On February 18, 2022 Cellectis (Euronext Growth: ALCLS – Nasdaq: CLLS), a clinical-stage biotechnology company using its pioneering gene-editing platform to develop life-saving cell and gene therapies, and Calyxt, Inc. ("Calyxt"), a majority-owned (61.8% as of December 31, 2021) subsidiary of Cellectis S.A., reported the placement to an institutional investor in an underwritten offering of (i) 3,880,000 shares of Calyxt common stock, (ii) pre-funded warrants to purchase up to 3,880,000 shares of its common stock, and (iii) common warrants to purchase up to 7,760,000 shares of its common stock (the "Offering") (Press release, Cellectis, FEB 18, 2022, View Source [SID1234608315]).

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The shares of common stock and the pre-funded warrants were each sold in combination with corresponding common warrants, with one common warrant to purchase one share of common stock for each share of common stock or each pre-funded warrant sold. The pre-funded warrants will have an exercise price of $0.0001 per share of Calyxt common stock and the common warrants will have an exercise price of $1.41 per share of Calyxt common stock. The pre-funded warrants will be immediately exercisable and remain exercisable until exercised, while the common warrants will be exercisable six months after the date of issuance and will have a term of five years from the date of exercisability. The aggregate public offering price for each share of common stock or each pre-funded warrant and, in each case, an accompanying common warrant was $1.41. All securities sold in the Offering were sold by Calyxt.

In connection with the Offering, Calyxt disclosed certain preliminary estimated financial information as of December 31, 2021: Calyxt’s cash and cash equivalents was $13.7 million, restricted cash was $0.6 million, total current liabilities were $4.1 million, and financing lease obligations, including current portion, were $17.9 million.

This preliminary financial information, which has not been audited, is based on information currently available to Calyxt and is subject to the completion of Calyxt’s year-end financial closing procedures. It is possible that Calyxt’s independent registered public accounting firm may identify items that require Calyxt to make adjustments to the preliminary estimates set forth above and those changes could be material.

In connection with the Offering, Calyxt also provided an updated description of certain aspects of its business (the "Updated Calyxt Business Disclosure") and updated the risk factor disclosure (the "Updated Calyxt Risk Factor Disclosure") from Calyxt’s prior filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

On February 18, 2022 Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATRA), a leader in T-cell immunotherapy, developing transformative therapies for patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases, reported Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s (MSK) notification to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of a fatal serious adverse event (SAE) associated with a patient treated in the ongoing Phase 1, MSK-conducted dose-escalation clinical study of autologous mesothelin CAR T, ATA2271 (Press release, Atara Biotherapeutics, FEB 18, 2022, View Source [SID1234608314]). MSK has voluntarily paused enrollment of new patients in the study on a temporary basis while additional information regarding the case is gathered and reviewed. The FDA has notified MSK of its agreement with this approach.

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ATA2271 is a next-generation, autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy targeting mesothelin currently under clinical investigation in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. The single case involved a patient with a history of multiple malignancies and other comorbidities undergoing treatment for advanced recurrent mesothelioma. MSK is in the process of further evaluating the occurrence, including the extent of the relationship of the event to ATA2271.

"The safety of every patient participating in studies we are funding or conducting is of the utmost priority for Atara," said Jakob Dupont, MD, Head of Global Research & Development at Atara. "Clinical evaluation of the case remains ongoing, and we are working closely with investigators at MSK, who are conducting the ATA2271 study under their IND, to establish the underlying causes of the event. We anticipate providing a further update in the coming weeks following further discussion and consultation with MSK."

The median survival of treated patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma is 9-17 months even with successful completion of a combination of chemotherapy, aggressive surgical resection, and radiation therapy. The first six patients enrolled in the two lowest dose cohorts received either 1×106 cells/kg (patients 1-3) or 3×106 cells/kg (patient 4-6) intrapleural ATA2271. Within these two cohorts, no dose limiting toxicities have been reported to date. The patient event being reported relates to the first patient in a third, higher-dose cohort (6×106 cells/kg).

The temporary pause in ATA2271 study enrollment does not impact the IND-enabling work currently underway to advance ATA3271, a separate, off-the-shelf, allogeneic CAR-T therapy targeting mesothelin using next-generation PD1DNR and 1XX CAR technologies for patients with advanced mesothelioma. ATA3271, ATA3219, tab-cel, and ATA188 all utilize Atara’s allogeneic EBV T-cell platform, the safety and tolerability of which has been validated by clinical studies and experience in approximately 400 patients in various disease areas with no observed cytokine release syndrome (CRS) to date.

MSK Disclosure: MSK has intellectual property rights and associated interests by virtue of licensing agreements between MSK and Atara.

On February 18, 2022 The board of directors of Abbott (NYSE: ABT) reported a quarterly common dividend of 47 cents per share (Press release, Abbott, FEB 18, 2022, View Source [SID1234608313]).

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Abbott has increased its dividend payout for 50 consecutive years.
This marks the 393rd consecutive quarterly dividend to be paid by Abbott since 1924. The cash dividend is payable May 16, 2022, to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 15, 2022.

Abbott has increased its dividend payout for 50 consecutive years and is a member of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index, which tracks companies that have increased dividends annually for at least 25 consecutive years.

On February 18, 2022 Recipharm, a leading global contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO), reported the acquisition of Arranta Bio, a prominent advanced therapy CDMO (Press release, Recipharm, FEB 18, 2022, View Source [SID1234608312]). Under the stewardship of Mark Bamforth and backed by Ampersand Capital Partners, the company has established a strong service portfolio as a leader in delivering microbiome therapeutic products and mRNA clinical production capabilities.

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The acquisition forms a cornerstone of Recipharm’s strategy to provide innovative drug developers in the Biologics market with scientifically differentiated contract development and manufacturing services for ATMPs and builds on the capabilities acquired through the recently announced GenIbet transaction and the acquisition of Vibalogics, also announced today.

Arranta Bio has established a strong microbiome platform with fermentation and purification expertise for naturally-derived and engineered bacteria consortia, complemented by services in analytics, proprietary media and cryopreservative formulations. These services maximize yields and enhance viability for live biotherapeutic products that clients are testing in the clinic against a range of infectious, inflammatory, neurological and oncological diseases.

In addition, Arranta Bio is progressing the supply of end-to-end mRNA capabilities across drug substance and drug product under one roof, providing its customers with substantial time savings in product manufacturing and a hedge against supply chain challenges.

The acquisition of Arranta establishes a robust US presence for Recipharm. It provides the company with a further platform from which to build its capabilities in new biologics modalities, leveraging Arranta’s expertise in advanced therapies to bring a high degree of diversification across multiple technologies and modalities.

Marc Funk, Chief Executive Officer at Recipharm, said: "We welcome Arranta and its team of experts who boast a strong reputation in the CDMO industry. Arranta is a leading player in its field that we are proud of bringing under the Recipharm umbrella and continue to build in line with our vision of supporting biotechs by providing process development, manufacturing expertise and bold solutions to take their programs from lab to patient.

This acquisition is another important step for us in growing our biologics business and developing a strong presence into the US. We look forward to working closely with the Arranta team, building links across the wider Recipharm organisation to make this business a huge success."

Mark Bamforth, CEO at Arranta, added: "I am convinced that Recipharm will be a great home for Arranta and our talented team and that together we can fulfil our joint vision of building the leading ATMP CDMO. We share Recipharm’s vision of focusing on ATMP customers with novel manufacturing solutions and we see a clear opportunity to accelerate to global scale in this new context."

The acquisition is expected to be completed around the end of March 2022, subject to customary regulatory filings.

Centerview Partners UK LLP acted as exclusive financial adviser, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as counsel to Recipharm on the transaction. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as exclusive financial adviser and Goodwin Procter LLP served as counsel to Arranta Bio.

On February 18, 2022 Minomic reported that it will be at the ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) GU Symposium, San Francisco, where Dr Neal Shore, principal investigator, is presenting a poster on our study "MiCheck Prostate Blood Test for Aggressive Prostate Cancer Designed for the Clinical Lab Setting" (Press release, Minomic, FEB 18, 2022, View Source [SID1234608310]).

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Our poster will be displayed on Thursday Feb 17 at 11.30am Megan Henken will be there live and Doug Campbell and Brad Walsh will be joining online.