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Elevation Oncology Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering

On June 25, 2021 Elevation Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: ELEV), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of precision medicines for patients with genomically defined cancers, reported the pricing of its initial public offering of 6,250,000 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $16.00 per share (Press release, Elevation Oncology, JUN 25, 2021, View Source;utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=elevation-oncology-announces-pricing-of-initial-public-offering [SID1234584353]). All of the shares are being offered by Elevation Oncology. The gross proceeds from the offering, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by Elevation Oncology, are expected to be $100 million. The shares are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on June 25, 2021 under the ticker symbol "ELEV." The offering is expected to close on June 29, 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. In addition, Elevation Oncology has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 937,500 shares of common stock at the initial public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions.

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J.P. Morgan Securities, Cowen, and SVB Leerink are acting as joint bookrunning managers for the offering. Wedbush PacGrow is acting as lead manager for the offering.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and was declared effective on June 24, 2021. The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus. A copy of the final prospectus, when available, may be obtained from J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, by telephone at (866) 803-9204, or by email at [email protected]; Cowen and Company, LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, by telephone at (833) 297-2926 or by email at [email protected]; or SVB Leerink LLC, Attention: Syndicate Department, One Federal Street, 37th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02110, by telephone at (800) 808-7525, ext. 6105, or by email at [email protected].

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

Curis, Inc. Set to Join Russell 2000®, 3000® and Microcap® Indexes

On June 25, 2021 Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS), a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, reported that it will be added to the Russell 2000, 3000 and Microcap indexes at the conclusion of the 2021 Russell indexes annual reconstitution, effective after the U.S. market opens on June 28, 2021, according to a preliminary list of additions posted June 4, 2021.

Annual Russell indexes reconstitution captures the 4,000 largest US stocks as of May 7, ranking them by total market capitalization. Membership in the Russell 2000, Russell 3000 and Russell Microcap indexes, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in appropriate growth and value style indexes. FTSE Russell determines membership for its Russell indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes.

"We are delighted to be added to the Russell 2000, Russell 3000 and Russell Microcap indexes," said James Dentzer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Curis. "Our inclusion in these indexes allows Curis to gain increased visibility in the broader investment community and we are grateful to everyone who has helped us on our way to achieving this exciting milestone."

Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for active investment strategies. Approximately $10.6 trillion in assets are benchmarked against Russell’s U.S. indexes. Russell indexes are part of FTSE Russell, a leading global index provider.

For more information on the Russell 2000, 3000 and Microcap indexes and the Russell indexes reconstitution, go to the "Russell Reconstitution" section on the FTSE Russell website.

Abbott Hosts Conference Call for Second-Quarter Earnings

On June 25, 2021 Abbott (NYSE: ABT) reported that it will announce its second-quarter 2021 financial results on Thursday, July 22, 2021, before the market opens (Press release, Abbott, JUN 25, 2021, View Source [SID1234584349]).

The announcement will be followed by a live webcast of the earnings conference call at 8 a.m. Central time (9 a.m. Eastern), and will be accessible through Abbott’s Investor Relations website at www.abbottinvestor.com. An archived edition of the call will be available later that day.

Prescient equips CAR-T cells with cancer-fighting binders in manufacturing milestone

On June 25, 2021 Prescient Therapeutics reported that it will now proceed to its next phase of research at the world-leading Peter Mac cancer research centre (Press release, Prescient Therapeutics, JUN 25, 2021, View Source;utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=prescient-equips-car-t-cells-with-cancer-fighting-binders-in-manufacturing-milestone [SID1234584324]).

Clinical stage oncology company Prescient Therapeutics (ASX:PTX) has announced another crucial step forward in the development of its CAR-T cancer treatment solutions.

The company confirmed that manufacturing is complete for a range of binders which target multiple cancers.

The work was carried out by a leading US manufacturer, and their construction successfully incorporated SpyTag – a central requirement for covalent binding to immune cells as part of Prescient’s proprietary OmniCAR system.

Concurrently, Prescient has also taken delivery of lentiviral vectors that will be used to produce CAR-T cells expressing SpyCatcher.

"Together, the SpyTagged binders and CAR-T cells expressing SpyCatcher form the basis for the unique, modular OmniCAR platform," Prescient said.

Next-gen OmniCAR solution
Prescient’s OmniCAR platform is being developed as a market-leading solution in the field of CAR-T (Chimeric antigen receptor T-cells) – the engineering of the immune system’s T-cells to target specific proteins.

Before the T-cells can attack cancerous cells, they need to be matched with a targeting ligand, also known as a binder.

The activated T-cell can then be controlled to target and kill tumours on-demand.

In that context, the successful development of the SpyTag binding mechanism is a "crucial milestone" in Prescient’s OmniCAR treatment pathway, said CEO Steven Yatomi-Clarke.

The binders work against a range of cancer targets, including acute leukemia, breast cancer and glioblastoma multiforme – an aggressive form of cancer that usually begins in the brain.

"Successfully producing binders will enable our research team to produce CAR-T cells for our three in-house programs," Yatomi-Clarke said.

"We are also pleased to have timely delivery of lentiviral vectors, which is rate-limiting in manufacturing CAR-Ts and have proven to be a bottleneck for many developers."

Along with those key manufacturing developments, the company’s research team at the world-renowned Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne has also advanced all the relevant preparatory work for the next phase of OmniCAR development.

"The delivery of the binders and vectors now enables the team to progress the development of our in-house next-generation cell therapies," Yatomi-Clarke said.

The OmniCAR program is being built by Prescient in its capacity as the global licence holder for the technology, which was developed by leading research teams at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Oxford.

Along with the program itself, to develop improved treatment solutions for different forms of cancer, Prescient is also building an OmniCAR platform that will allow it to license the technology for collaborations and partnerships.

In the wake of its exciting updates on the delivery of binders and lentiviral vectors, Prescient will be holding an online briefing for shareholders at 11am on Thursday, July 1.

This article was developed in collaboration with Prescient Therapeutics, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Prescient Therapeutics (ASX:PTX) manufactures new range of binders for CAR-T cancer therapy

On June 25, 2021 Prescient Therapeutics (PTX) reported that it has slipped on the ASX despite some key developments for its CAR-T cancer therapy programs (Press release, Prescient Therapeutics, JUN 25, 2021, View Source;utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=prescient-therapeutics-asxptx-manufactures-new-range-of-binders-for-car-t-cancer-therapy [SID1234584323]).

The oncology company said today it has manufactured and delivered "crucial components" of its OmniCAR platform for its in-house programs of the next generation of CAR-T therapies.

Specifically, Prescient has developed and manufactured a range of binders against several cancer cells, including CLL-1 and CD33, each expressed in types of leukemia cells; Her2, a gene that can play a role in the development of breast cancer; and EGFRviii, which is associated with brain tumours.

Prescient has incorporated SpyTag and SpyCatcher molecular binding system, which it is licenced to use from Oxford University, into each of the binders.

This next phase of CAR-T programs is focussed on making the therapy safer and broadening its application, particularly into solid tumours.

"Demonstrating that novel components can be manufactured is a crucial milestone in the development of an innovative next-generation CAR platform like OmniCAR," Prescient CEO and Managing Director Steven Yatomi-Clarke said.

"Successfully producing binders for CLL-1; CD33; Her2 and EGFRviii will enable our research team to produce CAR-T cells for our three in-house programs."

Prescient is taking on the CAR-T research program in partnership with the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne.

What does it all mean?
Essentially, Prescient’s CAR-T programs, based on the OmniCAR platform, are designed to be the next step in the world of cell therapy for cancer treatment.

Cell therapy works by modifying a cancer patient’s own cells to recognise and then kill cancer cells that would normally be hidden from the immune system. This type of treatment has been groundbreaking for certain types of cancers around the world.

However, an issue with cell therapy is that it can typically only direct cells to target and kill a single cancer antigen — meaning if the cancer mutates or expresses different types of antigens, cell therapy becomes less effective.

The OmniCAR platform is designed to mitigate this issue by administering cancer-killing CAR-T cells and "binders" to a patient separately.

The CAR-T cells, when administered, are inactive in the immune system until "armed" with a binder.

The cancer-killing agent has no effect on the body until a specific binder is administered — say, a CLL-1, CD33, Her2, or EGFRviii binder, as announced by PTX today. The binder then directs the CAR-T cells to target a specific cancer antigen.

With this method, cell therapy treatments can attack several types of cancers by simply switching out the arming binder.

As Prescient puts it, the CAR-T cell activity is now "controllable" and its target can be switched at will.

Despite the update on its CAR-T treatment development, shares in PTX slipped over 11 per cent in early action today.

The company has since recovered some of the lost ground, with shares down 4.44 per cent and trading at 22 cents each at 10:59 am AEST.