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Avacta Group plc Enters Collaboration and Option Agreement With ADC Therapeutics

On October 10, 2019 Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), a biotechnology company developing novel cancer immunotherapies based on its proprietary Affimer platform, reported that it has entered a collaboration and option agreement with ADC Therapeutics SA, a clinical-stage oncology-focused biotechnology company pioneering the development of highly potent and targeted antibody-drug conjugates for patients suffering from haematological malignancies and solid tumours (Press release, Avacta, OCT 10, 2019, View Source [SID1234540932]). The agreement is to develop Affimer-drug conjugates combining Avacta’s Affimer technology with ADC Therapeutics’ pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PBD)-based warhead and linker technologies.

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As part of the multi-target collaboration Avacta will generate and optimise Affimer binders against three undisclosed cancer targets and provide these to ADC Therapeutics to target its proprietary cytotoxic warheads (PBDs) to the site of the tumour. ADC Therapeutics will carry out pre-clinical research and development programmes to evaluate each of the Affimer-drug conjugates with a view to generating clinical candidates.

The commercial agreement between the two companies provides ADC Therapeutics with options, on a target by target basis, to obtain exclusive licenses to the Affimer proteins for clinical development and commercialisation.

Under the terms of the agreement, ADC Therapeutics will cover all Avacta’s costs during the collaboration. Upon ADC Therapeutics entering into each of the commercialisation licenses and successfully bringing new Affimer-drug conjugates to market, Avacta will receive option fees, development and commercialisation milestones, as well as a single-digit royalty on sales. Further financial details are not disclosed.

Dr Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Avacta Group, commented: "I am delighted to have established this collaboration with ADC Therapeutics to develop drug conjugates that harness the benefits of Affimer proteins to selectively and efficiently target ADC Therapeutics’ PBD drugs to the site of the tumour. We are very excited about the potential of this collaboration to develop breakthrough oncology treatments, and about its considerable commercial value to Avacta.

We look forward to working closely with the ADC Therapeutics team to generate new Affimer-drug conjugates and advance these promising cancer treatments into the clinic."

BioNTech Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering

On October 10, 2019 BioNTech SE ("BioNTech"), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on patient-specific immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases, reported the pricing of its initial public offering of 10,000,000 American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") representing 10,000,000 ordinary shares at a public offering price of $15.00 per ADS, for gross proceeds of $150,000,000 (Press release, BioNTech, OCT 10, 2019, View Source [SID1234540931]). In addition, BioNTech has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,500,000 ADSs at the public offering price. The ADSs are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on October 10, 2019 under the ticker symbol "BNTX."

All ADSs to be sold in the offering are being offered by BioNTech. The offering is expected to close on October 15, 2019, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

J.P. Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch, UBS Investment Bank and SVB Leerink are acting as lead joint book-running managers for the offering. Canaccord Genuity, Bryan, Garnier & Co. and Berenberg are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering and Wolfe Capital Markets and Advisory, Kempen and Mirae Asset Securities are acting as co-managers for the offering.

A registration statement relating to the ADSs being sold in this offering has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and was declared effective on October 9, 2019. The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the final prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained, when available, for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, copies of the final prospectus, when available, may be obtained from J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Attention: Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, or by telephone at (866) 803-9204, or by e-mail at [email protected]; BofA Securities, Inc., NC1-004-03-43; 200 North College Street, 3rd Floor, Charlotte, North Carolina 28255-0001, Attention: Prospectus Department, or by e-mail at [email protected]; UBS Securities LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 1285 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10019, or by telephone at (888) 827-7275, or by e-mail at [email protected]; or SVB Leerink LLC, Attention: Syndicate Department, One Federal Street, 37th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02110, or by telephone at (800) 808-7525, ext. 6132, or by e-mail at [email protected].

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities law of any such state or jurisdiction.

OncoSec Announces $30 Million USD Strategic Investment at a Premium to Market by China Grand Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Holdings (CGP) in Connection with Exclusive License to TAVO™ in Greater China and 35 Other Asian Countries

On October 10, 2019 OncoSec Medical Incorporated (OncoSec) (Nasdaq:ONCS), a late-stage intratumoral cancer immunotherapy company, reported it entered into a strategic transaction with Grand Decade Developments Limited (Grand Decade), a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of China Grand Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Holdings Limited (CGP) (HKG:512), and its affiliate, Sirtex Medical US Holdings, Inc. (Sirtex) (Press release, OncoSec Medical, OCT 10, 2019, View Source [SID1234540930]).

Details of the transaction are as follows:

OncoSec will receive a $30 million investment from CGP and its affiliate Sirtex at $2.50 per share, an approximate 25% premium to the average share price over the last 20 days since October 9, 2019. The transaction is subject to shareholder approval.
Upon the closing of this transaction, CGP and Sirtex together will hold 53% of OncoSec common shares and will be entitled to three of nine seats on the OncoSec Board of Directors.
Should CGP seek to offer to acquire the remaining shares of OncoSec within the 12 months following the closing of the transaction, the offer price for the outstanding shares of OncoSec must be the greater of $4.50 per share or 110% of the last closing stock price of the common stock on the date prior to making an offer to acquire the remaining outstanding shares of common stock.
OncoSec will grant Grand Decade and its affiliates an exclusive license to develop, manufacture, commercialize, or otherwise exploit OncoSec’s current and future products, including TAVO and OncoSec’s new Visceral Lesion Applicator (VLA), in Greater China[1] and 35 other Asian countries (the "Territory"). Grand Decade will pay up to 20% royalties on the net sales of such products in the Territory.
Sirtex will support and assist OncoSec with pre-marketing activities for TAVO and VLA in exchange for low single-digit royalties on TAVO and VLA net sales outside the Territory.
More details of the transaction documents can be found in OncoSec’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

If approved by its shareholders, this transaction will provide OncoSec with funding to complete its two ongoing clinical trials of TAVO in combination with Merck’s KEYTRUDA, including its pivotal trial (KEYNOTE-695) in checkpoint-refractory metastatic melanoma and its ongoing clinical trial (KEYNOTE-890) in chemo-refractory metastatic triple negative breast cancer. OncoSec anticipates filing for accelerated approval in the U.S. following the completion of its KEYNOTE-695 trial in 2020.

TAVO (tavokinogene telseplasmid) enables the intratumoral delivery of DNA-based interleukin-12 (IL-12), a naturally occurring protein with immune-stimulating functions. Completion of the transaction is expected to occur by the end of 2019, subject to approval by OncoSec shareholders, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

"This infusion of capital would significantly strengthen OncoSec’s balance sheet and provide support to complete our ongoing pivotal clinical trial, KEYNOTE-695, in checkpoint-refractory metastatic melanoma in combination with KEYTRUDA and our ongoing clinical trial, KEYNOTE-890, in chemo-refractory metastatic triple negative breast cancer," said Daniel O’Connor, OncoSec’s President and CEO. "CGP is a global pharmaceutical company that has significant interests and holdings in the immuno-oncology space with the expertise and infrastructure to broadly introduce TAVO within these important Greater China markets where there remains a significant unmet need in a variety of cancers, while also providing support to our development activities elsewhere. We look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with them."

Torreya Partners, LLC is acting as financial advisor and Alston & Bird is serving as legal advisor to OncoSec.

About CGP
CGP is a public company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange with a market capitalization of approximately $1.8 billion USD. CGP develops, manufactures and distributes pharmaceutical products and medical devices to retailers and medical organisations. CGP currently distributes its products to approximately 6,000 hospitals and approximately 30,000 pharmacies and has a sales team of more than 2,000 employees. CGP also has significant experience in R&D and product commercialisation in China. Such experience dealing with the relevant Chinese regulatory bodies makes CGP an ideal strategic partner for OncoSec as it looks to gain regulatory approval to introduce TAVO to the Chinese market. For more information, visit www.chinagrandpharm.com.

About Sirtex
Sirtex Medical is a global healthcare business company with offices in the U.S., Australia, Europe and Asia, working to improve outcomes in people with cancer. The Company’s current lead product is a targeted radiation therapy for liver cancer called SIR-Spheres Y-90 resin microspheres. More than 100,000 doses have been supplied to treat patients with liver cancer at more than 1,000 medical centers in over 40 countries. For more information, visit www.sirtex.com.

DelMar Pharmaceuticals to Present at the Inaugural MicroCap Rodeo Investor Conference on October 15, 2019 at 11:30 AM Central Time

On October 10, 2019 DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: DMPI) ("DelMar" or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of new cancer therapies, repored that Mr. Saiid Zarrabian, Chief Executive Officer of DelMar, will be a featured presenter at the inaugural MicroCap Rodeo Investor Conference in Austin, Texas at the Hilton Austin on Tuesday, October 15th at 11:30 AM (CT) (Press release, DelMar Pharmaceuticals, OCT 10, 2019, View Source [SID1234540929]). Mr. Zarrabian will provide an overview of the Company’s business model and growth strategy and will be available for one-on-one meetings.

Interested investors wishing to attend and request meetings can register at microcaprodeo.com, View Source

A live webcast of the corporate presentation will be available at View Source or on the Company’s website at View Source A replay of the presentations will be available for 90 days.

Incyte to Report Third Quarter Financial Results

On October 10, 2019 Incyte Corporation (Nasdaq:INCY) reported that it has scheduled its third quarter 2019 financial results conference call and webcast for 8:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, October 29, 2019 (Press release, Incyte, OCT 10, 2019, View Source [SID1234540927]).

The schedule for the press release and conference call/webcast is as follows:

Q3 2019 Press Release:

October 29, 2019 at 7:00 a.m. ET

Q3 2019 Conference Call:

October 29, 2019 at 8:00 a.m. ET

Domestic Dial-In Number:

877-407-3042

International Dial-In Number:

201-389-0864

Conference ID Number:

13695247

If you are unable to participate, a replay of the conference call will be available for thirty days. The replay dial-in number for the U.S. is 877-660-6853 and the dial-in number for international callers is 201-612-7415. To access the replay you will need the conference ID number 13695247.

The live webcast with slides can be accessed at www.incyte.com under For Investors, Events and Presentations and will be available for replay for 30 days.