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Baudax Bio to Report Third Quarter 2020 Financial Results and Host Conference Call and Webcast on November 9, 2020

On November 2, 2020 Baudax Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BXRX), a pharmaceutical company focused on therapeutics for acute care settings, reported that it will report third quarter 2020 financial results on Monday, November 9, 2020 (Press release, Baudax Bio, NOV 2, 2020, View Source [SID1234572275]). Baudax’s management team will host a conference call and audio webcast at 9:00 a.m. ET on Monday, November 9, 2020 to discuss the financial results and recent operational highlights.

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To access the conference call please dial (866) 220-5595 (local) or (615) 622-8062 (international) at least 10 minutes prior to the start time and refer to conference ID 1173387. A live audio webcast of the call will be available under "Events" in the Investor section of the Company’s website, View Source An archived webcast will be available on the Company’s website approximately two hours after the event and will be available for 30 days.

PerkinElmer to Acquire Cell Engineering Company Horizon Discovery for $383 Million (£296 Million)

On November 2, 2020 PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE: PKI) ("PerkinElmer") and Horizon Discovery Group plc (LSE: HZD) ("Horizon") reported that they have reached an agreement on the terms of a recommended all cash offer whereby PerkinElmer will acquire Horizon for approximately $383 million (£296 million (Press release, PerkinElmer, NOV 2, 2020, View Source [SID1234570414])). The transaction has a total enterprise value of approximately $368 million (£284 million), is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021 subject to customary closing conditions.

With this investment, PerkinElmer will expand its portfolio of leading, automated life sciences discovery and applied genomics solutions to include gene editing and gene modulation tools. The acquisition will enable PerkinElmer to better partner with academic and pharma/biopharma scientists to help meet today’s research challenges. It will also provide an opportunity to provide important tools for exploring next generation cell engineering and customized cell lines for relevant biological models – important for the future of precision medicine.

Headquartered in Cambridge, UK, Horizon is a leading provider of CRISPR and RNAi reagents, cell models, cell engineering and base editing offerings which help scientists better understand gene function, genetic disease drivers and biotherapeutics delivery. Horizon has approximately 400 employees across multiple countries, including the UK, the US and Japan and reported revenue from continuing operations of $75.5 million (£58.3 million) in 2019.

PerkinElmer’s discovery and applied genomics solutions feature a range of immunoassay platforms, high content screening (HCS) and in vivo imaging, along with microfluidics, robotic liquid handling technologies and next-generation sequencing library preparation kits.

Unifying PerkinElmer’s and Horizon’s complementary offerings across the genotypic and phenotypic approaches for drug discovery and development will help researchers accelerate decision making with better information, automated workflows and greater quality and control over data.

Commenting on the agreement, Prahlad Singh, President and Chief Executive Officer, PerkinElmer said, "One of the key fundamentals for molecular research and drug discovery is being able to knock down a gene or function and explore the results to discover actionable insights and new clinical trial candidates faster. We’re excited to team up with Horizon to not only add CRISPR and RNAi capabilities into our existing portfolio, but also to leverage our combined life sciences screening and applied genomics solutions to help propel the next phase of cell and gene research for precision medicine. PerkinElmer leads with science and creates total solutions to bring today’s leading innovations together for our customers, while also working at the cutting edge of what’s next. Today’s announcement delivers on both of these fronts."

In total, PerkinElmer’s life sciences solutions span across early-stage research, drug discovery, drug development and QA/QC for drug manufacturing. For more information please visit: View Source

In terms of financial impact, PerkinElmer expects the acquisition to be modestly accretive to non-GAAP earnings in year-one following the close, and the Company forecasts Horizon’s business to be attractively positioned in markets that are projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of high-single digits over the next few years.

Pfizer announces €300 million investment in Irish operations

On November 2, 2020 Pfizer reported approximately €300 million capital investment in its Irish operations which will support the further development of existing manufacturing sites in Grange Castle, Newbridge and Ringaskiddy (Press release, Pfizer, NOV 2, 2020, View Source [SID1234570144]). The investment will provide additional manufacturing and laboratory capacity creating approximately 300 roles, with additional anticipated construction roles in Ringaskiddy, Cork. The investment and additional roles will be completed over the next two to three years.

The investment and roles being created will upgrade and enhance existing facilities, expand manufacturing and laboratory capacity and add new technologies to ensure Pfizer is ready to support the next wave of medical innovations. Part of the investment includes the initial stage of a project to construct a development facility on the existing Ringaskiddy site to manufacture pharmaceutical compounds for Pfizer’s clinical trials globally. This is a very important development as it expands Pfizer’s role in Ireland from the manufacture of already approved medicines into supporting the earlier phases of new medicine development.

The Irish sites manufacture leading medicines and vaccines in the areas of arthritis, inflammation, cancer, anti-infectives, haemophilia, pain and stroke. The roles being recruited for comprise a broad range of highly skilled roles including; analysts, technicians, engineers, scientists, technologists, quality specialists, data analysts and chemists.

Genprex to Combine Reqorsa With Checkpoint, EGFR Inhibitors in Lung Cancer Studies

On November 2, 2020 Genprex reported that quaratusugene ozeplasmid (Reqorsa) will be studied in two new trials, in which non-small cell lung cancer patients with specific molecular markers will receive its investigational drug combined with osimertinib (AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso) or pembrolizumab (Merck’s Keytruda) (Press release, Genprex, NOV 2, 2020, View Source [SID1234570032]).

The Phase I/II trials, branded Acclaim, will begin in the first half of 2021. In Acclaim-1, late-stage, EGFR-mutated NSCLC patients who have progressed after treatment with the EGFR inhibitor osimertinib will receive quaratusugene ozeplasmid plus osimertinib. According to the company, the US Food and Drug Administration in January granted fast track designation to quaratusugene ozeplasmid for this indication.

In Acclaim-2, NSCLC patients who have PD-L1 expression in 1 percent to 49 percent of tumor cells and are considered to have low expression status will receive quaratusugene ozeplasmid in combination with the checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab.

In preclinical studies, quaratusugene ozeplasmid has been able to simultaneously inhibit the EGFR and AKT oncogenic kinase pathways in vitro and in vivo. In earlier studies, the investigational treatment also appeared to block mechanisms implicated in drug resistance.

Pascal Announces Non-Brokered Private Placement

On November 2, 2020 Pascal Biosciences, Inc. ("Pascal" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: PAS), a biotechnology company that specializes in cancer drug discovery and development, reported a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") of up to 5,000,000 units (each a "Unit" respectively) at a price of $0.20 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to $1,000,000 (Press release, Pascal Biosciences, NOV 2, 2020, View Source [SID1234569775]). Each Unit will consist of one common share and one common share purchase warrant (each a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional common share of the Company
at a price of $0.35 per share for a period of twelve months from the date of closing, subject to an exercise acceleration clause. Under the exercise acceleration clause, which the Company may exercise once the Units are free of resale restrictions and if the Company’s shares are trading at or above a volume weighted average price of $0.50 for 10 consecutive trading days, the Warrants will expire upon 30 days from the date the Company provides notice in writing to the Warrant holders via a news release.

Certain directors and officers of the Company intend to acquire the Units under the Private Placement. Any such participation would be considered to be a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61 -101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The transaction will be exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 as neither the fair market value of any shares issued to, or the consideration paid by such persons, will exceed 25% of the Company’s market capitalization.

The proceeds from the sale of Units will be added to working capital in furtherance of the Company’s business. The securities to be issued under the placement will be subject to a four-month hold period and the Private Placement is subject to the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.