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Quest Diagnostics Acquires Boca Raton-Based Nationwide Laboratory Services

On August 24, 2021 Quest Diagnostics, the nation’s leading provider of diagnostic information services, reported it has acquired select assets of Nationwide Laboratory Services (NLS), an independent clinical diagnostics laboratory headquartered in Boca Raton, FL with over 25 years of patient centric service throughout the country (Press release, Quest Diagnostics, AUG 24, 2021, View Source [SID1234586900]).

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With the acquisition, Quest will broaden access to diagnostic innovation and insights empowering better health for more communities in South Florida. Testing services provided by NLS will transition to Quest’s full-service laboratory in Miramar, FL. Quest will also acquire select patient service sites in South Florida.

"Access to quality, innovative and cost-effective laboratory services is more important now than ever, given the twin health threats of COVID-19 and delays in medical care caused by the pandemic," said Alan Myers, Vice President and General Manager, Southeast Region, Quest Diagnostics. "We look forward to delivering diagnostic insights for COVID-19 and a range of other medical conditions to help empower better care and outcomes, particularly for communities in South Florida."

"It was vital to pass our valued clients and patients to an organization with the same guiding principles and patient-centric focus," said Dean Morris, CEO and Corporate Counsel, Nationwide Laboratory Services. "It was a competitive bidding process, but Quest’s vision, reputation and leadership made the choice clear cut."

Based in Secaucus, NJ, Quest Diagnostics operates major laboratory facilities in Tampa as well as Miramar and over 50 patient sites across Florida. Its services include COVID-19 testing through several leading retail providers and its own QuestDirect consumer-initiated testing platform, which offers a $0 out-of-pocket cost test option.

In addition, Quest collaborates with community and healthcare organizations to help close gaps in care for underserved communities in Florida through its Tackle Your Testing program.

ERYTECH Hosting Key Opinion Leader Webinar on Eryaspase in Pancreatic Cancer

On August 1, 2021 ERYTECH Pharma (Nasdaq & Euronext: ERYP), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, leader in red blood-cell based cancer therapeutics, reported it will host a key opinion leader webinar on its lead product candidate eryaspase, L-asparaginase encapsulated in donor-derived red blood cells, on Wednesday, September 1, 2021 at 10:00am Eastern Time (Press release, ERYtech Pharma, AUG 24, 2021, View Source [SID1234586878]). The webinar will feature a presentation by KOLs and also the Principal Investigators of the TRYbeCA-1 and rESPECT studies, respectively; Dr. Manuel Hidalgo Medina, M.D., Ph.D., Weill Cornell Medicine/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and Dr. Marcus Noel, M.D., Georgetown University.

UPMC Launches Novasenta to Develop Targeted Immunotherapy Drugs for Cancer

On August 24, 2021 As part of its commitment to investing in translational science that significantly improves the lives of patients, UPMC reported that it has launched Novasenta, a drug discovery and development company seeking novel and effective treatments for cancer (Press release, UPMC Enterprises, AUG 24, 2021, View Source [SID1234586865]).

Based on years of cancer research by renowned University of Pittsburgh scientists and a machine-learning-enabled platform that drives the discovery of potential drug targets, Novasenta focuses on the tumor microenvironment – or the ecosystem that surrounds and constantly interacts with the tumor inside the body – to develop immunotherapies.

"Novasenta has the ability to analyze the tumor microenvironment of a wide variety of cancers due to our strong research and clinical relationships with Pitt and UPMC," said Mani Mohindru, Ph.D., Novasenta’s recently hired chief executive officer and a veteran biotechnology leader. "This allows us to capitalize on the critical relationship between disease, immune response and metabolism when assessing the tumor microenvironment for the discovery of novel druggable targets, which will help us develop treatments that benefit patients with cancer."

Co-founded in late 2018 by Robert Ferris, M.D., Ph.D., Dario Vignali, Ph.D., and Greg Delgoffe, Ph.D., all of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and Pitt, Novasenta is currently focused on T-cell targets and rapidly advancing programs with the goal of launching its first clinical trial by the end of 2023.

"We are building on decades of successful research from our founders in the fields of tumor biology, immunology, computational biology and drug discovery. Our expanding team brings a broad set of skills and expertise to our unique platform, allowing us to integrate a wide range of relevant disease data into our discovery and validation processes to develop more effective cancer therapies," added Mohindru.

UPMC invested in Novasenta through the health system’s innovation and venture capital arm, UPMC Enterprises. Novasenta is one of three local life science start-ups incubated by UPMC Enterprises in collaboration with Pitt over the last four years and is adding to a growing number of preclinical development programs this partnership is rapidly advancing. The company recently celebrated the opening of its new office and laboratory space at The Riviera in Pittsburgh’s South Oakland neighborhood, part of a growing hub of biomedical activity in the city.

"As both a caregiver and investor, UPMC is excited about the characteristics that make Novasenta so promising: Unmatched clinical and scientific expertise paired with computational innovation have the potential to identify transformative therapies in record time," said Jeanne Cunicelli, president of UPMC Enterprises. "The launch of this company will benefit not only our region but cancer patients everywhere."

Nouscom announces first patient dosed in a Phase 1b Trial with NOUS-PEV, a novel personalized cancer immunotherapy, in advanced melanoma or lung cancer

On August 24, 2021 Nouscom, a clinical stage immuno-oncology company developing off-the-shelf and personalized cancer neoantigen vaccines, reported that the first patient has been dosed in a Phase 1b clinical trial evaluating NOUS-PEV (Press release, NousCom, AUG 24, 2021, View Source [SID1234586864]). In this first-in-human trial NOUS-PEV, a personalized neoantigen cancer vaccine, is being administered in combination with the anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab to patients with either locally advanced 1L melanoma or 1L non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) expressing more than 50% PD-L1.

NOUS-PEV-01(NCT04990479) is a multicenter Phase 1b open-label study, assessing the safety, feasibility and preliminary efficacy as per RECIST 1.1 criteria of the NOUS-PEV vaccine, in combination with pembrolizumab. The study will evaluate vaccine-induced immune responses, as well as preliminary signs of anti-tumor activity in treated patients. The PEV vaccines will be prepared on an individual basis, following a tumor biopsy performed at the time of screening to identify patient-specific tumor mutations. The trial will enroll patients from Spain, Belgium and the UK.

The principal investigator (PI) of the trial is Stefan Symeonides M.D., a Medical Oncologist and Clinical Scientist in the Department of Oncology at The University of Edinburgh.

Stefan Symeonides, M.D. and PI of the trial, said: "There is still a significant unmet medical need for new therapeutics to overcome tumor resistance to anti-PD1 immunotherapies. Vaccination, and especially personalized vaccination, has huge potential and Nouscom’s innovative technology has unique features that are promising for a best-in-class platform. It is excellent news that the first patient has now been dosed with NOUS-PEV. We expect this trial to deliver important initial clinical data for the development of NOUS-PEV and I really look forward to seeing preliminary results in 2022.”

NOUS-PEV is a personalized cancer vaccine based on patient-specific neoantigens sourced from individual patient tumor mutanomes[1]. The identified neoantigens are encoded in Nouscom’s heterologous prime boost platform comprising a proprietary non-human adenoviral vector (GAd) and Modified Vaccinia Ankara vector (MVA). Each of the two viral vector systems encodes multiple personalized neoantigens selected by a proprietary algorithm (VENUS[2]), which prioritizes up to 60 mutations that represent the most immunogenic neoantigens. Including a large number of neoantigens in NOUS-PEV aims to ensure broad and deep immune responses, potentially overcoming issues of tumor heterogeneity and escape through immunoediting.

Patricia Delaite, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Nouscom, said: "NOUS-PEV leverages our heterologous prime boost platform to enable the fastest in class ‘needle-to-needle’ turn-around timelines, while subsequently inducing a broad and potent anti-tumor T cell response. Having now successfully designed, manufactured and dosed an individualized cancer vaccine, we look forward to progressing the Phase 1b clinical study and gathering important patient data in the coming months."

Dr. Marina Udier, Chief Executive Officer of Nouscom, added: "The initiation of this study represents a significant milestone for Nouscom, as it marks the second clinical program to emerge from our proprietary platform based on uniquely engineered viral vectors that are optimized for the efficient expression of tumor neoantigens. We look forward to presenting the preliminary data in 2022."

About NOUS-PEV

NOUS-PEV is a personalized cancer immunotherapy designed for each patient based on selection and prioritization of mutations unique to that patient’s tumor. The strategy is based on Nouscom’s heterologous prime boost platform already clinically validated by its lead off-the-shelf clinical development program NOUS-209. The platform is composed of a proprietary non-human adenoviral vector (GAd) and Modified Vaccinia Ankara vector (MVA). Each of the two viral vector systems encodes multiple personalized neoantigens selected with a proprietary algorithm (VENUS), which prioritizes up to 60 mutations that represent the most immunogenic neoantigens.

NOUS-PEV is being evaluated in a Phase 1b clinical trial in combination with the anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab in patients with either locally advanced 1L melanoma or 1L non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) expressing more than 50% PD-L1. The trial (NCT04990479) commenced in 2021 and is currently enrolling patients across multiple clinical sites in Europe.

Kintor Pharma to Report 2021 Interim Financial Results and Host Conference Call on August 30, 2021

On August 24, 2021 Kintor Pharmaceutical Limited ("Kintor Pharma", HKEX: 9939), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing innovative small molecule and biological therapeutics, reported the company will review the interim results and business highlights on Monday, August 30,2021 (Press release, Suzhou Kintor Pharmaceuticals, AUG 24, 2021, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kintor-pharma-to-report-2021-interim-financial-results-and-host-conference-call-on-august-30-2021-301361359.html [SID1234586863]). You can access the presentation through live webcast or dial-in.

Mandarin Webcast and Teleconference
09:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. (Beijing Time)

English Teleconference
09:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. (EDT)/ 09:00 p.m.- 10:00 p.m. (Beijing Time)

On the call, Kintor Pharma’s Founder, Chairman & CEO and CFO will provide an update on the company’s business and upcoming milestones. The conference call can be accessed by pre-registration. Once the registration has been approved, an email will be sent with dial-in number and password.

Registration Link: View Source

Please kindly finish registration at least 24 hours before the call.