The Laurel Amtower Cancer Institute and Neuro-Oncology Center at Sharp HealthCare to Join Innovative Antibody Brain Cancer Drug Trial

On March 8, 2022 Sharp HealthCare, in collaboration with Nascent Biotech, Inc, reported, its participation in a clinical trial for a novel investigational immunotherapy treatment for patients with glioblastoma (GBM), the deadliest form of brain cancer (Press release, Nascent Biotech, MAR 8, 2022, View Source [SID1234609737]).

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Pritumumab (PTB) is a unique monoclonal antibody that attacks cancers originating in the cells lining an organ – referred to as epithelial cells. These include cancers of the brain, breast, colon and pancreas, as well as melanoma. Prior Phase I and II clinical trials in Japan focused on the treatment of high-grade gliomas including GBM.

This Phase I clinical trial leverages Sharp HealthCare’s comprehensive cancer program in this collaboration when treating all forms of brain tumors. With more than 23,000 new cases of GBM diagnosed in the U.S. every year, Sharp HealthCare’s cancer expertise and reputation appealed to Nascent Biotech as they chose additional sites.

"The clinical trial is a good fit for Sharp HealthCare, which is devoted to compassionate patient-centered care, creative innovation, and clinical excellence," said Dr. Charles Redfern, medical director of neuro-oncology at Sharp HealthCare’s Laurel Amtower Cancer Institute and Neuro-Oncology Center, "This is an exciting clinical trial with targeted immunotherapy for patients with GBM."

Pritumumab works by targeting cell surface vimentin, a protein expressed on the surface of epithelial cancers. Because vimentin is found in a variety of cancers, the clinical trial at Sharp HealthCare could have implications for more common cancers, such as breast or lung. In fact, the trial will employ a unique Phase I design that can also be used in studies of brain metastases and leptomeningeal cancers arising from breast, lung and other solid tumors.

"There are significant unmet medical needs in a variety of cancers," said Sean Carrick, CEO of Nascent Biotech, makers of the immunotherapy treatment. "Nascent is committed to changing patient expectations and outcomes in one of the world’s most debilitating cancers and Sharp is a valuable partner towards achieving this goal. We’re highly encouraged by the potential of Pritumumab to deliver an innovative, first-in-class treatment option, and we are delighted to be working closely with the Laurel Amtower Cancer Institute and Neuro-Oncology Center at Sharp HealthCare for this study."

Cowen Health Care Conference Presentation, dated March 8, 2022

On March 8, 2022 Molecular Templates Presented the corporate Presentation (Presentation, Molecular Templates, MAR 8, 2022, View Source [SID1234609736]).

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Elephas to Show First Data on Breakthrough Oncology Diagnostics Platform at American Association for Cancer Research

On March 8, 2022 Elephas Biosciences Corporation (Elephas), a live tumor imaging company developing novel cancer diagnostic solutions, reported the acceptance of three abstracts by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) (Press release, Elephas Biosciences, MAR 8, 2022, View Source [SID1234609732]). The abstracts detail the technology and potential use cases for its proprietary imaging platform which aims to achieve the most accurate representation of tumor responses to treatment, with a focus on predicting response to immunotherapies.

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The abstract acceptance by the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) shows the company’s progress and ongoing innovation in cancer diagnostics. The company’s platform is being developed with the latest advances in cancer biology, multimodal microscopy, and artificial intelligence to provide clinicians and patients with accurate predictions of treatment response. The posters will be presented during the 2022 AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting taking place in New Orleans, Louisiana April 8 – 13, 2022.

"Witnessing firsthand the struggles that close friends and family have had in their battles with cancer drove me to start the company," stated Maneesh Arora, founder and CEO of Elephas. "The emergence of immunotherapies to help activate our own immune systems is fundamentally changing the landscape for cancer patients, but response rates to date have been limited. The Elephas mission is to change the view of cancer and get the right treatment regimens to patients more quickly."

The titles of the abstracts are currently available on the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) website, with full text, including the dates and times of presentations. The titles of the presentations and scheduled presentation times are as follows:

Abstract Title: A live tumor fragment (LTF) platform with real-time imaging for immune response assays.
Session Date and Time: Tuesday Apr 12, 2022 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Location: New Orleans Convention Center, Exhibit Halls D-H, Poster Section 31
Description: We show preliminary data demonstrating that our platform is capable of reading out response to immunotherapy (nivolumab and ipilimumab) in 3D live tumor fragments derived from primary human tumor samples.
Authors: Tomasz Zal, Leung Kau Tang, Laura Hrycyniak, Anura Shreshta, Dinesh Joshi, Pichet Adstamongkonkul, Kelsey Tweed, Wesley A. Cox-Muranami, Sean Caenepeel, Hinco Gierman, Kevin Elicieri, Kristina A. Matkowskyj, Sam J. Lubner, John Rafter, Mike Szulczewski, Maneesh Arora, Jonathan Oliner.

Abstract Title: Tumor/normal and live/dead classification in live tumor fragments using label-free multiphoton microscopy
Session Date and Time: Tuesday Apr 12, 2022 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Location: New Orleans Convention Center, Exhibit Halls D-H, Poster Section 11
Description: We show we can distinguish live vs. dead cells and tumor vs. normal cells using multiphoton microscopy without the addition of exogenous labels.
Authors: Jonathan Ouellette, John Rafter, Kelsey Tweed, Leung Kau Tang, Christina Scribano, Pichet Adstamongkonkul, Mikaela Schultz, Justine Coburn, Maged Aldeeb, Neil Anthony, Christin Johnson, Kevin Elicieri, Jonathan Oliner, Tomasz Zal.

Abstract Title: Dynamic imaging of T cell surveillance in live tumor fragments using camelid nanobodies
Session Date and Time: Sunday Apr 10, 2022 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Location: New Orleans Convention Center, Exhibit Halls D-H, Poster Section 39
Description: We show that small fluorescently labeled camelid "nanobodies" can diffuse into cultured 3D live tumor fragments and identify T cells and their movement patterns.
Authors: Leung Kau Tang, Kelsey Tweed, Christina Scribano, David Wahl, Christin Johnson, M. Anna Zal, Jonathan Oliner, Tomasz Zal.

Information about the 2022 AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) conference may be accessed here.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and AIkido Pharma Inc. Enter Into Master Collaboration Agreement

On March 8, 2022 AIkido Pharma Inc. (Nasdaq: AIKI) ("AIkido" or the "Company") reported that the Company has entered into a Master Collaboration Agreement (MCA) with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Press release, AIkido Pharma, MAR 8, 2022, View Source [SID1234609731]). The purpose of the MCA is to collaborate in the funding and commercialization of discoveries and technologies developed at Cedars-Sinai.

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Cedars-Sinai is a nonprofit academic healthcare organization serving the diverse Los Angeles community and beyond. Cedars-Sinai is known for its exceptional patient care, leading-edge medical research, comprehensive healthcare education, and wide-ranging community benefit activities.

Under the MCA, AIkido will be working with Cedars-Sinai’s Technology Ventures team, whose mission is to identify, protect and support the commercialization of discoveries and technologies developed at Cedars-Sinai or its partner institutions. Cedars-Sinai Technology Ventures has had 114 patents issued for fiscal year 2021 and has 511 active technologies under development, as of July 2021.

Anthony Hayes, CEO of AIkido Pharma stated, "Cedars-Sinai is a world class institution, and we are honored to be working with them. The team at Technology Ventures consists of experts in intellectual property portfolio management and licensing, legal affairs and finance who have a proven track record of monetizing exceptional technology. It’s a privilege to be involved and to be working together to advance innovative patient care and research."

Gracell Biotechnologies Announces Details of Poster Presentation at AACR Annual Meeting 2022

On March 8, 2022 Gracell Biotechnologies Inc. ("Gracell" or the "Company", NASDAQ: GRCL), a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing highly efficacious and affordable cell therapies for the treatment of cancer, reported the details of its poster presentation at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2022, being held from April 8-13 in New Orleans, Louisiana (Press release, Gracell Biotechnologies, MAR 8, 2022, View Source [SID1234609730]).

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Gracell will present early clinical results of a first-in-human investigator-initiated trial (IIT) on GC502, an allogeneic CD19/CD7 dual-directed CAR-T cell therapy currently under development for multiple B-cell malignancy indications including B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). GC502 is currently being studied in an open-label single-arm Phase 1 IIT in China for patients with B-ALL. This product candidate leverages the novel dual-directed CAR design of Gracell’s proprietary TruUCAR platform, which allows the CD19 CAR to target malignant cells, while the CD7 CAR is designed to suppress host-versus-graft rejection response.

Details of the presentation are as follows:

Presentation Title: Early results of a safety and efficacy study of allogeneic TruUCAR GC502 in patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (r/r B-ALL)
Session Title: Phase I Clinical Trials 2
Session Date and Time: Tuesday, April 12, from 9:00AM – 12:30PM CT
Location: New Orleans Convention Center, Exhibit Halls D-H, Poster Section 33
Poster Board Number: 21
Permanent Abstract Number: CT196
The full text of the abstract will be published to the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Online Itinerary Planner at 1:00PM ET on Friday, April 8. The e-poster will be viewable to registered attendees on the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)’s e-poster website from Friday, April 8, through Wednesday, July 13. Additional meeting information is available on the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) website.

About GC502

GC502 is a TruUCAR-enabled CD19/CD7 dual-directed, off-the-shelf allogeneic CAR-T product candidate that is being studied for the treatment of B-cell malignancies. GC502 is manufactured using T cells from non-human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matched healthy donors. An enhancer molecule is embedded in the basic construct of TruUCAR to enhance proliferation of TruUCAR T cells. Optimized for CD19/CD7 dual-CAR functionality and in vivo durability, GC502 has demonstrated robust anti-tumor efficacy with promising potential to suppress host versus graft (HvG) rejection in preclinical models.

About B-ALL

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a type of blood cancer characterized by proliferation of immature lymphocytes in the bone marrow, which can involve either T lymphocytes (T-ALL), or B lymphocytes (B-ALL). Globally, approximately 64,000 patients are diagnosed with ALL every year with approximately 6,000 diagnosed in the United States, and approximately 7,400 diagnosed in China in 2020[1]. B-ALL accounts for 85%-88% of ALL diagnosed.

About TruUCAR

TruUCAR is Gracell’s proprietary technology platform and is designed to generate high-quality allogeneic CAR-T cell therapies that can be administered "off-the-shelf" at lower cost and with greater convenience. With differentiated design enabled by gene editing, TruUCAR is designed to control host versus graft rejection (HvG) as well as graft versus host disease (GvHD) without the need for being co-administered with immunosuppressive drugs. The novel dual-directed CAR design allows tumor antigen-CAR moiety to target malignant cells, while the CD7 CAR moiety is designed to suppress HvG response.