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Innovent and UNION Therapeutics Enter into Strategic Collaboration and License Agreement for Orismilast, a Next-generation PDE4 Inhibitor for Inflammatory Dermatology Conditions

On September 27, 2021 Innovent Biologics, Inc. (Innovent) (HKEX: 01801), a world-class biopharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and commercializes high quality medicines for the treatment of cancer, metabolic, autoimmune and other major diseases, and UNION therapeutics A/S (UNION), a privately-held, multi-asset, clinical stage, pharmaceutical company focused on immunology and infectious diseases, reported that they have entered into a strategic collaboration and license agreement for the development and commercialization of orismilast in China (Press release, Innovent Biologics, SEP 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234590356]).

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Under the terms of the agreement, UNION grants Innovent an exclusive license to research, develop and commercialize orismilast in China, including participating in and recruiting Chinese patients for potential future global studies of orismilast. UNION will receive an upfront payment of USD 20 million and is further entitled to receive up to USD 247 million in milestone payments as well as tiered royalties on sales of orismilast in China. UNION will retain global rights for orismilast outside of China.

In China there are approximately fifty million patients suffering from atopic dermatitis and six million patients suffering from psoriasis, and their prevalence is rising with changing lifestyles. Current standard of care treatments are topical steroids, oral immunosuppressants and injectable biologics, all of which have certain limitations in efficacy, safety or route of administration, presenting significant unmet clinical needs. In Phase 2a clinical studies, orismilast has demonstrated potential best-in-class profiles in these conditions, with a combination of improved efficacy and tolerability, and could be well positioned to address the unmet needs of these patient populations.

Dr. Yongjun Liu, President of Innovent, said: "We are very pleased to enter a collaboration with UNION. We have been impressed with our partner’s capability to advance the global development of orismilast and we are excited to help bring orismilast to patients in China. This collaboration further strengthens our position in autoimmune by adding a mid-stage potential best-in-class therapy into our portfolio. Innovent is proud to be an ideal partner for worldwide biotech and pharmaceutical companies in terms of accelerating the development and commercialization progress of novel assets to benefit a broader patient population."

Kim Kjøller, Chief Executive Officer of UNION therapeutics, said, "We are excited to enter into this strategic collaboration with Innovent, whose deep insights and presence in China make them an ideal partner to bring orismilast to Chinese patients. We are impressed by Innovent’s track record of international partnering, advancing assets through clinical development and commercial execution. This agreement provides independent validation of our belief in the best-in-class potential of orismilast, and expands our global footprint in an underserved market with significant potential. Partnering with pharmaceutical companies is core to our strategy of maximizing the value of our product candidates, and we are therefore excited to enter this collaboration with an internationally recognized partner."

About orismilast

Orismilast is a potent and selective, next-generation PDE4 inhibitor with broad anti-inflammatory properties, which was originally developed by LEO Pharma and acquired by UNION in 2020. Orismilast has generated positive proof of concept data orally in psoriasis and topically in atopic dermatitis and is being developed as a potential best- or first-in-class treatment option in both diseases. The selectivity of orismilast for PDE4 subtypes B and D and the novel modified release delivery is expected to result in an attractive therapeutic window, i.e., the combination of improved efficacy and tolerability, compared to other PDE4 inhibitors. UNION has two product candidates with orismilast in Phase 2 clinical development: UNI50001, an oral PDE4 inhibitor investigated for the treatment of psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and hidradenitis suppurativa; and UNI50002, the topical formulation of orismilast investigated for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. The safety and tolerability of PDE4 inhibitors is well understood, with two oral treatments and one topical currently approved and marketed.

Monoclonal antibodies Boehringer Ingelheim and Invetx

On September 27, 2021 Boehringer Ingelheim, a global leader in animal health, and Invetx, a Boston-based pioneer in protein-based therapeutics for animal health, reported that they have entered into a collaboration agreement to develop novel, species-specific monoclonal antibody biotherapeutics targeting a wide range of diseases in the veterinary species, initially focused on dogs and cats (Press release, Boehringer Ingelheim, SEP 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234590353]).

For each selected disease target, Invetx will apply its unique platform to the discovery and optimization of best-in-class candidates and Boehringer Ingelheim will advance these therapies through clinical and regulatory development to bring them to market. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"This partnership is a prime example of Boehringer Ingelheim’s commitment to address unmet needs in the rapidly growing animal health market," shared Eric Haaksma, Head of Global Innovation, Animal Health at Boehringer Ingelheim. "We were drawn to working with Invetx because of the company’s cutting-edge discovery platform, optimization technologies and antibody expertise. Together, we will leverage innovation to discover breakthrough scientific advancements to improve animal health."

Today, monoclonal antibodies are currently used in the treatment of many human diseases. The therapy is a form of immunotherapy that uses monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to bind monospecifically to certain cells or proteins, mimicking the body’s own natural response to attack those cells. Leveraging the technology in animal health creates great potential to address unmet needs.

Invetx’s fully integrated platform encompassing discovery, product development and commercial manufacturing sets a new standard for veterinary biotherapeutics. By leveraging validated technologies in human biotech and optimizing them for veterinary application, Invetx can generate differentiated antibodies against a wide range of targets to treat a variety of chronic and serious diseases in animals.

"We are thrilled to partner with global animal health leader Boehringer Ingelheim, using our unique discovery platform to deliver fully species-specific, optimized and half-life extended biotherapeutics," said Juergen Horn, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Invetx. "These programs will complement our own proprietary portfolio and strengthen our position as a leader in creating novel, transformative and best-in-class therapies for veterinary patients."

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Sprint Bioscience initiates marketing of an additional cancer drug program

On September 27, 2021 Sprint Bioscience reported that it is starting to market the DISA program to potential partners and, following a series of research advances, reveals the cancer drug program’s target protein, TREX1 (Press release, Sprint Bioscience, SEP 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234590352]). The goal of the program, currently in the preclinical phase, is to develop drugs that inhibit the protein TREX1 in order to enhance the effect of immuno-oncological therapy, radiation therapy and chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer. The company will initiate discussions with potential partners in connection with the BioEurope conference in October.

"Inhibiting TREX1 is a unique approach with great potential to enhance the effect of several current therapies. Many modern cancer drugs depend on the immune system being able to identify the cancer cells, and with our TREX1 inhibitors, we have identified a way to stop the cancer cells’ ability to hide from the immune system. We have now reached a strong competitive position in the program’s development and look forward to discussions with potential partners."
Martin Andersson, head of research at Sprint Bioscience

Cancer cells often have elevated levels of DNA fragments that have incorrectly ended up outside the cell nucleus. Since DNA fragments that are outside the cell nucleus can activate the immune system, cancer cells depend upon these DNA fragments being rapidly removed – if they are not, the body’s immune system will attack the cancer cells.

The target protein in the Sprint Bioscience DISA project, TREX1 (three-prime repair exonuclease 1), is a protein that breaks down DNA fragments outside the cell nucleus and thus helps cancer cells escape the immune system. Scientific studies have previously shown that there is a link between elevated levels of the TREX1 protein and inferior survival for patients with certain types of cancer, including breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and pancreatic cancer.

The body’s immune response towards cancer cells can be strengthened by inhibiting TREX1, which opens up the potential to enhance the effect of other therapies such as immuno-oncology therapy, radiation therapy, and cytotoxic drug treatment. Sprint Bioscience has secured a major competitive advantage by determining the three-dimensional structure of the human TREX1 protein, not previously reported in the scientific literature. This enables the company to make full use of the power of the fragment-based technology for drug development (FBDD) that is the company’s hallmark, and at the same time further increases the opportunities to build shareholder value in this program.

"Inhibiting TREX1 is a unique approach with great potential to enhance the effect of several current therapies. Many modern cancer drugs depend on the immune system being able to identify the cancer cells, and with our TREX1 inhibitors, we have identified a way to stop the cancer cells’ ability to hide from the immune system. We have now reached a strong competitive position in the program’s development and look forward to discussions with potential partners." says Martin Andersson, Chief Scientific Officer at Sprint Bioscience.sions with potential partners." says Martin Andersson, head of research at Sprint Bioscience.

Oblique Therapeutics announces achievement of key milestone in its aKRAS-mAb program and Abiprot® platform

On September 27, 2021 Oblique Therapeutics reported that it has reached a key milestone in its aKRAS antibody program and achieved validation of its Abiprot platform (Press release, Oblique Therapeutics, SEP 27, 2021, https://obliquet.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Oblique-Therapeutics-announces-achievement-of-key-milestone-in-its-aKRAS-mAb-program-and-Abiprot-platform-002.pdf [SID1234590351])

Oblique Therapeutics has developed a unique, proprietary methodology Abiprot to identify epitopes on targets that have previously proven difficult to address with antibodies. Using this platform, a few epitopes were identified in KRAS, one of which encompassed the frequently mutated amino acids 12 and 13. Interestingly, this epitope is not well exposed in any of the published crystal structure of the protein. Using this epitope, Oblique Therapeutics has developed a number of potent monoclonal antibodies (mAb) that bind G13D, G12D, G12V mutant proteins selectively. Anti-G13D mAbs inhibit proliferation and cause apoptosis in a G13D mutant human colorectal cancer (CRC) cell line. Oblique is now happy to announce that it has seen good efficacy and a high degree of tumor growth inhibition of two of these aG13D mAbs in a mouse xenograft model of G13D human CRC.

This in vivo proof-of-concept is significant from two perspectives. Firstly, this validates the Abiprot platform as an important tool in identifying epitopes and generating functional antibodies against difficult targets of therapeutic interest. Secondly, this provides a high degree of confidence in progressing aG13D mAb (and mAbs against other mutants) into development for treating KRAS G13D mutant CRC and other malignancies.

Prof Owe Orwar, Founder and CEO, Oblique Therapeutics, commented, "We are truly excited by the outstanding promise we see in these results. The team led by Dr. Sreesha Srinivasa and in collaboration with Karolinska Institutet has done an exceptional job in the early phases of developing KRAS-mutant specific antibodies against three major mutations of KRAS, one of which is the driver mutation for pancreatic cancer. The in vivo proof of concept for aG13D mAb means that we will put high priority to advance this program through preclinical development aiming at clinical entry and dosing of the first patient as fast as we ever can"

About KRAS
KRAS which is mutated in approximately 20% of human cancers is the most frequently mutated oncogene. Many of the approved targeted therapies such as EGFR, HER2, RAF inhibitors do not work for KRAS mutated patients in CRC, Lung, Melanoma and other cancers. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop effective therapies for the patients harboring KRAS mutations. Mutations at residues 12 and 13 account for a vast majority of KRAS mutations. Among these, G12D, G12C, G12V and G13D are the more common amino acid substitutions. Lumakras (Amgen) has been recently approved for G12C mutated Lung cancer and another G12C inhibitor from Mirati Therapeutics is in late stages of clinical development. However, there are no drugs approved or in clinical development targeting G12D, G12V and G13D mutations.

About Abiprot
Abiprot, is a proprietary methodology to identify epitopes on protein targets that have previously proven difficult to address with antibodies. Abiprot can identify high-affinity antibody binding sites in a given protein with single amino acid resolution while the protein resides in its native environment. It is based on using a tailored molecular reporter system and proteomics. The platform yields detailed sequence and structure information for epitope identification and development. Oblique Therapeutics is applying this technology for discovery of a new generation of selective antibody therapeutics targeting cancer and pain

Omega Therapeutics to Present at the Chardan Virtual 5th Annual Genetic Medicines Conference

On September 27, 2021 Omega Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: OMGA) ("Omega"), a development-stage biotechnology company pioneering the first systematic approach to use mRNA therapeutics as programmable epigenetic medicines by leveraging its OMEGA Epigenomic Programing platform, reported that Mahesh Karande, President and Chief Executive Officer, will participate in a fireside chat at the Chardan Virtual 5th Annual Genetic Medicines Conference on Monday, October 4, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. ET (Press release, Omega Therapeutics, SEP 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234590345]).

A live webcast of the fireside chat will be available on the Investors & Media section of the Company’s website at www.omegatherapeutics.com. An archived replay of the fireside chat will be available on the same website for approximately 90 days.