 1, 2021, and host a conference call at 8:30 a.m. EDT to discuss financial results and recent corporate developments (Press release, Affimed, JUN 22, 2021, View Source [SID1234584234]).

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The conference call will be available via phone and webcast. To access the first quarter results call, please dial +1 (409) 220-9054 for U.S. callers, or +44 (0) 8000 323836 for international callers, and reference passcode 4485380 approximately 15 minutes prior to the call. To access the live audio webcast of the conference call please visit the "Investors" section of company’s website at View Source A replay of the call will be archived on the Affimed website for 30 days after the call.

On June 22, 2021 PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE: PKI) ("PerkinElmer") reported it has entered into an agreement to acquire SIRION Biotech GmbH, a leading, global provider of viral vector-based technologies that drive improved delivery performance for cell and gene therapies (Press release, PerkinElmer, JUN 22, 2021, View Source [SID1234584258]). The acquisition is expected to close during the third quarter of 2021.

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Headquartered in Munich, Germany, privately held SIRION has approximately 50 employees based in Germany, the U.S. and France. The company has established a strong licensing portfolio leveraged by over a dozen major pharmaceutical and biotech players researching more than twenty five diseases and conditions.

The addition of SIRION’s offerings will complement PerkinElmer’s Horizon Discovery portfolio which includes gene editing and modulation tools for CRISPR, CRISPRi and RNAi, custom cell lines for bio production and base editing technologies. Moreover, the acquisition will further broaden PerkinElmer’s existing cell and gene research solutions featuring industry-leading high content, in vivo, and cell painting screening technologies; innovative immunoassays; cell plate readers; and advanced automation, microfluidics and informatics and analytical platforms.

Commenting on the agreement to acquire the company, Prahlad Singh, president and chief executive officer of PerkinElmer, said, "Seventy percent of gene therapy trials today leverage viral vector approaches and we expect this to remain strong going forward given the demand for targeted, high-payload delivery in treating diseases like cancer. By combining SIRION’s innovative "payload" transport technology with our existing Horizon genetic material editing tools and phenotypic research solutions, we will be able to support organizations’ cell and gene therapy workflows as they look to streamline and accelerate their efforts."

Dr. Christian Thirion, CEO of SIRION, added, "Our team is excited to work with PerkinElmer to continue to grow our leading position in viral vector technologies for cell and gene therapy. We will benefit greatly from becoming part of the PerkinElmer portfolio, with increased access to genomics analysis, gene editing and base editing technologies, as well as a strong global infrastructure and reach."

To learn more about PerkinElmer’s full range of life sciences solutions, Informatics and OneSource services please visit: View Source

On June 22, 2021 Avid Bioservices, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDMO), a dedicated biologics contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) working to improve patient lives by providing high quality development and manufacturing services to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, reported that it will report financial results for the quarter and fiscal year (FY) ended April 30, 2021 on June 29, 2021 after market close and will host a conference call and webcast at 1:30 PM Pacific Time (4:30 PM Eastern Time) (Press release, Avid Bioservices, JUN 22, 2021, View Source [SID1234584219]). Members of Avid’s senior management will discuss financial results for the quarter and FY ended April 30, 2021 and review recent corporate developments.

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To listen to the live webcast, or access the archived webcast, please visit: View Source

To listen to the conference call, please dial (877) 312-5443 or (253) 237-1126 and request the Avid Bioservices call.

On June 22, 2021 vTv Therapeutics Inc. ("vTv", Nasdaq:VTVT) and Cantex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Cantex") reported that they have entered into a licensing agreement under which Cantex has obtained exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize azeliragon, vTv’s novel antagonist of RAGE (the receptor for advanced glycation endproducts) (Press release, vTv Therapeutics, JUN 22, 2021, View Source [SID1234584235]).

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Stephen Marcus, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Cantex, stated: "RAGE has been implicated in several serious cancer complications associated with increased mortality and decreased quality of life. Our team has deep expertise and a successful track record in transforming known drugs into innovative products with large clinical and commercial potential. As such, the opportunity to develop azeliragon, a phase 2-ready oral medication administered once daily, which has demonstrated a good safety profile in several Alzheimer’s disease trials, is an excellent fit for Cantex. We intend to move rapidly to prepare for clinical trials assessing the potential of azeliragon for the treatment of a number of complications associated with cancer."

"RAGE is a highly attractive target for the treatment of a wide spectrum of disorders," said Steve Holcombe, president and chief executive officer of vTv. "We believe Cantex is the right partner to further the development of azeliragon, which vTv had studied in Alzheimer’s disease, in new therapeutic indications. They have deep experience in clinical development and the proven capability of repurposing drug candidates for new indications."

Under the terms of the agreement, Cantex will be responsible for the development and commercialization of azeliragon and the companies will allocate downstream profits under a tiered arrangement.

About Azeliragon
Azeliragon, also known as TTP488, is an orally active, small molecule, antagonist of the receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE). vTv Therapeutics discovered azeliragon using its proprietary drug discovery platform, TTP Translational Technology, and developed it into phase 3. A broad range of evidence suggests that RAGE—ligand interactions lead to sustained inflammatory states that play a role in chronic diseases.