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Cogent Biosciences Secures up to $400 Million in Non-Dilutive Financing

On June 11, 2025 Cogent Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: COGT), a biotechnology company focused on developing precision therapies for genetically defined diseases, reported it has secured a debt financing facility of up to $400 million with credit funds managed by SLR Capital Partners, LLC ("SLR") (Press release, Cogent Biosciences, JUN 11, 2025, View Source [SID1234653813]). An initial tranche of $50 million was drawn at closing, with future tranches available based on the achievement of key clinical and commercial milestones aligned with Cogent’s growth strategy.

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"2025 will be a transformative year for Cogent," said Andrew Robbins, the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. "This strategic financing with SLR provides substantial, non-dilutive capital at very attractive financial terms. It enhances our financial flexibility and enables us to accelerate our bezuclastinib launch planning as we eagerly await the results from SUMMIT, APEX and PEAK pivotal trials this year."

"We’re proud to partner with Cogent in advancing innovative therapies for patients with genetically driven diseases. This investment reflects our ongoing strategy to support high-potential biotech companies as they progress through late-stage development and commercial execution," said Anthony Storino, Partner and Head of Life Science Finance at SLR Capital Partners.

Under the terms of the agreement, Cogent drew $50 million from the facility at closing. An additional $100 million is available during 2025 at Cogent’s discretion, subject to successful top-line data readouts from SUMMIT and PEAK bezuclastinib pivotal trials. An additional $50 million is available upon achievement of early commercial success following bezuclastinib launch. The remaining $200 million is available at mutual agreement of Cogent and SLR.

Cogent remains on track in July to announce top-line results from SUMMIT, a registration-directed, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, global, multicenter, clinical trial of bezuclastinib in patients with NonAdvSM. In the second half of 2025, Cogent is on track to release results from APEX, a registration-directed, global, open-label trial in patients with AdvSM. Finally, before the end of 2025, Cogent expects to release results from PEAK, a global, blinded, randomized Phase 3 clinical trial studying the combination of bezuclastinib and sunitinib versus sunitinib alone in patients with imatinib-resistant GIST.

Leerink Partners served as the exclusive financial advisor to Cogent on the term loan financing.

Niagen Bioscience to Participate in the BIO 2025 International Convention

On June 11, 2025 Niagen Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ: NAGE) (formerly ChromaDex Corp.), the global authority on NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) with a focus on the science of healthy aging, reported its participation in the 2025 BIO International Convention, taking place June 16–19, 2025, in Boston, Massachusetts (Press release, ChromaDex, JUN 11, 2025, View Source [SID1234653812]).

Hosted by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), the BIO International Convention is the world’s largest and most influential biotechnology event, convening more than 20,000 global leaders from across the life sciences ecosystem, including biopharma, academia, investment, and government.

The convention provides companies with unique access to a partnering forum. By participating in BIO 2025, Niagen Bioscience is seeking to initiate discussions with prospective partners to support the development and monetization of its emerging drug product candidates.

Niagen Bioscience is arranging a full slate of one-on-one meetings with pharmaceutical companies focused on neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease (PD), Ataxia Telangiectasia (AT), among others, and plans to have partnering discussions.

Attending from Niagen Bioscience’s executive leadership team will be Ozan Pamir, CFO, Andrew Shao, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Global Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, and Yasmeen Nkrumah-Elie, Ph.D., Senior Global Director of External Research.

To request a meeting with the team, please reach out to the Company through the BIO Partnering platform at View Source or email [email protected].

XENOTHERA confirms progress in the treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) through its LIS22 antibody

On June 10, 2025 Nantes-based biotech XENOTHERA reported the value of its LIS22 antibody in the treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL). The PALT1 clinical trial (NCT06495723) has just passed a new milestone at the trial’s scientific committee meeting, confirming continued recruitment (Press release, Xenothera, JUN 10, 2025, View Source [SID1234654024]). Clinical and biological safety, as well as injection tolerance, are encouraging. Preliminary efficacy data, yet to be confirmed, are very encouraging.

To date, 9 patients are participating in the trial. No DLT has been observed, so enrolment at the 6 mg/kg dose is continuing. PALT1 is a Phase I/II trial testing the safety and efficacy of LIS22 in patients with refractory relapsed PTCL. The trial is taking place in France and Italy, with Professor Gandhi Damaj at Caen University Hospital as principal investigator.

The results will be presented orally on Tuesday June 18 at 5:50 p.m. by Firas Bassissi, the biotech’s Scientific Director, at the World Congress on Lymphoma (18th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma, Lugano, Switzerland, View Source), during the "Experimental Medicines" session under the title "LIS22: An Effective Multimodal Polyclonal Antibody targeting T-Cell Malignancies".

In addition, the PALT1 clinical trial is the subject of an abstract to be published in the proceedings of the same congress (abstract 847: "PALT trial: First in class glyco humanized polyclonal antibody directed against tumoral T cells, in patients with relapsed/refractory peripheral T cells lymphoma (PTCL)").

"To be able to present LIS22 orally and to benefit from an abstract published in the proceedings of the Lugano World Congress is an immense source of pride, and confirms the interest of our treatment, as well as the recognition by the medical and scientific community of the quality and potential of our therapeutic antibody. I am of course delighted to be able to continue this trial, thanks to these results, which are both a validation of our approach and, above all, a source of hope for PTCL patients who have reached a therapeutic impasse. I would like to congratulate the XENOTHERA teams, and above all to thank the patients and medical teams who are working alongside us to analyze the therapeutic potential of LIS22," says Odile Duvaux, President of the biotech company.

Entry into Material Definitive Agreement

On June 10, 2025, Salarius Pharmaceuticals reported to have entered into a Second Amendment to the Merger Agreement ("Amendment No. 2") with Decoy Therapeutics to address significant changes in market conditions and secure necessary consents from Decoy noteholders for the completion of the transaction (Filing, Salarius Pharmaceuticals, JUN 10, 2025, View Source [SID1234653816]).

Since the execution of the original Merger Agreement in January 2025 and following the execution of Amendment No. 1, the Company’s Common Stock price has experienced substantial deterioration, materially affecting the relative valuations underlying the exchange ratio. As a result, the parties have agreed to reduce the Company’s relative valuation from $4.6 million at the time of the original Merger Agreement to $2.31 million. This reduction results in a change in the exchange ratio such that the number of shares of Common Stock underlying the Company’s Series A Preferred Stock to be issued to Decoy stockholders at Closing will be increased by approximately 17 million shares. Accordingly, under Amendment No. 2, the relative ownership percentages of the combined company will result in Company legacy stockholders retaining 7.6% and Decoy’s legacy stockholders retaining 92.4% of the combined company following the completion of the Merger, in each case calculated on a fully-diluted basis, and before taking into account the dilutive effects of the Qualified Financing and any issuance of shares pursuant to such Qualified Financing after June 10, 2025, the date of Amendment No. 2.

In addition, Amendment No. 2 revises the form of Certificate of Designation (the "Certificate of Designation") for Series A Non-Voting Convertible Preferred Stock (the "Series A Preferred Stock") that will be filed upon Closing to include post-closing anti-dilution price protection for holders of Series A Preferred Stock whereby if, following completion of the Qualified Financing and the Merger, the Company conducts any subsequent dilutive financing of at least $2 million at a weighted average effective price per share below the offering price offered to the public in the Qualified Financing, the conversion ratio will be reset to provide additional shares to preferred stockholders in an amount proportional to the dilution caused by such offering, with such protection applying for one year from issuance. The revised Certificate of Designation also provides that the Series A Preferred Stock will not be convertible until the combined company meets the relevant initial listing standards of Nasdaq and contains a provision designed to prevent holders of Series A Preferred Stock from engaging in short sales of the Company’s common stock. As provided in the original Certificate of Designation, the Series A Preferred Stock will also not convert until the Company obtains stockholder approval pursuant to Nasdaq listing rule 5635.

Except as modified by Amendment No. 2, the terms of the Merger Agreement and Amendment No. 1 remain in full force and effect.

The foregoing descriptions of Amendment No. 2 and the Certificate of Designation are not complete and are qualified in their entirety by reference to the full text of Amendment No. 2 and the Certificate of Designation, copies of which are filed as Exhibit 2.1 and Exhibit 2.2, respectively, to this Current Report on Form 8-K and are incorporated by reference herein.

Iovance Biotherapeutics to Present at Upcoming Conference

On June 10, 2025 Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: IOVA), a biotechnology company focused on innovating, developing, and delivering novel polyclonal tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapies for patients with cancer, reported that senior leadership plans to present at the following conference (Press release, Iovance Biotherapeutics, JUN 10, 2025, View Source [SID1234653814]):

Goldman Sachs Global Healthcare Conference
Fireside Chat: June 11, 2025 at 1:20 p.m. ET
Miami, FL
The live and archived webcasts will be available at View Source