On March 11, 2019, Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the "Company") reported that from this date they entered into a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement (the "Collaboration and Supply Agreement") with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company ("BMS") to clinically evaluate the combination of the Company’s TLR-9 agonist, tilsotolimod (IMO-2125), with BMS’s therapy YERVOY (ipilimumab) and OPDIVO (nivolumab) (Press release, Bristol-Myers Squibb, MAR 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234534280]).

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Under the Collaboration and Supply Agreement, the Company will sponsor, fund and conduct the Company’s Phase 2, open-label, global, multi-center, multi-cohort study of intratumoral tilsotolimod in combination with YERVOY and OPDIVO entitled "Study of Tilsotolimod in Combination with Nivolumab and Ipilimumab For the Treatment of Solid Tumors" in accordance with an agreed-upon protocol (the "Trial"). The Company refers to the Trial as ILLUMINATE-206. Under the Collaboration and Supply Agreement, BMS has granted to the Company a non-exclusive, non-transferrable, royalty-free license (with a right to sublicense) under its intellectual property to use YERVOY and OPDIVO in the Trial and has agreed to manufacture and supply YERVOY and OPDIVO, at its cost and for no charge to the Company, for use in the Trial.

Unless earlier terminated, the Collaboration and Supply Agreement will remain in effect until (a) the completion of the Trial, (b) all related Trial data has been delivered to both parties and (c) the completion of any statistical analyses and bioanalyses contemplated by the Trial protocol or any analysis otherwise agreed upon by the parties. The Collaboration and Supply Agreement may be terminated by either party (i) in the event of an uncured material breach by the other party, (ii) in the event the other party is insolvent or in bankruptcy proceedings or (iii) for safety reasons. Upon termination, the licenses granted to the Company to use YERVOY and OPDIVO in the Trial will terminate.

The foregoing description of the Collaboration and Supply Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Collaboration and Supply Agreement, which the Company intends to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an exhibit to its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ending March 31, 2019.

On March 11, 2019 ASLAN Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:ASLN, TPEx:6497), a clinical-stage oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for global markets, and BioGenetics Co Ltd, a leading South Korean healthcare company, reported that they have expanded their strategic collaboration by entering into a new commercialisation agreement whereby both parties will partner to commercialise ASLAN003 in all indications in South Korea (Press release, ASLAN Pharmaceuticals, MAR 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234534264]).

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ASLAN will grant BioGenetics exclusive rights to commercialise ASLAN003 in South Korea in exchange for an upfront payment of US$1 million and up to US$8 million in sales and development milestones. ASLAN is also eligible to receive tiered double digit royalties on net sales from the high-teens to the mid-twenties range. BioGenetics will contribute to the global R&D costs incurred by ASLAN in the clinical development of ASLAN003 in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and will be responsible for obtaining initial and all subsequent regulatory approvals of ASLAN003 in South Korea.

ASLAN003 is an orally active, potent inhibitor of human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) that has the potential to be first-in-class in AML. ASLAN is currently conducting a phase 2a dose optimisation study of ASLAN003 in AML and expects to complete the study in the first half of 2019. ASLAN recently presented preliminary data from the study at the 60th American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper) Annual Meeting, in which ASLAN003 showed early signs of safety and efficacy in relapsed and refractory AML patients. In previous clinical studies, ASLAN003 has demonstrated potent inhibition of DHODH, a lack of toxicities associated with first generation inhibitors and other novel AML therapies, and the potential to induce differentiation in blast cells and applicability in a broad range of AML patients. ASLAN003 has been awarded orphan drug designation from the US Food and Drug Administration.

In 2018, the estimated five-year prevalence of leukaemia in South Korea was 10,9481. AML has previously been reported to be the most frequent subtype among all myeloid malignancies2 in South Korea.

Dr Carl Firth, Chief Executive Officer of ASLAN Pharmaceuticals, commented: "We believe that ASLAN003 has the potential to be a first-in-class therapy for AML and are pleased that BioGenetics has chosen to partner with us as we continue the phase 2 development of this important asset. We have already seen early signs of clinical activity and look forward to the read out from the first part of the ongoing study later this year."

JooHoon Ahn, Chief Executive Officer of Biopharma, BioGenetics, commented: "We are delighted to be partnering with ASLAN for the second time as we build a pipeline of innovative drugs that we believe have the potential to address significant unmet needs for Korean patients. We are excited by the data that ASLAN003 has generated to date and its potential in a broad range of AML patients."

The agreement for ASLAN003 is ASLAN’s second commercialisation agreement with BioGenetics. In February 2019, ASLAN signed an agreement with BioGenetics whereby both parties will collaborate to commercialise ASLAN’s lead asset, varlitinib, in all indications in South Korea.

ASLAN acquired the global rights to develop and commercialise ASLAN003 in May 2012 from Almirall. Under the terms of the agreement, ASLAN is required to pay Almirall a low double-digit percentage of all licensing revenues received.

On March 11, 2019 CymaBay Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBAY), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and providing access to innovative therapies for patients with liver and other chronic diseases with high unmet need, reported the closing of its previously announced underwritten public offering of its common stock (Press release, CymaBay Therapeutics, MAR 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234534248]). CymaBay sold 9,200,000 shares of its common stock in the offering, including 1,200,000 shares pursuant to the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares, at a public offering price of $12.50 per share before underwriting discounts and commissions. All of the shares of common stock were offered by CymaBay. CymaBay anticipates using the net proceeds from the offering to fund ongoing development of seladelpar and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

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Citigroup, Evercore ISI and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. acted as the joint book-running managers for the offering. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. and Roth Capital Partners acted as co-managers for the offering.

The securities described above were offered by CymaBay pursuant to a shelf registration statement previously filed with and declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). A final prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus related to the offering have been filed with the SEC and are available on the SEC’s website, located at www.sec.gov. Copies of the final prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to this offering may be obtained from: Citigroup Global Markets Inc., c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717 or telephone: 1-800-831-9146; Evercore Group L.L.C., Attention: Equity Capital Markets, 55 East 52nd Street, New York, NY 10055, or by telephone at (888) 474-0200, or by email at [email protected]; or Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Attn: Capital Markets, 499 Park Ave., 6th Floor, New York, New York 10022, or by email at [email protected].

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, 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 registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

On March 11, 2019 InventisBio Inc., a clinical stage biotech company, reported the closing of a $70 million USD Series C financing in January 2019 (Press release, InventisBio, MAR 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234534249]). This round of investment was co-led by Advantech Capital and CMBI, followed by Pudong Innotek. Also participating were existing investors Lilly Asia Venture (LAV) and OrbiMed Asia.

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"The new investment will accelerate the development of our clinical candidates into phase 2 trials and help us develop first-in-class drug candidates into clinical stage," said Dr. Yaolin Wang, InventisBio Chairman and CEO. "Our goal is to develop innovative drugs with our own intellectual property rights, to achieve global drug approvals based on international multi-center clinical trials for diseases with unmet medical needs. We are very pleased to have the support from top notch investment firms like Advantech and CMBI. Further funding from our previous rounds of investors LAV and OrbiMed Asia demonstrates the confidence of our strategic investors in our team and pipeline products for the global market."

Benjamin Qiu, Partner and Co-Head of Healthcare Investment at Advantech, commented, "As an innovative biotech company, InventisBio has fully utilized the management team’s experiences in selecting targets with significant unmet medical needs and in small molecule drug design and development. With their clinical development expertise in both US and China, the team has quickly developed several unique and novel drug candidates into clinical trials. The D-0502, a selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) for ER-positive breast cancer, is a front-runner of similar products being developed globally. Healthcare is a key area of Advantech’s investment focus and we are pleased to support InventisBio in developing innovative products in clinical trials with the goal to benefit global patients."

On March 12, 2019 Varian (NYSE: VAR) reported its second quarter fiscal year 2019 earnings release date and upcoming investor event (Press release, Varian Medical Systems, MAR 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234534244]).

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Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2019 Earnings

The Company will report results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2019 after market close on Wednesday, April 24, 2019. The news release will be followed by a teleconference available to all interested at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time. To access the teleconference call and replay:

Teleconference: Access from within the U.S. by dialing 1-877-869-3847, and from outside the U.S. by dialing 1-201-689-8261.

Replay: Access from within the U.S. by dialing 1-877-660-6853 and from outside the U.S. by dialing 1-201-612-7415, and enter conference ID 13688640. The teleconference replay will be available until 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Friday, April 26, 2019.

Webcast: To access the live webcast and replay, visit the company website at: www.varian.com/investors and click on the link for Second Quarter Earnings Results.

Upcoming Investor Event

Chris Toth, president of Oncology Systems and J. Michael Bruff, senior vice president of investor relations and finance will participate in Jefferies’s Radiation Oncology & Energy-Based Therapeutics Summit in New York City scheduled for 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, March 27, 2019.

Information about the company’s presentation will be available through a link on the company website at www.varian.com/investors.