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Nicox Announces 2018 Financial Results and 2019 Milestones

On March 6, 2019 Nicox SA (Euronext Paris: FR0013018124, COX), an international ophthalmology company, reported the financial and operating results for Nicox and its subsidiaries (the "Nicox Group") for the year ended December 31, 2018, as approved by the Board of Directors on March 5, 2019, and provided upcoming 2019 milestones (Press release, NicOx, MAR 6, 2019, View Source [SID1234533991]).

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2018 Financial Summary
In 2018, the Loss before tax of the Nicox Group was €18.3 million compared to €19.1 million in 2017. This reduction was achieved despite the significant investments in research and development made in 2018.

Net revenue for the 12 months to December 2018 was €4.0 million, which consists of the upfront payment from Ocumension Therapeutics for the license of NCX 470 for the Chinese market and net royalties on sales of VYZULTA (latanoprostene bunod ophthalmic solution), 0.024% by global partner Bausch + Lomb. This compares to a Net revenue for the 12 months to December 2017 of €2.3 million.

Operating expenses for the period 2018 increased to €26.5 million from €20.8 million for the 12 months to December 31, 2017 mainly due to investments in the development of our wholly-owned programs, NCX 470 and NCX 4251.

As of December 31, 2018, the Nicox Group had cash and cash equivalents of €22.0 million as compared with €41.4 million at December 31, 2017.

Event after the Reporting Period
On January 25, 2019, Nicox entered into a bond financing for up to €20 million from Kreos Capital, which together with cash on hand and anticipated royalties potentially extends the Company’s cash runway into 2021. The financing is structured as three tranches of which only the first tranche of €8 million has been drawn down. The exercise of the two other tranches is at Nicox’s sole discretion.

Upcoming 2019 Milestones
NCX 470: Top-line results from the Phase 2 clinical study for the lowering of intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension expected in Q4 2019.
NCX 4251: Phase 2 clinical study in patients with acute exacerbations of blepharitis to start shortly, with top-line results expected in Q4 2019.
ZERVIATETM U.S. launch: Commercial launch of ZERVIATE (cetirizine ophthalmic solution), 0.24% in the U.S. by our U.S. partner Eyevance Pharmaceuticals expected in summer 2019.
ZERVIATE ex-US partnering: Potential new licensing agreements, with multiple discussions ongoing.
Presentations on Nicox’s ophthalmology programs at key scientific conferences including the American Glaucoma Society (AGS), the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO).

McKesson Collaborates with Navigating Cancer to Offer Oncologists Enhanced Software Platform for Improved Patient Management in Value-Based Care

On March 5, 2019 Global healthcare leader McKesson Corporation reported a collaboration with technology leader Navigating Cancer to offer an enhanced Patient Relationship Management (PRM) platform for community-based oncologists (Press release, McKesson, MAR 5, 2019, View Source [SID1234554011]). This platform is a comprehensive clinical workflow tool for oncology teams and patients that provides integrated, personalized care. Additionally, it helps providers meet value-based care requirements through features such as patient care management tools, remote monitoring to capture patient-reported outcomes, and a nurse triage tool that includes symptom management pathways. By coordinating tasks that prompt patient involvement, this platform allows physicians and practice staff to focus on what’s most important—caring for patients.

McKesson is a leader in value-based care, offering a robust suite of products and services to help practices reduce costs, streamline processes, and improve patient care and outcomes. Using Navigating Cancer’s PRM platform gives providers a comprehensive view of patient care, where they are notified of patient-reported outcomes and can triage and provide proactive care in real time. Patients, in turn, have access to personalized information 24/7, have a way to report side effects before they escalate, can receive medication reminders, and ultimately have the opportunity to play a more proactive role in their own care.

"We are excited about working with Navigating Cancer to complement the technology and services we offer to community oncology practices," said Diana Verrilli, senior vice president, Strategy and Practice Solutions, McKesson. "We’re confident the platform will enhance a practice’s ability to coordinate patient care while reducing the administrative burden for staff, creating an exceptional experience for patients and providers."

Coupled with existing McKesson solutions such as the oncology-specific iKnowMed electronic health record (EHR) as well as practice transformation support and education for programs such as the Merit-based Incentive Program (MIPS) and Oncology Care Model (OCM)—Navigating Cancer’s PRM will help oncology practices in their efforts to achieve value-based care.

With more than 1.2 million patient touchpoints each month, Navigating Cancer has been the pioneer in patient relationship management for cancer care since 2008. Navigating Cancer’s oncology-specific software can help care teams stay connected to each other and their patients, improve productivity with streamlined workflows, and, ultimately, provide better care.

"Navigating Cancer’s PRM platform aims to increase access to care and improve care coordination with the goal of improving patient outcomes and decreasing emergency room visits. We have seen this at Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers, Virginia Oncology Associates and Minnesota Oncology, all current iKnowMed customers," said Gena Cook, founder and president, Navigating Cancer. "As a company dedicated to putting patients at the center of their care, we are eager to expand our collaboration with McKesson to significantly impact patient care across the United States."

Calithera to Present at Cowen & Company 39th Annual Healthcare Conference

On March 5, 2019 Calithera Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: CALA), a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing novel small molecule drugs for the treatment of cancer and other life-threatening diseases, reported that Susan M. Molineaux, Ph.D, the company’s founder, president and chief executive officer, will present at the Cowen & Company 39th Annual Healthcare Conference at 10:40 a.m. ET on Tuesday, March 12, 2019 in Boston (Press release, Calithera Biosciences, MAR 5, 2019, View Source [SID1234535226]). The presentation will be webcast live and available for replay for up to 30 days at www.calithera.com in the Investor Relations section.

VECT-HORUS and RadioMedix announce the signing of a LOI to co-develop a Vect-Horus’ radio-theranostic agent for Glioblastoma

On March 5, 2019 Vect-Horus and RadioMedix reported the signing of a Letter of Intent (LOI) to establish an agreement for the co-development of a Vect-Horus theranostic agent for the diagnostic and radiotherapy of Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) of the brain (Press release, Vect-Horus, MAR 5, 2019, View Source [SID1234534541]).

This partnership will marry the expertise of Vect-Horus in targeting tumors with its technology VECTrans and the know-how of RadioMedix in developing and conducting pre-clinical evaluation and clinical trials with radiopharmaceuticals.

GBM is the most common and most aggressive malignant type of primary brain tumors and is a serious and life-threatening condition. The theranostic agent targets the Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor (LDLR), which is highly expressed on many cancer cells, including glioblastoma. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging and biodistribution studies in human glioblastoma xenograft and orthotopic models have shown a significant accumulation of the agent within the tumor.

"We are pleased that our technology, VECTrans in combination with expertise of RadioMedix will serve to advance an innovative and promising approach for glioblastoma treatment." said Alexandre Tokay, CEO of Vect-Horus "This co-development project is fully aligned with our strategy to expand the use of our technology in cancer indications with high unmet medical needs."

"We look forward to very compelling outcomes from our co-development project, as we seek to create new technologies for the benefit of cancer patients, by giving doctors and hospitals more imaging and treatment options." Said Dr Jamal Temsamani, Director of Drug Development of Vect-Horus.

"Development of a highly sensitive and effective theranostic approach for GBM has always been among our top priorities. Our initial evaluation of VECTrans technology appears to be extremely promising." said Dr Ebrahim Delpassand, CEO of RadioMedix. "Our plan is to utilize VECTrans technology to initially develop an accurate molecular diagnostic PET/CT probe to precisely map the tumor involvement in the brain. This will significantly improve precision of the surgical resection of the tumor. The treatment will then be followed by targeted alpha-emitter or beta-emitter radionuclide therapy using the same technology to eradicate any residual malignant cells at the molecular level" added Dr. Delpassand.

"RadioMedix has strong interests and all expertise needed to develop the VECTrans–based radio-theranostic agents for GBM", said Izabela Tworowska, PhD, CSO of RadioMedix. "Targeting LDLR can improve the blood -brain barrier (BBB) permeability of the drug and selectively deliver the isotope payload to GBM cancer cells."

Erasca Announces Series A Extension, Bringing Total Round to $64 Million

On March 5, 2019 Erasca, a company dedicated to advancing exceptional scientific approaches to erase cancer, reported that it has closed an extension to its Series A financing round, bringing the total raised to $64 million (Press release, Erasca, MAR 5, 2019, View Source [SID1234534178]). New investors in the Series A round include ARCH Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Reneo Capital, and other private and strategic investors. Proceeds of the financing will support the company’s efforts to potentially in-license new investigational compounds in development, while also accelerating the buildout of Erasca’s artificial intelligence (AI) platform that will drive discovery and development of a new generation of oncology drugs designed to not just treat, but actually cure, cancer.

"Because cancer is such a formidable foe, we are committed to leveraging all available tools to beat it, including supplementing our in-house efforts with both external innovation and in silico approaches like machine learning," said Jonathan E. Lim, M.D., Erasca’s executive chairman and co-founder. "The support of world-class life science investors, as well as Silicon Valley-based investors with expertise in machine learning, will augment both our corporate development efforts and our rapid development of an AI platform we call OPRA, which aims to transform how drugs are discovered and developed."

Erasca has multiple discovery programs underway for undisclosed targets that are biological drivers of cancer.

"I feel confident in Erasca’s potential to make a significant impact on patient outcomes with their corporate development capabilities, cutting-edge drug discovery platform, and highly capable team that Jonathan has assembled," said Kristina Burow, managing director at ARCH Venture Partners.

Jorge Conde, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, added, "Technology has transformed virtually every aspect of our lives, but the drug discovery process remains incredibly difficult, expensive and failure-prone. The combination of Erasca’s seasoned team, powered by the application of the latest advances in artificial intelligence, will allow them to develop strategies to attack cancer at its core and dare to pursue the prospect of cures for patients."

About OPRA

OPRA (Oncology Pattern Recognition Algorithm) is Erasca’s proprietary artificial intelligence drug discovery platform that leverages advanced computational tools like machine learning to accelerate drug discovery by elucidating novel tumor biology and innovative strategies that shut down key cancer pathways, both with single agent and combination approaches. OPRA analyzes large-scale data sets, generated in-house and by our collaborators, to provide insights that focus Erasca scientists on the most promising strategies to tackle essential oncogenes within the vast landscape of cancer biology.

OPRA’s data-to-medicine approach is flexible and scalable, enabling deployment across multiple programs in parallel. OPRA overlays onto Erasca’s established drug discovery workflows, allowing both scientist- and AI-driven insights to disrupt the discovery process, accelerating the development of therapies with maximal potency to achieve our ultimate aim of erasing cancer.