On April 13, 2021 Arcellx, a privately held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, reported that it raised $115 million in a Series C financing to advance its pipeline of adaptive and controllable cell therapies (Press release, Arcellx, APR 13, 2021, View Source [SID1234577962]). The proceeds will support the company’s development of CART-ddBCMA, a BCMA-specific CAR-modified T-cell therapy currently in Phase 1 and anticipated to begin a pivotal trial in 2022. In addition, the funding will support initiation of clinical trials evaluating ACLX-001 and ACLX-002, cell therapies derived from Arcellx’s uniquely controllable ARC-SparX platform, in multiple myeloma (MM) and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), respectively.

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This financing follows FDA clearance of Arcellx’s IND for ACLX-001, the first ARC-SparX program to enter clinical trials, and Arcellx’s initial release of clinical results at the 2020 American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper) meeting. In the ASH (Free ASH Whitepaper) release, the CART-ddBCMA data showed all six multiple myeloma patients responded per IMWG criteria, with four of those patients achieving stringent complete response. The therapy was also well-tolerated, and CAR-T related toxicities resolved rapidly.

Participants in the Series C financing include both existing and new investors to Arcellx. The financing was co-led by Samsara BioCapital and CAM Capital, joined by new investors Adage, Asymmetry, CaaS Capital, Cambrian Bio, Sixty Degree, Soleus Capital, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), Suvretta, and Terra Magnum Capital Partners, and existing investors NEA, Novo Holdings, SR One, Takeda Ventures, LG Tech, and Clough Capital.

"With support from this high caliber syndicate, Arcellx is poised to elevate the field of cell therapy by advancing our treatments for a range of cancers," said Rami Elghandour, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Arcellx. "Our platform of both single infusion and controllable CAR-Ts based on our novel synthetic binding domain is built to address the limitations of cell therapy with the opportunity to improve efficacy, reduce toxicity, and shorten the time to intervention while expanding into new indications. This financing positions us to advance to a registrational study in multiple myeloma and to initiate a Phase 1 study in AML in 2022 as well as progress our solid tumor targets toward the clinic. It’s also a reflection of our incredibly talented and diverse team that is powering Arcellx forward. We appreciate the support of our new and existing investors as we advance our novel therapies to the benefit of cancer patients most in need."

"Based on the early clinical data, we believe that CART-ddBCMA represents a potential best-in class therapy for multiple myeloma and with the support of this financing will be positioned to move into pivotal trials next year. We’re also excited about the opportunity for CART-ddBCMA to move into earlier lines of treatment for multiple myeloma based on the safety profile in this early data set. In addition, the ARC-SparX platform will be the first adaptive and controllable CAR-T system to enter the clinic and provides a unique approach to building next generation cell therapies. We look forward to partnering with the Arcellx team to help bring these important therapies to patients," said Mike Dybbs, Ph.D., Partner, Samsara BioCapital.

On April 13, 2021 PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE: PKI), a global leader committed to innovating for a healthier world, reported that it anticipates reported and organic revenue growth of 98% and 90%, respectively, for the first quarter ended April 4, 2021 (Press release, PerkinElmer, APR 13, 2021, View Source [SID1234577980]).

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PerkinElmer’s strong revenue performance was driven by broad-based momentum across the portfolio. In total, non-COVID-19, or core, demand increased approximately 10% organically year-over-year, and COVID-19 related solutions contributed approximately $535 million of revenue in the first quarter.

PerkinElmer will release its first quarter 2021 financial results after market close on Tuesday, May 4, 2021. The Company will host a conference call the same day at 5:00 p.m. ET to discuss these results. Prahlad Singh, president and chief executive officer, and Jamey Mock, senior vice president and chief financial officer, will host the conference call.

To access the call, please dial (720) 405-2250 prior to the scheduled conference call time and provide the access code 7294952. A live audio webcast of the call will also be available on the Investors section of the Company’s Web site at www.perkinelmer.com.

A replay of the webcast will be available beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET, Tuesday, May 4, 2021 through the Investors section of the Company’s website at www.perkinelmer.com.

In addition, PerkinElmer announced today that Steve Willoughby will be named vice president of investor relations effective May 5, 2021. Mr. Willoughby will assume this role from Bryan Kipp, who has transitioned into the role of vice president and general manager of Life Sciences integration.

Steve Willoughby joins PerkinElmer from Cleveland Research Company (CRC), an independent equity and market research firm with an exceptional reputation for ground-level intelligence. Most recently, Mr. Willoughby served as partner and senior analyst at CRC, providing detailed research, analysis and financial models on the Life Sciences and Managed Care industries to institutional investors across the United States and Europe. In 2018, Thomson Reuters StarMine named Mr. Willoughby the number-one analyst in the Life Science tools sector.

On April 13, 2021 BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) reported that Jean-Jacques Bienaimé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BioMarin, will host a conference call and webcast on Thursday, April 29, at 4:30 p.m. ET to discuss first quarter 2021 financial results and provide a general business update (Press release, BioMarin, APR 13, 2021, prnewswire.com/news-releases/biomarin-to-host-first-quarter-2021-financial-results-conference-call-and-webcast-on-thursday-april-29-at-430pm-et-301266955.html [SID1234577996]).

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Interested parties may access a live audio webcast of the conference call via the investor section of the BioMarin website, www.biomarin.com. A replay of the call will be archived on the site for one week following the call.

On April 13, 2021 Bridge Biotherapeutics reported that the company’s former vice president, Lee Kwang-hee, the company established a new bio company named, Boostimmune, (Press release, Boostimmune, APR 13, 2021, View Source [SID1234634467]). It is a determination to develop an immuno-anticancer agent that will be effective against various cancers with MDSC inhibitor technology introduced by the University of Tokyo.

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Former Vice President Lee left Bridge Bio early this year and established BoostImmune in February. The company is located in Pangyo, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, and a total of three people, including CEO Lee Kwang-hee, are working. CEO Lee said, "We established the company for the purpose of developing a protein-based immuno-oncology drug, not a synthetic drug."

Tadatsugu Taniguchi, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, is the co-founder. Professor Tada is a scholar who first discovered ‘interleukin 2’ and ‘interferon beta’, regular customers of immunology research, and has published 300 papers related to immunology alone. There are multiple pipeline tasks, including MDSC inhibitors introduced by the University of Tokyo.

CEO Lee explained, "There are various mechanisms that prevent immune cells from working properly, and one of them is MDSC (Myeloid derived suppressor cell)." Representative Lee pursued a master’s degree in molecular biology at Seoul National University and a doctoral course at Washington University School of Medicine in the United States, and accumulated research and development experience at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), Genentech, and Sanofi.

While working at Bridge Bio, he has experience in clinical application (IND) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for three drugs: ulcerative colitis treatment (BBT401), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis treatment (BBT877), and non-small cell lung cancer treatment (BBT176). .

BoostImmune’s role model is Genentech. Genentech is a first-generation protein drug company. Herceptin (breast cancer treatment), Rituxan (autoimmune disease treatment), and Avastin (metastatic colorectal cancer treatment), which are blockbuster biopharmaceuticals developed by Genentech, achieved sales of $6 billion (6.75 trillion won), $6.5 billion, and $7.1 billion, respectively, in 2019. . In 2009, Roche acquired Genentech for $47 billion (approximately 52 trillion won) and took the copyright.

On April 13, 2021 Repertoire Immune Medicines, a clinical-stage biotech company decoding the immune synapse to create novel immune therapies for cancer, immune disorders, infectious disease, and other serious diseases, reported the completion of a $189 million Series B financing (Press release, Repertoire, APR 13, 2021, View Source [SID1234577963]). Joining Flagship Pioneering, Repertoire’s institutional founder and principal backer, are new and existing investors including Softbank Vision Fund 2i, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), the Alaska Permanent Fund, Invus, and others. Proceeds from this financing will support further expansion of the company’s proprietary DECODE discovery platform, accelerate its clinical and preclinical pipeline, expand Repertoire’s team, and enhance its manufacturing capabilities. Founded by Flagship Pioneering, Repertoire has raised more than $350 million in the aggregate to date.

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"We are making tremendous progress toward unlocking the full potential of therapeutically modulating the immune system by decoding the interactions between T cells and antigens to create new classes of immune medicines for cancer, immune disorders, infectious diseases, and other serious diseases," said John Cox, CEO of Repertoire. "This financing round will support the broad application of our DECODE platform to define and understand the complete repertoire of T cell receptor-antigen pairs that drive cellular immunity. The insights we glean from this information will enable a new era of novel immune medicines designed to exploit these critical interactions."

This financing also supports the advancement of multiple clinical programs in immuno-oncology using Repertoire’s proprietary antigen-primed multi-clonal cytokine enhanced T cell products in solid tumors. The PRIME IL-15 program in advanced metastatic solid tumors is underway, with a data readout anticipated later this year. The PRIME IL-12 program in HPV-16+ solid tumors will be initiated by mid-year. Both clinical programs represent novel first of their kind immune medicines in oncology.

"All roads to cellular immunity pass through the immune synapse," said Douglas Cole, M.D., co-founder, and Chairman of the Board of Repertoire Immune Medicines and Managing Partner of Flagship Pioneering. "Repertoire’s innovative platform makes it possible to elucidate the features of the immune synapse that drive clonal behavior. Applying this knowledge will revolutionize the discovery and development of immune medicines."