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AbbVie to Present at the Jefferies 2018 Global Healthcare Conference

On May 22, 2018 AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV), a research-based global biopharmaceutical company, reported it will participate in the Jefferies 2018 Global Healthcare Conference on Wednesday, June 6, 2018 (Press release, AbbVie, MAY 22, 2018, View Source [SID1234526846]). Bill Chase, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will present at 7:30 a.m. Central time.

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A live audio webcast of the presentation will be accessible through AbbVie’s Investor Relations website at investors.abbvie.com. An archived edition of the session will be available later that day.

DelMar Appoints Saiid Zarrabian to Full-Time President and CEO

On May 22, 2018 DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the "Company")(NASDAQ: DMPI) reported that the board of directors (the "Board") has appointed Saiid Zarrabian as the full-time President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, effective immediately (Press release, DelMar Pharmaceuticals, MAY 22, 2018, View Source [SID1234526845]). Mr. Zarrabian had previously served as the Company’s interim President and Chief Executive Officer since November 2017 and prior to that as an independent board member since July 2017.

"Saiid has made significant contributions to DelMar, initially as an independent board member and, most recently, as DelMar’s interim President and CEO. We are pleased that he has agreed to further commit to the Company by taking on the full-time President and CEO role, effective immediately. His contributions have included a renewed focus on our two Phase 2 open label trials for MGMT-unmethylated glioblastoma multiforme, and enhanced fiscal responsibility while advancing our clinical programs in a timely and cost-effective fashion. The Board and I look forward to working with him to build on this momentum," stated Dr. Erich Mohr, Chairman of the Board.

"I am excited to transition from my interim role at DelMar and to continue the clinical advancement of VAL-083, which has been validated in over 40 prior clinical trials indicating VAL-083’s potential to combat multiple devastating diseases for patients with limited alternatives. Although VAL-083 may have applicability to many other solid tumor indications with potentially significant future commercial opportunities, we intend to use a disciplined and stepped approach to investing our resources in pursuing such opportunities. Over the next year, we expect to achieve a number of clinical milestones for VAL-083, including data from the ongoing Phase 2 second-line recurrent GBM study at MD Anderson, as well as data from the international Phase 2 study in newly diagnosed GBM patients. We plan to use our current capital efficiently and to continue to drive the enrollment of our clinical studies in an effort to maximize value for our shareholders," said Mr. Zarrabian.

Mr. Zarrabian is a successful veteran of the biotechnology industry. He previously served as chairman of the board of directors at La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company during the company’s transition from being an OTC listed company to a Nasdaq traded company. He also served as president of the Protein Production Division of Intrexon Corporation, a synthetic biology company. Prior to that, he served as chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Cyntellect, Inc., a stem cell processing and visualization instrumentation company until it was acquired in 2012. He served as president and chief operating officer of Senomyx, Inc., a company focused on discovery and commercialization of new flavor ingredients, and as chief operating officer of Pharmacopeia, Inc., a former publicly-traded provider of combinatorial chemistry discovery services and compounds, where he also served as president and chief operating officer of its MSI Division. In addition, Mr. Zarrabian has served on numerous private and public company boards, including at Immune Therapeutics, Inc., Exemplar Pharma, LLC, Ambit Biosciences Corporation, eMolecules, Inc. and Penwest Pharmaceuticals Co. Currently, he is serving as an advisor to Redline Capital Partners, S.A., a Luxemburg-based investment firm.

CoBioRes receives a € 1.7M grant from VLAIO to support its tetrapeptide prodrug research for treatment of Triple Negative Breast Cancer

On May 22, 2018 CoBioRes NV, an early stage biotech company that valorises promising academic research in the field of medicine by translating it into innovative therapeutic approaches, reported that it has received a € 1.7 million R&D grant from Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) (Press release, Collaborative Biotech Research, MAY 22, 2018, View Source [SID1234526842]). This grant will allow CoBioRes to further develop and to select a lead Tetra-doxo candidate (doxorubicin prodrug) for treatment of Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) based on in vivo efficacy and toxicity testing. Furthermore, potential new biomarkers will be investigated.

Approximately 12% of all breast cancers are triple negative. In TNBC the growth of the cancer is not supported by the hormones estrogen and progesterone, nor characterised by the presence of many HER2 receptors. Therefore, TNBC does not respond to hormonal therapy or therapies that target HER2 receptors, such as trastuzumab (Herceptin). There’s a clear need for new effective treatments in this large patient population.

"We are very pleased to receive this support from VLAIO. This will enable the company to obtain in vivo proof-of-concept of its Tetra-doxo prodrugs and to identify new biomarkers for patient selection. This will pave the way for initiation of further preclinical and clinical development," said dr. Nele Kindt, CEO at CoBioRes.

About Tetra-prodrugs technology
Use of traditional chemotherapeutic drugs is restricted by severe side effects and lack of tumour specificity. CoBioRes has designed a tumour-specific activation system by chemically linking a cap and a specific oligopeptide to a chemotherapeutic drug, rendering the modified drug inactive and blocking systemic toxic side effects of the drug. The chemotherapeutic prodrugs are activated by selective proteases available in the tumour microenvironment. This leads to a precise control of drug activation and release, circumventing distribution of native active drugs in other tissues. This finally leads to a combination of selective efficacy and reduced systemic toxicity, resulting in an improved therapeutic index.

Immunocore to Present New Data from IMCgp100-102 Trial in Metastatic Uveal Melanoma at 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting

On May 22, 2018 Immunocore Limited, a leading T cell receptor (TCR) company focused on delivering first-in-class biological therapies that have the potential to transform lives, reported that new data from its phase I/II dose escalation trial of its wholly-owned, lead programme, IMCgp100, in metastatic uveal melanoma (mUM) will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting in Chicago on 4 June 2018 (Press release, Immunocore, MAY 22, 2018, View Source [SID1234526841]).

Redirected T cell lysis in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma with gp100-directed TCR IMCgp100: Overall survival findings (abstract 9521, poster #348) will be presented by Takami Sato, MD, PhD, Department of Medical Oncology, Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, in the melanoma/skin cancers poster session on Monday 4 June, 13:15-16:45 CDT. The poster presentation will include updated data and additional findings from the IMCgp100-102 clinical trial.

"Patients with metastatic uveal melanoma have an extremely rare form of eye cancer and there are currently few treatment options that can address their needs," said Dr. Chris Coughlin, Chief Medical Officer at Immunocore. "We are actively recruiting for our pivotal trials in metastatic uveal melanoma, and are looking forward to sharing updated overall survival data from our IMCgp100-102 study at this year’s ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) meeting."

Medical Need part of Immedica Group gains right to oncology agent CIMAher®in the Nordics

On May 21, 2018 Immedica Group reported that it has entered into an exclusive supply and distribution agreement with German based Oncoscience GmbH regarding the distribution, marketing and sale of CIMAher (Nimotuzumab) in the Nordics (Press release, Immedica Pharma, MAY 21, 2018, View Source [SID1234555254]). Under the agreement, Medical Need AB gains the rights to distribute CIMAher in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and will initially do so on a named patient basis in the territories.

Tomas Gloveus, the Head of Marketing and Sales at Medical Need AB said, "CIMAher addresses a significant unmet medical need for many patients with severe cancers, who are currently left to treatment alternatives with severe side-effects and we look forward to making CIMAher available in the Nordic countries."

Dr. Dirk Reuter, the Managing Director of Oncoscience GmbH added, "The niche focus combined with their capabilities within oncology, makes Medical Need a very suitable partner for us in the Nordics, and we look forward to working together to improve the access of CIMAher in the Nordic region."

Nimotuzumab is a well-established monoclonal antibody within oncology that targets the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) on cancer cells and inhibits their signalling pathway which stops cancer cells from growing and proliferating. To date, Nimotuzumab has been administered to more than 65,000 patients globally and has undergone 82 clinical studies. Nimotuzumab is already approved in 25 countries around the world for a variety of cancers, such as head & neck cancer, oesophageal cancer, highly malignant brain tumours and pancreatic cancer.

Nimotuzumab has an EU orphan designation for the treatment of pancreatic cancer and glioma and has been used in EU under named patient basis, following special individual approvals from a national regulatory authority as it does not yet hold a EU marketing authorization.

About CIMAher (Nimotuzumab)
Nimotuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Nimotuzumab’s capacity to bind to EGFR is strongly dependant on cell receptor density and it’s bivalent binding mechanism. EGRF is overexpressed in many cancer cells as compared to normal tissue and nimotuzumabs bivalent binding mechanism results in more specific bonds and therefore, potentially increases anti-tumor activity with decreased toxicity in normal tissue (i.e. skin and healthy organ toxicity).

Nimotuzumab is currently available as a registered treatment in 25 countries around the world for a variety of cancers, including head & neck cancers in advanced stages, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, oesophageal cancer, high-malignant glial cancers (glioblastoma multiforme and anaplastic astrocytoma), and locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer (adenocarcinoma). Nimotuzumab has also been approved in a number of countries for high-grade gliomas in children and adolescents (newly diagnosed, recurrent and refractory).