West to Host Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2020 Conference Call

On February 4, 2021 West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE: WST), a global leader in innovative solutions for injectable drug administration, reported that it will release fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, February 18, 2021, and will follow with a conference call to discuss the results and business expectations at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (Press release, West Pharmaceutical Services, FEB 4, 2021, View Source [SID1234574615]). To participate on the call, please dial 877-930-8295 (U.S.) or 253-336-8738 (International). The conference ID is 4095168.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

A live broadcast of the conference call will be available at the Company’s website, www.westpharma.com, in the "Investors" section. Management will refer to a slide presentation during the call, which will be made available on the day of the call. To view the presentation, select "Presentations" in the "Investors" section of the Company’s website.

An online archive of the broadcast will be available at the site three hours after the live call and will be available through Thursday, February 25, 2021, by dialing 855-859-2056 (U.S.) or 404-537-3406 (International). The conference ID is 4095168.

Catamaran Bio Announces Appointment of Dr. Alvin Shih as President and Chief Executive Officer

On February 4, 2021 Catamaran Bio, Inc., a biotechnology company developing allogeneic CAR-NK cell therapies to treat diseases with significant unmet medical need, reported the appointment of Alvin Shih, MD, MBA, as President and Chief Executive Officer (Press release, Catamaran Bio, FEB 4, 2021, View Source [SID1234574632]). He has concurrently been appointed to the Board of Directors for Catamaran. Dr. Shih is an experienced biopharma executive with a track record of success in building companies across a broad spectrum of disease areas and therapeutic modalities, including cell and tissue therapies.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

"We are delighted to welcome Alvin to Catamaran, as his exceptional leadership skills for high-growth biotech companies are an ideal fit to lead the next phase of growth and CAR-NK cell therapy product development at Catamaran," said Kevin Pojasek, PhD, founder, initial Executive Chairman and current Board member of Catamaran. "Alvin will join the outstanding team at Catamaran that is rapidly advancing programs based on a cutting-edge and differentiated platform for developing allogeneic CAR-NK cell therapies capable of reaching solid tumors."

Dr. Shih was most recently CEO of Disarm Therapeutics, a private biotechnology company developing therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases, until its acquisition by Eli Lilly in October 2020. Prior to Disarm, he was CEO of Enzyvant Therapeutics, where he led the company’s development of a cell/tissue-based therapy for a rare immunologic disease. Previously, he was Executive Vice President and Head of R&D at Retrophin, Inc. (now Travere Therapeutics) where he led the development of a diverse pipeline encompassing multiple disease areas. Alvin was previously the Chief Operating Officer and a founding member of Pfizer’s rare disease research unit, and he began his career as a management consultant at L.E.K. Consulting and McKinsey & Company. Dr. Shih holds an MD from the University of Alabama and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He completed residency training in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.

"Catamaran has a unique set of capabilities for developing highly-potent CAR-NK cell therapies with the potential to dramatically expand the reach of cell therapies to solid tumors and bring transformative benefit to patients in need," said Dr. Shih. "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead the very talented team at Catamaran as we advance our leading-edge TAILWIND Platform for engineering and manufacturing off-the-shelf CAR-NK cell therapies."

About the TAILWIND Platform

Catamaran’s TAILWIND Platform integrates proprietary capabilities to create novel, allogeneic CAR‑NK cell therapies by harnessing the natural cancer-fighting properties of natural killer (NK) cells and enhancing them with the power of synthetic biology and innovative NK cell engineering and manufacturing. With the TAILWIND Platform, CAR-NK cells are programmed with NK cell-specific CAR architectures and potency-boosting switches to neutralize the hostile tumor microenvironment and enable efficacy against diverse cancer types, especially solid tumors. Additionally, the TAILWIND Platform includes proprietary, non-viral NK cell engineering technology for efficient modification of NK cells with customized genetic programs enabled by synthetic biology. Catamaran’s CAR-NK cell therapies use healthy donor cells that are engineered and manufactured for off‑the‑shelf use, unlike current CAR-T cell therapies that use a patient’s own genetically modified T cells and require a customized, multi-week manufacturing process.

Alkermes to Host Conference Call to Discuss Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2020 Financial Results

On February 4, 2021 Alkermes plc (Nasdaq: ALKS) reported that it will host a conference call and webcast presentation at 8:00 a.m. ET (1:00 p.m. GMT) on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021 to discuss the company’s fourth quarter and year-end 2020 financial results (Press release, Alkermes, FEB 4, 2021, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alkermes-to-host-conference-call-to-discuss-fourth-quarter-and-year-end-2020-financial-results-301222672.html [SID1234574649]). Management will also discuss financial expectations for 2021 and provide an update on the company.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

The webcast player and accompanying slides may be accessed on the Investors section of Alkermes’ website at www.alkermes.com. The conference call may be accessed by dialing +1 877 407 2988 for U.S. callers and +1 201 389 0923 for international callers.

A replay of the conference call will be available from 11:00 a.m. ET (4:00 p.m. GMT) on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, through Thursday Feb. 18, 2021, and may be accessed by visiting Alkermes’ website or by dialing +1 877 660 6853 for U.S. callers and +1 201 612 7415 for international callers. The replay access code is 13715619.

Veracyte Announces Pricing of Upsized Public Offering of 7,432,433 Shares of Common Stock

On February 4, 2021 Veracyte, Inc. (Nasdaq: VCYT) (the "Company") reported the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 7,432,433 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $74.00 per share (Press release, Veracyte, FEB 4, 2021, View Source [SID1234574670]). The gross proceeds to the Company from this offering, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses payable by Veracyte, are expected to be approximately $550 million. The public offering was upsized from the previously announced size of $400 million in shares of common stock. All of the shares are being offered by the Company. The offering is expected to close on or about February 9, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. In addition, the Company granted to the underwriters participating in the offering a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,114,864 shares of its common stock at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Veracyte intends to use the net proceeds from the offering, together with its existing cash and cash equivalents, to finance its acquisition of Decipher Biosciences, Inc. Veracyte intends to use the remaining net proceeds of this offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes, which may include acquisitions or investments in complementary businesses, technologies or other assets, although it has no present commitments or agreements to do so (other than with respect to Decipher Biosciences, Inc.).

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and SVB Leerink LLC are acting as joint lead book-running managers for the offering, William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is acting as a book-running manager and BTIG, LLC, Needham & Company, LLC, and Lake Street Capital Markets, LLC are acting as co-managers.

The shares will be issued pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 3, 2021. A preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to the offering have been filed with the SEC and are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. A final prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus will be filed with the SEC. A copy of the final prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to the offering, when available, may be obtained by contacting Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, by email at [email protected], or by telephone at (866) 471-2526; or SVB Leerink LLC, Attention: Syndicate Department, One Federal Street, 37th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 01220, by email at [email protected], or by telephone at (800) 808-7525, ext. 6105.

This press release does not and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction. Any offer, if at all, will be made only by means of a prospectus, including a prospectus supplement, forming a part of the effective registration statement.

Veracyte, Afirma, Percepta, Envisia, Prosigna, LymphMark, and Know by Design, and the Veracyte, Afirma, Percepta, Envisia and Prosigna logos are trademarks of Veracyte, Inc.

Roche reports solid results in 2020

On February 4, 2021 Hoffmann-La Roche reported that solid results in 2020 (Press release, Hoffmann-La Roche, FEB 4, 2021, View Source [SID1234574595])

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

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

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Group sales increase 1%1 at constant exchange rates (CER); 5% decline in Swiss francs, as a result of continued appreciation of the Swiss franc against most currencies

Pharmaceuticals Division sales decline 2%; continued strong sales growth of newly launched medicines (+32%2, including Tecentriq, Hemlibra, Ocrevus, Perjeta and Kadcyla) largely offsets the impact of competition from biosimilars (CHF -5.1 billion at CER3), but not the additional COVID-19-related impact from missed medical appointments
Diagnostics Division sales grow 14% for the full year (+28% in the fourth quarter) due to COVID-19 diagnostics; more than offsetting a decline in routine testing due to COVID-19
Roche’s contributions to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic:
Launch of 15 new diagnostic solutions for COVID-19

Key tests launched in the fourth quarter:
USA: Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S antibody test, which can play a critical role in measuring a person’s vaccine-induced immune response
Europe: Elecsys SARS-CoV-2 Antigen test to support high-volume testing of suspected COVID-19 patients
Production capacity for SARS-CoV-2 tests and COVID-19-related medicines ramped up significantly at unprecedented speed; substantial funds committed to further expand supply chain capacities (>CHF 800 million)
Major partnerships: With Regeneron to increase global supply of investigational antiviral antibody combination (August), with Atea to develop a potential oral COVID-19 treatment (October), and with Moderna to include our recently launched antibody test in their ongoing vaccine trials (December)

Approvals for medicines in the fourth quarter:
USA: Gavreto (thyroid cancer); Xofluza (influenza); Xolair (nasal polyps)
Europe: Tecentriq plus Avastin (liver cancer), Phesgo (breast cancer), Xofluza (influenza)4
Strong pipeline: record number of 19 new compounds in phase III trials or filed for approval; investment in research and development further increased by 8% to CHF 12.2 billion
Core earnings per share (EPS) grow ahead of sales at 4% (-5% in CHF)
IFRS net income of CHF 15.1 billion, increasing 17% (7% in CHF), mainly due to the lower goodwill write-offs compared to the previous year
Board proposes dividend to increase to CHF 9.10. Subject to shareholder approval, this would be the 34th consecutive dividend increase)
Outlook for 2021: Despite the continued strong impact of biosimilars, sales are expected to grow in the low- to mid-single digit range, at constant exchange rates. Core earnings per share are targeted to grow broadly in line with sales, at constant exchange rates. Roche expects to increase its dividend in Swiss francs further.

Commenting on the Group’s results, Roche CEO Severin Schwan said: "Roche continues to make important contributions to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. We developed in record time a comprehensive portfolio of diagnostic solutions and entered new partnerships to develop and produce effective COVID-19 medicines. The demand for our new medicines which benefit people living with serious conditions, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, haemophilia and spinal muscular atrophy, remains high. Based on our rejuvenated portfolio and the significant progress made in developing our product pipeline, Roche is strongly positioned for future growth."

Group results
In 2020, Group sales rose 1% (-5% in CHF) to CHF 58.3 billion. The core operating profit increased 4% (-4% in CHF), reflecting the underlying business performance, and core EPS grew 4% (-5% in CHF), ahead of sales. The appreciation of the Swiss franc against almost all currencies had a significant adverse net impact on the results expressed in Swiss francs compared to constant exchange rates.

The IFRS net income increased 17% (7% in CHF). This increase is mainly due to the lower goodwill write-offs compared to the previous year.

Sales in the Pharmaceuticals Division decreased 2% to CHF 44.5 billion, mainly due to stronger than expected biosimilars competition and the COVID-19 pandemic. The new medicines (launched since 2012) continued their strong growth (+32%, or +CHF 4.7 billion). In 2020, they generated sales of CHF 18.4 billion, thus already contributing more than 40% to the division’s total sales.

While sales of the new medicines grew strongly, the impact of the competition from biosimilars for the established medicines Herceptin, Avastin and MabThera/Rituxan was significant, with an estimated combined CHF 5.1 billion of sales reduction in the US, Europe and Japan.