On July 27, 2022 PreciPoint Group GmbH reported that it has successfully closed its Series A financing round of EUR 10 million (Press release, PreciPoint Group, JUL 27, 2022, View Source [SID1234617031]). Existing investors around bm-t beteiligungsmanagement thüringen gmbh (bm|t) and a new family office are investing in the German MedTech startup. With this financing round, the expansion of the international commercialization of the first IVD medical product, the market entry in the USA and further technological development will be advanced.

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PreciPoint will launch the iO:M8 ROSE solution to customers in 2022, a globally unique solution for the digitization of intraoperative assessments during cancer surgeries. These examinations are traditionally bound to location and time using classic microscopes. PreciPoint’s solutions enable new ways of working, allowing cost savings and better patient care.

PreciPoint produces solutions for the digitization of microscopy and laboratory processes for applications in medicine, research, and education. PreciPoint products meet the highest standards while being easy and quick to use. The company focuses now on the development of technologies for Label-Free Diagnostics, where samples can be viewed without expensive and time-consuming pre-treatment, as well as the development of high-speed product solutions.

Prospects that also convince the investors: "Since our seed investment in 2019, the team around the two co-founders and managing directors Nicolas Weiss and Dominik Gerber has made enormous progress. Renowned distribution partners could be acquired, new products could be developed and successfully placed on the market. At the same time, the prerequisites were created to quickly scale the company. We firmly believe that PreciPoint, as a ISO13485 certified medical device company, will be able to successfully position its product portfolio on the European and American markets," said Stefan Jahn, Senior Investment Manager at bm|t.

On July 27, 2022 Arcus Biosciences (NYSE:RCUS), a clinical-stage, global biopharmaceutical company focused on developing differentiated molecules and combination therapies for people with cancer, reported that its management team will participate in a virtual fireside chat at the upcoming 13th Annual Wedbush PacGrow Healthcare Conference (Press release, Arcus Biosciences, JUL 27, 2022, View Source [SID1234617030]). The fireside chat will take place on Wednesday, August 10th, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. ET.

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A live webcast of the fireside chat will be available by visiting the "Investors & Media" section of the Arcus Biosciences website at www.arcusbio.com. A replay of the webcast will be available following the live event.

On July 27, 2022 MAIA Biotechnology, Inc., (NYSE American: MAIA) ("MAIA", the "Company"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted immunotherapies for cancer, reported the pricing of its initial public offering of 2,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at a public offering price of $5.00 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of $10,000,000 prior to deducting underwriting discounts, commissions, and other offering expenses (Press release, MAIA Biotechnology, JUL 27, 2022, View Source [SID1234617029]). In addition, the Company has granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 300,000 shares of common stock at the public offering price, less discounts and commissions, to cover over-allotments.

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The shares of common stock are expected to begin trading on the NYSE American under the ticker symbol "MAIA" on July 28, 2022. The offering is expected to close on August 1, 2022, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the initial public offering to fund the first part of the Phase 2 trials of the Company’s product candidate THIO, pre-clinical development of second-generation of telomere targeting compounds and other research and development activities, as well as for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

ThinkEquity is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering.

The registration statement on Form S-1 (file No. 333-264225) relating to the shares being sold in this offering has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and became effective on July 27, 2022. A final prospectus related to the proposed offering will be filed and made available on the SEC’s website at View Source The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus. Electronic copies of the final prospectus may be obtained, when available, from ThinkEquity, 17 State Street, 41st Floor, New York, New York 10004, by telephone at (877) 436-3673 and by email at [email protected].

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein, 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 July 27, 2022 Novocure reported the recipients of the 4th Annual AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-Novocure Grants for Tumor Treating Fields Research Program (Press release, NovoCure, JUL 27, 2022, View Source [SID1234617028]). The AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-Novocure Grants for Tumor Treating Fields Research Program represents a joint effort between Novocure and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) to promote and support innovative research on Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) . The AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer.

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Such collaborations help to deepen the understanding of TTFields’ mechanism of action and to identify its optimal use. Extensive preclinical and clinical evidence provides the foundation upon which Novocure executes its strategy to advance TTFields through additional clinical research studies across multiple solid tumor types.

Professor Wafik El-Deiry, M.D., Ph.D., FACP, Director of the Legorreta Cancer Center at Brown University and Associate Dean for Oncologic Sciences at the Warren Alpert Medical School, is one of the grant recipients. His hypothesis is based on a prediction that therapeutic agents that trigger cell stress pathways in different ways may cooperate to achieve a greater therapeutic effect in various cancers.

Over the past year, Dr. El-Deiry, an expert in cancer biology, has become interested in TTFields and their potential to affect the integrated stress response, a signaling network within cells that is related to their survival. His research group will combine TTFields with other therapies, including the oral drug ONC201, and study how the combinations affect the integrated stress response in various cancer types.

"I’m a practicing clinical oncologist. I see patients every week," said Dr. El-Deiry. "I’m well aware of the genes that contribute to tumor progression, drug resistance, and failure of the immune response, and clearly we need to do better. There’s a certain skillset that I think we have, to be able to design and propose rational combinations in different tumor types to achieve tumor regression with limited toxicity. I look forward to researching how TTFields, when used in combination with other therapies, affects many different solid tumor types."

Recipients of the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-Novocure Tumor Treating Fields Research Grants will receive a total of $250,000 over two years.

"Congratulations to the recipients of the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-Novocure Tumor Treating Fields Research Grants," said Uri Weinberg, Novocure’s Chief Science Officer. "We are honored to collaborate with the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) to support research to unlock new insights about TTFields that could lead to new treatment strategies for aggressive cancers. We wish the award recipients success as they pursue this important research."

2022 AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-Novocure Tumor Treating Fields Research Grants

Wafik El-Deiry, M.D., Ph.D., FACP; Brown University; Integrated Stress Response induction by TTFields + ONC201 in cancer treatment
Matthew R. Sarkisian, Ph.D.; University of Florida; Improving TTFields Efficacy by Altering Ciliogenesis
Stuart Smith, Ph.D.; University of Nottingham; Combining Tumor Treating Fields with Ion Channel Blockade
ABOUT TUMOR TREATING FIELDS

Tumor Treating Fields, or TTFields, are electric fields that disrupt cancer cell division. Fundamental scientific research extends across more than two decades and, in all preclinical research to date, TTFields have demonstrated a consistent anti-mitotic effect. TTFields therapy is intended principally for use together with other standard-of-care cancer treatments. There is a growing body of evidence that supports TTFields’ broad applicability with certain other cancer therapies, including radiation therapy, certain chemotherapies and certain immunotherapies. In clinical research and commercial experience to date, TTFields therapy has exhibited no systemic toxicity, with mild to moderate skin irritation being the most common side effect. The TTFields global development program includes a network of preclinical collaborators and a broad range of clinical trials across all phases, including four phase 3 pivotal trials in a variety of tumor types. To date, more than 24,000 patients have been treated with TTFields therapy.

On July 27, 2022 The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) is helping to forge a future without cancer, reported by investing in top talent to train and empower the research leaders of tomorrow (Press release, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, JUL 27, 2022, View Source [SID1234617027]). This year, PICI recognized its largest Early Career Researcher class yet, nine exceptional graduate and postdoctoral researchers from leading academic institutions. They will share a total of up to $4.5 million in fellowship and scholarship awards.

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Marking the Early Career Researcher program’s sixth anniversary, previous awardees recently presented their work to the PICI Network of world-renowned innovators in cancer immunotherapy research at the organization’s biannual scientific retreat.

As a part of this ongoing program, PICI is furthering its commitment to addressing disparities in the field of cancer research through diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging initiatives. Those include the creation of its Representation In SciencE (RISE) Scholar program, which awards a Black, Indigenous or Person of Color (BIPOC) graduate or rising postdoctoral student who has an outstanding scientific background and conducts research at a PICI Network institution.

"The 2022 awardees, like those who have come before them, are among the best and brightest minds anywhere," said John Connolly, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at PICI. "We are proud to support these researchers, who are dedicated to innovating our approach to cancer to improve patient outcomes."

This year, PICI also is proud to partner with the V Foundation for Cancer Research to fund four of the nine class of 2022 awardees. Known as Parker Bridge Fellows, the four recipients are senior postdoctoral investigators working to answer the most critical questions in cancer immunotherapy as they transition into faculty positions following mentorship by PICI’s network of leaders.

The 2022 Parker Bridge Fellows are:

Katie Campbell, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Kenneth Hu, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)
Derek Oldridge, M.D., Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania (Penn)
Bingfei Yu, Ph.D., Stanford Medicine
"Our mission is to support cutting-edge cancer research, so as many patients as possible can benefit from the extraordinary breakthroughs that researchers are making today," said Susanna Greer, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at the V Foundation. "PICI helps us further the V Foundation’s mission to fund accomplished young researchers bringing new techniques to combat cancer that warrant further exploration. We’re thrilled to support this work and to get to know these rising stars."

This year, an anonymous donor has committed substantial funding to create the Parker RISE Scholar award. The inaugural RISE Scholar is Gabriel Abril Rodriguez, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA.

"The scholarship is a validation of my project idea, which is a very ambitious, high-impact project," said Abril Rodriguez, who is developing new tools to study T-cell biology. "As part of the PICI Network, I will interact and share my ideas with some of the brightest minds in the field. Learning from them will help me push this project forward."

The other award categories are:

Parker Senior Fellow – a senior researcher who recently has earned an M.D. or Ph.D. degree and is ready to establish a laboratory or independent program in cancer immunotherapy. The 2022 Parker Senior Fellow is Ya-Ting (Emma) Wang, Ph.D., of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK).
Parker Scholars – graduate students and researchers focused on high-impact projects who are entering their first postdoctoral appointments. The 2022 Parker Scholars are Inaki Etxeberria, Ph.D., of MSK, Louai Labanieh, Ph.D., of Stanford and Darwin Ye, a doctoral candidate at Penn.
"My project involves learning how cells become resistant to immunotherapy so we can design more effective clinical trials, and this is something that requires an interdisciplinary approach," Ye said. "The PICI Network lets me explore that approach with leading cancer researchers in the field."

With this year’s class, PICI has recognized 37 Early Career Researchers since 2016, awarding over $19 million in total funding and welcoming them into the PICI Network. They are working to advance cancer research on cell and gene therapies, CAR T cells, immune checkpoint blockade therapy and other critical scientific projects.

Awardees pursue bold research through support from PICI’s world-class network of immunotherapy experts and research institutions, as well as individual mentorship by PICI members and researchers from affiliated institutions. They also are given access to leading-edge technology, informatics and clinical data needed for their research.

"This fellowship allows me to collaborate and communicate with experts from very different fields, including cancer biologists, computational biologists and clinical scientists," said Yu, a Stanford immunologist and postdoctoral scientist who is doing research on the targeting mechanisms that T cells and other immune cells use to kill cancer. "Being able to learn from these leaders while also operating my own lab is an incredible opportunity."