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Advaxis Receives Orphan Drug Designation in the European Union for ADXS-HER2 for the Treatment of Osteosarcoma

On December 01, 2015 Advaxis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADXS), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cancer immunotherapies, reported that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) granted Orphan Drug Designation for ADXS-HER2 for the treatment of osteosarcoma (Press release, Advaxis, DEC 1, 2015, View Source [SID:1234508369]).

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"Receiving Orphan Drug Designation from the EMA is another significant step forward for Advaxis as we continue to advance ADXS-HER2," said Daniel J. O’Connor, CEO of Advaxis. "We recently initiated our first-in-human study of our lead Lm Technology immunotherapy product for HER2 expressing solid tumors and we hope to expand that trial into four HER2 expressing tumor types, including breast, gastric, esophageal and osteosarcoma."

Orphan Drug Designation in the EU is granted to drugs or biologics that treat a life-threatening or chronically debilitating rare disease affecting fewer than five in 10,000 individuals in the European Union. Products receiving orphan drug designation are eligible to receive market exclusivity for a period of up to ten years, as well as development incentives such as regulatory and protocol assistance and scientific advice.

About HER2 Expressing Solid Tumor Cancers
Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is overexpressed in a percentage of solid tumors such as breast, gastric, bladder, brain, pancreatic, ovarian and pediatric bone cancer (osteosarcoma). The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2015 in the United States alone there will be 231,840 new cases of invasive breast cancer; 24,590 new cases of gastric cancer; 74,000 new cases of bladder cancer; 22,850 new cases of brain/spinal cancer; 48,960 new cases of pancreatic cancer; 21,290 new cases of ovarian cancer; and 207 new cases of pediatric osteosarcoma. HER2 expression is associated with more aggressive disease, increased risk of relapse and decreased overall survival, and is an important target for immunotherapy.

About ADXS-HER2
ADXS-HER2 is an Lm Technology immunotherapy product candidate being developed by Advaxis to target HER2 expressing cancers. ADXS-HER2 has received orphan drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of osteosarcoma. Advaxis is developing ADXS-HER2 for both human and animal health, and has seen encouraging data in canine osteosarcoma, which is considered a model for human osteosarcoma. Advaxis has licensed ADXS-HER2 and three other immunotherapy constructs to Aratana Therapeutics, Inc. for the development of pet therapeutics.

Adaptimmune and Universal Cells announce Collaboration to Develop Allogeneic T-Cell Therapies

On December 1, 2015 Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc (Nasdaq: ADAP), a leader in the use of TCR engineered T-cell therapy to treat cancer, and Seattle-based Universal Cells Inc., a genome editing company developing universal donor stem cells, reported that they have entered into a collaboration and exclusive license agreement for the development of allogeneic T-cell therapies (Press release, Adaptimmune, DEC 1, 2015, View Source [SID:1234508368]).

With Universal Cells’ proprietary gene editing technology, Adaptimmune intends to develop affinity enhanced donor T-cells that are universally applicable. The enhanced T-cell technology involves selective engineering of cell surface proteins (TCRs and class I and class II HLA proteins), without the use of nucleases, to develop universal T-cell products. Adaptimmune and Universal Cells are planning to develop these off-the-shelf allogeneic affinity-enhanced T-cell therapeutics to treat large patient populations.

"This collaboration marks another step towards our goal of providing innovative immunotherapeutics to patients suffering from cancer," said Dr. Helen Tayton-Martin, Adaptimmune’s Chief Operating Officer.
"Our proprietary platform for TCR identification, affinity enhancement and safety testing is already best in class, and we set high standards for collaborations. We believe that Universal Cells’ platform for generating universal donor cells is also best in class and provides us with a great opportunity to test the feasibility of a longer term allogeneic product, thus allowing large numbers of patients to be treated from a single cell line."

"We are very excited about working with Adaptimmune. By partnering with the world leader in TCR engineered T-cell immunotherapies, we are poised to develop a scalable, safe, and efficacious product with the potential to revolutionize cancer immunotherapy," said Claudia Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer of Universal Cells. "This partnership will combine Universal Cells’ nuclease-free genome editing platform with Adaptimmune’s unique expertise in TCR engineering to develop a first-in-class therapeutic product based on our universal donor cells."

Under the terms of the agreement, Universal Cells will grant to Adaptimmune an exclusive, sublicensable, worldwide license to use, sell, supply, manufacture, import, and develop products and services utilizing Universal Cells’ technology within the T-cell immunotherapy field. Universal Cells will receive an upfront license and start-up fee of $5.5 million, and will be eligible for up to $41 million in milestone payments for certain development and product milestones. Universal Cells would also receive a profit-share payment for the first product, and royalties on sales of other products utilizing its technology.

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics Establishes Agreement with EORTC for ICT-107 Phase 3 Registrational Trial in Glioblastoma

On December 1, 2015 ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. ("ImmunoCellular") (NYSE MKT: IMUC) reported the establishment of an agreement with the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) for the phase 3 registrational trial of ICT-107 in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM) (Press release, ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, DEC 1, 2015, View Source [SID:1234508367]).

The EORTC contributed to the trial design and will assist ImmunoCellular Therapeutics in facilitating accrual of patients for this trial in Europe.

Prof. Michael Weller of the University Hospital Zurich, Chair of the EORTC Brain Tumor Group, and coordinator of this study commented "The EORTC is a leader in enabling multi-disciplinary approaches to investigate strategic therapeutic questions through clinical and translational research. We aim to improve the understanding of disease and help advance innovative therapies in cancer care for the benefit of patients. We are pleased to collaborate with ImmunoCellular to conduct the phase 3 registrational trial of ICT-107, a potentially promising cancer immunotherapeutic approach to treating brain cancer."

"Working with the EORTC is a key step in our strategy to establish a network of relationships within the clinical oncology community to support the conduct of the ICT-107 Phase 3 trial," said Andrew Gengos, ImmunoCellular’s Chief Executive Officer. "For several months, we have been working with prominent cancer cooperative groups in the US and Europe to refine and finalize the trial design, gain their endorsement and secure their help in executing a high quality trial. With EORTC’s support, we believe that we can access large numbers of affiliated trial sites which will facilitate patient accrual. We anticipate patient enrollment in the phase 3 trial to begin within the next few weeks."

Heptares Enters Strategic Drug Discovery Collaboration with Pfizer Inc. focused on GPCR Targets across Multiple Therapeutics Areas

On November 30, 2015 Heptares Therapeutics ("Heptares"), the clinical-stage GPCR structure-guided drug discovery and development company and wholly-owned subsidiary of Sosei Group Corporation ("Sosei"; TSE Mothers Index: 4565), reported that it has entered into a strategic drug discovery collaboration with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) to research and develop potential new medicines directed at up to 10 G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) targets across multiple therapeutic areas (Press release, Heptares, NOV 30, 2015, View Source [SID1234552774]).

Heptares will use its proprietary GPCR structure-guided platform to help deliver stabilised GPCRs (StaR proteins), high-resolution crystal structures and other technologies to support the discovery of potential novel agents directed to the GPCR targets selected by Pfizer. Pfizer will be responsible for developing and commercialising any potential therapeutic agents (small molecules or biologics derived from StaR antigens) for each target and will have exclusive global rights to any potential resulting agents.

Heptares will receive an initial payment on signing the agreement in return for delivering certain StaR proteins and structures for targets selected by Pfizer that it has already generated.

Heptares is eligible to receive potential research, development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments of up to USD189 million per target. In addition, Heptares is eligible to receive potential tiered royalties on the net sales of any products that are commercialised by Pfizer.

In addition, Sosei and Pfizer Seiyaku KK ("Pfizer KK") have entered into an equity agreement under which Pfizer KK will purchase USD33 million of newly issued Sosei common stock at a premium of 25% to the average closing price during the 20-day period prior to the closing date. The closing is expected to be in December 2015. The investment will represent approximately 3.02% of the enlarged Sosei share capital and is subject to review by Japanese financial authorities.

"This extensive partnership with Pfizer is an important step toward realizing full potential of Heptares’ technology. Alliances of this kind also play an important role in achieving Sosei’s ambition for becoming a leading global biopharmaceutical company of Japanese origin," commented Shinichi Tamura, CEO of Sosei Group.

Commenting on the agreement, Malcolm Weir, Chief Executive Officer of Heptares and Chief R&D Officer of Sosei Group, said: "This strategic collaboration with Pfizer, spanning as it does many targets and indications, is another significant achievement for Heptares and recognises the potential clinical benefit that may be realisable through the combination of our continuing leadership in GPCR structure-based design technology and Pfizer’s global therapeutic drug discovery and development capabilities. We are delighted to be embarking on this new collaboration and look forward to an exciting and productive relationship."

"Pfizer looks forward to this collaboration with Heptares to help us more quickly screen and identify lead GPCR programs across multiple therapeutic areas within our preclinical portfolio and, ultimately, help us increase the speed at which we bring potential new therapies to patients," said Rod MacKenzie, senior vice president, PharmaTherapeutics Research & Development at Pfizer.

Dynavax Announces Presentation of Clinical Data at ASH Annual Meeting

On November 30, 2015 Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: DVAX) reported that it will present clinical data at the 57th American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper) Annual Meeting this weekend in Orlando, Florida (Press release, Dynavax Technologies, NOV 30, 2015, View Source [SID:1234508366]). The details for the poster presentation are as follows:

Date and Time: Saturday, December 5, 2015, 5:30pm – 7:30pm EST
Abstract Title: Regulatory T Cells Are Depleted in Low-Grade Lymphoma By the Combination of Local Low-Dose Radiation Followed By Intratumoral CpG-ODN.
Session Number: 616
Session Name: Lymphoma: Therapy with Biologic Agents, excluding Pre-Clinical Models: Poster I
Abstract Number: 1539
Location: Hall A, Level 2 (Orange County Convention Center)

Please click here for the full abstract. The poster presentation with updated data will be made available on or after December 5, 2015.

About SD-101

SD-101, the subject of ASH (Free ASH Whitepaper) abstract 1539, is Dynavax’s proprietary, second-generation, TLR 9 agonist CpG-C class oligodeoxynucleotide. SD-101 activates multiple anti-tumor activities of innate immune cells and activates plasmacytoid dendritic cells to stimulate T cells specific for antigens released from dying tumor cells. TLR9 agonists such as SD-101 enhance T and B cell responses and provide potent Type 1 interferon induction and maturation of plasmacytoid dendritic cells to antigen-presenting cells. SD-101 is being evaluated in several Phase 1/2 oncology studies to assess its preliminary safety and activity.