1stOncology™: Cancer Intelligence Service – Page 8739 – 1stOncology is recognized as a Top 10 Global Pharma Analytic Provider

Prokarium Appoints Kristen Albright as Chief Executive Officer

On July 27, 2021 Prokarium, a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the oncology field of microbial immunotherapy, reported the appointment of Kristen Albright, PharmD, as Chief Executive Officer (Press release, Prokarium, JUL 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234585234]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Dr. Albright is an accomplished industry leader with broad experience in finance, business development and operations. She joined Prokarium in 2018, most recently serving as Chief Operating Officer, and has led Prokarium’s expanding development efforts in oncology while also securing an investment from The Wellcome Trust to fund the company’s lead vaccine program into clinical development. She follows Ted Fjällman, PhD, who will continue to support the company as a member of the Board of Directors.

"As Prokarium accelerates its drug development efforts within oncology, Kristen brings extensive financing and strategic leadership experience that will propel the company forward at this key moment," said Steve Chatfield, PhD, Chairman of Prokarium’s Board of Directors. "Kristen will be an invaluable asset to Prokarium, and I look forward to working closely with her to bring the next generation of immunotherapies to cancer patients."

"I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead Prokarium at such an exciting time as we advance into our next phase of growth," said Dr. Albright. "I look forward to working with our Board members and the leadership and scientific teams to progress our lead oncology candidate into the clinic and leverage the full potential of our pipeline’s unique therapeutic approach."

Prior to Prokarium, Dr. Albright was an investor at Osage University Partners, where she led several investments into life sciences companies. Earlier in her career, she worked within business development at Emergent BioSolutions and Cangene Corporation, where she specialized in asset licensing and mergers and acquisitions. She started her industry career as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Centocor. Dr. Albright holds an MBA from Saint Joseph’s University and earned her Doctor of Pharmacy from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.

Rigel Announces Conference Call and Webcast to Report Second Quarter 2021 Financial Results and Business Update

On July 27, 2021 Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:RIGL) reported that it will report its second quarter 2021 financial results after market close on Tuesday, August 3, 2021 (Press release, Rigel, JUL 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234585233]). Rigel senior management will follow the announcement with a live conference call and webcast at 4:30pm Eastern Time (1:30pm Pacific Time) to discuss the financial results and give an update on the business.

Participants can access the live conference call by dialing 877-407-3088 (domestic) or 201-389-0927 (international). The conference call and accompanying slides will also be webcast live and can be accessed from the Investor Relations section of the company’s website at www.rigel.com. The webcast will be archived and available for replay for 90 days after the call via the Rigel website.

Deciphera Pharmaceuticals to Announce Second Quarter 2021 Financial Results and Host Conference Call and Webcast on August 3, 2021

On July 27, 2021 Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: DCPH) reported that it will report its second quarter 2021 financial results on Tuesday, August 3, 2021 (Press release, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, JUL 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234585232]).

In connection with the earnings release, Deciphera’s management team will host a live conference call and webcast at 4:30 PM ET on Tuesday, August 3, 2021, to discuss the Company’s financial results and provide a corporate update.

The conference call may be accessed by dialing (866) 930-5479 (domestic) or (409) 216-0603 (international) and referring to conference ID 9943767. A webcast of the conference call will be available in the "Events and Presentations" page in the "Investors" section of the Company’s website at View Source The archived webcast will be available on the Company’s website approximately two hours after the conference call and will be available for 30 days following the call.

Regeneron and AstraZeneca to Research, Develop and Commercialize New Small Molecule Medicines for Obesity

On July 27, 2021 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) and AstraZeneca reported that the companies have entered into a collaboration to research, develop and commercialize small molecule compounds directed against the GPR75 target with the potential to treat obesity and related co-morbidities (Press release, Regeneron, JUL 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234585231]). The collaboration builds on the recent discovery from the Regeneron Genetics Center of rare genetic mutations in the GPR75 gene associated with protection against obesity and on early joint research initiated soon after discovery of the target so that potential treatments can be developed as quickly as possible. The companies will evenly split research and development costs and share equally in any future potential profits.

As published in Science, the new target was found by sequencing nearly 650,000 people and identifying individuals with rare protective mutations. Individuals with at least one inactive copy of the GPR75 gene had lower BMI and, on average, tended to weigh about 12 pounds less and faced a 54% lower risk of obesity than those without the mutation. Strong associations were also seen with improvements in diabetes parameters, including glucose lowering. Obesity and insulin resistance are key drivers in the development of type 2 diabetes and often lead to cardiorenal complications, as well as liver disease.

"The next era of medicine is being fueled by important genetics findings that direct drug developers on how to deploy our toolkit of biologics, small molecules and gene editing technologies in order to safely help patients in need," said George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron. "As experts on genetics and human biology, Regeneron is excited to join forces with the chemistry and small molecule leaders at AstraZeneca, as we seek to develop new medicines tackling the harmful and costly obesity epidemic."

"We are pleased to announce this important collaboration with Regeneron to identify small molecule modulators against GPR75, a newly identified target with genetic validation in metabolic disorders. Obesity and insulin resistance remain key drivers in the development of type 2 diabetes and areas of significant unmet medical need," said Mene Pangalos, Executive Vice President, BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca.

Obesity is associated with many serious health complications and drives organ dysfunction, including in the heart, liver, kidneys and pancreas. Worldwide the prevalence of obesity has more than tripled since 1975, and approximately 650 million adults are estimated to live with obesity today.

AMGEN TO ACQUIRE PRIVATELY HELD TENEOBIO FOR $900 MILLION IN CASH WITH FUTURE CONTINGENT
MILESTONE PAYMENTS

On July 27, 2021 Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) and Teneobio reported an agreement under which Amgen will acquire Teneobio, a privately held, clinical stage biotechnology company developing a new class of biologics called Human Heavy-Chain Antibodies (Press release, Amgen, JUL 27, 2021, View Source [SID1234585230]). Under the terms of the agreement, Amgen will acquire all outstanding shares of Teneobio at closing in exchange for a $900 million upfront cash payment, as well as future contingent milestone payments to Teneobio equity holders potentially worth up to an additional $1.6 billion in cash.

The acquisition includes Teneobio’s proprietary bispecific and multispecific antibody technologies, which will enable significant acceleration and efficiency in the discovery and development of new molecules that have the potential to treat a wide range of important diseases across Amgen’s core therapeutic areas. These platforms complement Amgen’s existing antibody capabilities with the addition of a heavy-chain only platform that allows a streamlined, sequence-based discovery approach for target binders, as well as Teneobio’s novel T-cell engager platform, which expands on Amgen’s existing leadership position in bispecific T-cell engagers by providing a differentiated, but complementary, approach to Amgen’s current BiTE platform.

"The acquisition of Teneobio will strengthen our ability to develop innovative medicines to treat patients with serious illnesses and to bring to market best-in-class products, particularly with respect to multispecific and bispecific medicines directed against targets in a wide range of diseases across our core therapeutic areas," said David M. Reese, M.D., executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen. "Teneobio’s antibody platform complements our existing capabilities and could potentially give us a more diverse set of building blocks that can be developed into new multispecific therapeutics. In addition, the availability of Teneobio’s CD3 engager technology will allow us to broaden our capabilities in generating bispecifics, and with our own technology, enable customization of the T cell engaging domain of the molecules depending on the disease and target."

AMGEN TO ACQUIRE PRIVATELY HELD TENEOBIO FOR $900 MILLION IN CASH WITH FUTURE CONTINGENT MILESTONE PAYMENTS

The acquisition will also add TNB-585, a Phase 1 bispecific T cell-engager for the treatment of metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), and several preclinical oncology pipeline assets with the potential for near-term IND filings. TNB-585 complements Amgen’s existing prostate cancer portfolio, which includes acapatamab (formerly AMG 160) and AMG 509, both in Phase 1. Each of these three investigational therapies uses a different approach to treat a highly prevalent disease for which new treatment options are very much needed.

"The Teneobio team is enthusiastic about joining forces with Amgen, a pioneer of biotherapeutics. Amgen’s R&D resources and its extensive clinical experience in immuno-oncology are ideally suited to applying and advancing Teneobio’s differentiated technologies and multispecific antibodies to deliver transformative medicines," said Roland Buelow, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Teneobio. "Over the last five years, Teneobio developed leading-edge expertise in efficiently engineering differentiated multispecific and bispecific therapeutics for numerous indications with potentially better safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetic profiles than the first generation of T-cell engagers. Together, we share a focused commitment to rapidly discover, develop and deliver novel and meaningful disease-modifying multispecific antibodies to patients in need."

In June 2021, AbbVie Inc. exercised its right to acquire TeneoOne, Inc. (a Teneobio affiliate), which includes TNB-383B, an anti-CD3/BCMA bispecific for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Further details of this transaction, including conditions to closing, can be found here. Prior to close of the Amgen acquisition, three Teneobio affiliates will be spun-off to Teneobio’s existing equity holders: TeneoTwo, Inc. (anti-CD19/CD3), TeneoFour, Inc. (anti-CD38 enzyme inhibitor) and TeneoTen, Inc. (anti-HBV/CD3).

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the second half of 2021. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor to Amgen and Latham & Watkins LLP as its legal advisor. Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP acted as legal advisor to TeneoBio.