ORIC Pharmaceuticals Announces Closing of Public Offering and Full Exercise of Underwriters’ Option to Purchase Additional Shares

On November 17, 2020 ORIC Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ORIC), a clinical stage oncology company focused on developing treatments that address mechanisms of therapeutic resistance, reported the closing of its previously announced underwritten public offering of 5,796,000 shares of its common stock, which includes the exercise in full of the underwriters’ option to purchase 756,000 additional shares of its common stock, at a price to the public of $23.00 per share (Press release, ORIC Pharmaceuticals, NOV 17, 2020, View Source [SID1234571254]). The gross proceeds to ORIC from the offering were approximately $133.3 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses.

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J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Citigroup, Jefferies LLC and Guggenheim Securities acted as joint book-running managers for the offering. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acted as lead manager for the offering.

The offering is made only by means of a prospectus, copies of which may be obtained from: J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Attention: Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, by telephone at (866) 803-9204 or by email at [email protected]; Citigroup Global Markets Inc., c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717 or by telephone at (800) 831-9146; Jefferies LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department, 520 Madison Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10022, by telephone at (877) 821-7388 or by email at [email protected]; or Guggenheim Securities, LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Department, 330 Madison, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10017, by telephone at (212) 518-9658 or by email at [email protected].

Registration statements relating to the securities have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and have become effective. A copy of the registration statement can be accessed through the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor will there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful before registration or qualification under the securities laws of that state or jurisdiction.

Ziopharm Oncology Appoints Raffaele Baffa, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Medical Officer

On November 17, 2020 Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. ("Ziopharm" or "the Company") (Nasdaq:ZIOP) reported the appointment of Raffaele Baffa, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Medical Officer (Press release, Ziopharm, NOV 17, 2020, View Source [SID1234571252]).

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Dr. Baffa joins the Company from Medisix, an immune engineering company developing novel cellular therapies to address T cell malignancies, where he held the role of Head of R&D and Chief Medical Officer. Previously, Dr. Baffa was Vice President and Therapeutic Area Head of Oncology, Global Clinical Development for Shire, and, subsequent to the acquisition of the oncology division by Servier, Dr. Baffa served as Chief Medical Officer of Servier Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Baffa has also held industry leadership positions as Executive Director, Early Oncology Development and Clinical Research at Pfizer and at Sanofi, where he was Head of Translational Sciences – External Science & Innovation, Global Biotherapeutics.

"We’re pleased to welcome Raffaele to the Company and to the leadership team," said Laurence Cooper, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer. "He brings a deep understanding of engineered T cells, cancer biology, pharmacogenomics and cancer pathology, and has led early development teams in IND filings for new clinical trials for twelve compounds in the area of oncology and led late development teams in three regulatory approval submissions. We look forward to his leadership in shaping and directing our internal and external programs and partnerships to maximize the value of our distinctive and innovative science."

Dr. Baffa added, "Ziopharm has a compelling opportunity to build on ground-breaking science across a range of clinical applications to help treat cancer patients. I am delighted to join Laurence and the team, and I look forward to contributing to the next phase of clinical development and ultimately to commercialization."

Dr. Baffa earned an M.D. from University of Padova, School of Medicine, and a Ph.D. in biology and molecular pathology from University of Parma, both in Italy. As an associate professor at the Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, where he served as Director of Urology Research and as Co-Director of the Genito-Urinary Cancer Program. Dr. Baffa has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, invited articles and book chapters.

Dynavax to Present at the 3rd Annual Evercore Virtual ISI HealthCONx Conference

On November 17, 2020 Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: DVAX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing novel vaccines, reported that Ryan Spencer, Chief Executive Officer, will participate in a virtual fireside chat at the 3rd Annual Evercore virtual ISI HealthCONx Conference on Thursday, December 3, at 10:05 a. m. E.T (Press release, Dynavax Technologies, NOV 17, 2020, https://investors.dynavax.com/news-releases/news-release-details/dynavax-present-3rd-annual-evercore-virtual-isi-healthconx [SID1234571251]).

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The live audio webcast may be accessed through the "Events & Presentations" page on the "Investors" section of the Company’s website at www.dynavax.com. A replay of the webcast will be available for 30 days following the live event.

Merck Announces First-Quarter 2021 Dividend

On November 17, 2020 Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, reported that the Board of Directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share of the company’s common stock for the first quarter of 2021 (Press release, Merck & Co, NOV 17, 2020, View Source [SID1234571249]). Payment will be made on Jan. 8, 2021 to shareholders of record at the close of business on Dec. 15, 2020.

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AIVITA Biomedical’s Phase 2 Glioblastoma Trial Shows Improved Progression Free Survival

On November 17, 2020 AIVITA Biomedical, Inc., a private biotechnology company specializing in innovative stem cell applications, reported data from its multi-center Phase 2 clinical trial of its personalized cancer vaccine, AV-GBM-1, in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM) (Press release, AIVITA Biomedical, NOV 17, 2020, View Source [SID1234571246]).

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The analysis focused on 57 patients who were scheduled to receive up to eight doses of AV-GBM-1 over approximately six months. At the time of the analysis, surviving patients had completed therapy and had been followed between 7.2 and 24.2 months. The median length of progression free survival was 10.0 months (95% CI 8.5 to 11.5 months), an improvement of approximately 45% compared to a median of 6.9 months (95% CI 5.8 to 8.2 months) progression free survival in the landmark study that established the standard of care for patients with newly diagnosed GBM. This represented a 38% reduction in risk of progression or death at 6.9 months of treatment. The latest data from the trial was presented at the 35th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper).

"The improvement in glioblastoma patients who were treated with AV-GBM-1, compared to studies with the standard of care, is a very promising indication that our therapy confers benefit to patients in need," said Robert O. Dillman, M.D., chief medical officer of AIVITA.

AV-GBM-1 is a novel immunotherapy consisting of autologous dendritic cells loaded with autologous tumor antigens derived from self-renewing tumor-initiating cells. The treatment is administered in a series of subcutaneous injections. The treatment is uniquely pan-antigenic, targeting multiple antigens from autologous tumor-initiating cells that are responsible for the rapid growth of the disease.

"This is a major victory against glioblastoma, a devastating disease that has evaded treatment for far too long," said Hans S. Keirstead, Ph.D., chief executive officer of AIVITA. "We now have excellent results from Phase 2 clinical studies in both melanoma and glioblastoma, underscoring the tremendous potential of this personalized cancer immunotherapy."

AIVITA is currently conducting three clinical studies in the United States investigating its platform immunotherapy in patients with ovarian cancer, glioblastoma and melanoma. AIVITA is also seeking conditional commercial approval of its melanoma treatment in Japan.

CLINICAL TRIAL DETAIL

OVARIAN CANCER

AIVITA’s ovarian Phase 2 double-blind study is active and enrolling approximately 99 patients who are being randomized in a 2:1 ratio to receive either the autologous tumor-initiating cell-targeting immunotherapy or autologous monocytes as a comparator.

Patients eligible for randomization and treatment will be those (1) who have undergone debulking surgery, (2) for whom a cell line has been established, (3) who have undergone leukapheresis from which sufficient monocytes were obtained, (4) have an ECOG performance grade of 0 or 1 (Karnofsky score of 70-100%), and (5) who have completed primary therapy. The trial is not open to patients with recurrent ovarian cancer.

For additional information about AIVITA’s AVOVA-1 trial patients can visit: www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02033616

GLIOBLASTOMA

AIVITA’s glioblastoma Phase 2 single-arm study is active and completed treating 57 with the tumor-initiating cell-targeting immunotherapy, AV-GBM-1.

The primary endpoint of the trial is overall survival (OS) from enrollment date, and secondary endpoints include progression-free survival (PFS) from enrollment date and OS measured from date of surgery during which tumor was collected to grow the tumor initiating cells. Additional analyses will include OS/PFS based on Karnofsky Performance Status, age, and extent of surgical resection. Tertiary endpoints will include OS/PFS from date of first injection and OS/PFS from date of first injection in patients who completed concurrent CT/RT and had not progressed.

For additional information about AIVITA’s AV-GBM-1 trial please visit: www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03400917

MELANOMA

AIVITA’s melanoma Phase 1B open-label, single-arm study will establish the safety of administering anti-PD1 monoclonal antibodies in combination with AIVITA’s tumor-initiating cell-targeting immunotherapy in patients with measurable metastatic melanoma. The study will also track efficacy of the treatment for the estimated 14 to 20 patients. This trial is not yet open for enrollment.

Patients eligible for treatment will be those (1) for whom a cell line has been established, (2) who have undergone leukapheresis from which sufficient monocytes were obtained, (3) have an ECOG performance grade of 0 or 1 (Karnofsky score of 70-100%), (4) who have either never received treatment for metastatic melanoma or were previously treated with enzymatic inhibitors of the BRAF/MEK pathway because of BRAF600E/K mutations and (5) are about to initiate anti-PD1 monotherapy.

(Press release, AIVITA Biomedical, NOV 17, 2020, View Source [SID1234571246])