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Agenus to Participate in Resistance-Focused Oncology Panel at the William Blair Biotech Focus Conference 2021

On July 7, 2021 Agenus (NASDAQ: AGEN), an immuno-oncology company with an extensive pipeline of checkpoint antibodies, cell therapies, adjuvants, and vaccines designed to activate immune response to cancers and infections, reported that Steven O’Day, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Agenus, will participate in a panel discussion at the William Blair Biotech Focus Conference 2021 titled "Novel Mechanisms and Strategies for Addressing PD-(L)1 Refractory/Resistant Tumors (Press release, Agenus, JUL 7, 2021, View Source [SID1234584713])."

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The panel will take place on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, from 4:20 p.m. to 5:20 p.m. ET. The event will be webcast live and may be accessed on the Company’s website at View Source

Panbela to Present at Access to Giving Virtual Conference July 15 at 10:30 a.m. ET

On July 7, 2021 Panbela Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: PBLA), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing disruptive therapeutics for the treatment of patients with cancer, reported that the company will present at Access to Giving Virtual Conference (Press release, Panbela Therapeutics, JUL 7, 2021, View Source [SID1234584688]). The presentation will be given by Panbela’s President & Chief Executive Officer, Jennifer K. Simpson, PhD, MSN, CRNP.

Registration Details
Date: Thusday, July 15, 2021
Time: 10:30 a.m. ET

Link: https://access-to-giving.events.issuerdirect.com/signup

To learn more about the event or to schedule a one-on-one meeting with Panbela management, please visit View Source or email [email protected].

About Access to Giving Virtual Conference
Access to Giving is a first-of-its-kind virtual investor conference where companies from microcap all the way up to megacap will have the opportunity to present their story and conduct 1×1 meetings with qualified investors, for charity. Investors will make donations to purchase a block of meetings to meet with companies.

About SBP-101
SBP-101 is a proprietary polyamine analogue designed to induce polyamine metabolic inhibition (PMI) by exploiting an observed high affinity of the compound for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and other tumors. The molecule has shown signals of tumor growth inhibition in clinical studies of US and Australian metastatic pancreatic cancer patients, suggesting potential complementary activity with an existing FDA-approved standard chemotherapy regimen. In data evaluated from clinical studies to date, SBP-101 has not shown exacerbation of bone marrow suppression and peripheral neuropathy, which can be chemotherapy-related adverse events. Recently observed serious visual adverse events are being evaluated and patients with a history of retinopathy or at risk of retinal detachment will be excluded from future SBP-101 studies. The safety data and PMI profile observed in the current Panbela sponsored clinical trial provides support for continued evaluation of SBP-101 in a randomized clinical trial. For more information, please visit View Source

McKesson Corporation Enters Agreement to Sell Certain European Businesses to the PHOENIX Group

On July 7, 2021 McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK) reported that it has entered into an agreement to sell its European businesses in France, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Belgium, and Slovenia to the PHOENIX group (Press release, McKesson, JUL 7, 2021, View Source [SID1234584681]). This transaction also includes McKesson’s German-based AG headquarters in Stuttgart, Recucare GmbH, its German wound-care business, its shared services center in Lithuania, and its 45% ownership stake in Brocacef, the company’s joint venture in the Netherlands. The transaction is expected to close in 2022, subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approvals.

The remaining European businesses in the UK, Norway, Austria, and Denmark are not included in this transaction and will continue to be operated by McKesson. However, McKesson is committed to exploring strategic alternatives for all remaining European businesses and focusing future investments on growth strategies outside of Europe. McKesson will also retain its minority equity stake in the company’s Germany joint venture with Walgreens Boots Alliance.

"Today’s transaction marks an important step in advancing McKesson’s commitment to streamline the business and prioritize investments in the areas where we have deep expertise and are central to our long-term growth strategy," said Brian Tyler, chief executive officer, McKesson. "We are confident that under the PHOENIX group’s strong leadership, the businesses included in this agreement will be well-positioned for the future to compete more effectively and better serve customers. We will continue to operate our remaining businesses in the UK, Norway, Austria, and Denmark while also exploring a strategic path forward to fully exit the European region. Our goal is to accelerate our growth strategies, becoming a more focused organization and enabling our mission to improve care in every setting."

The PHOENIX group is a leading integrated healthcare provider and a leader in the European healthcare sector, with over 25 years’ experience serving customers, patients, and partners across Europe. The PHOENIX group shares McKesson’s deep commitment to these groups, which is one of the many reasons that the PHOENIX group is the ideal leader to take these European businesses into the future.

As previously announced, McKesson will release its first quarter fiscal 2022 financial results after market close on Wednesday, August 4, 2021. The Company will host a live webcast of the earnings conference call for investors at 4:30 PM Eastern Time to review its financial results. The Company will not provide further comments regarding the sale of the European businesses until its earnings call on August 4, 2021.

Alternating Nucleix’s Bladder EpiCheck® With Standard Surveillance Can Reduce Burden on Patients and Healthcare Systems

On July 7, 2021 Nucleix, a liquid biopsy company revolutionizing cancer treatment by detecting the disease earlier, reported the publication of an analysis highlighting that Bladder EpiCheck can reduce both patient burden and healthcare system costs in the U.S. and European countries for low grade intermediate risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) (Press release, Nucleix, JUL 7, 2021, View Source [SID1234584678]). The analysis, titled "Alternating Cystoscopy with Bladder EpiCheck in the Surveillance of Low-Grade Intermediate-Risk NMIBC: A Cost Comparison Model," was published in the peer-reviewed journal Bladder Cancer.

This analysis was performed in an effort to better understand the economic impact of such an approach across 10 different countries with varied healthcare cost structures. Researchers developed a decision analysis model to compare standard surveillance with a modified surveillance that alternated between standard methods and use of Bladder EpiCheck every three to six months. The alternating schedule saved 8-14% of the cost for the system in 70% of the countries and resulted in a negligible cost increase in the other countries.

"Bladder cancer is the fifth most common cancer across the world, yet surveilling its recurrence remains one of the most invasive, intensive and costly processes across the oncology landscape. This includes cystoscopy: a painful procedure patients must undergo every few months," said Aharona Shuali, M.D., vice president of medical at Nucleix. "The findings of this analysis show that Bladder EpiCheck can be used to help reduce this burden to patients with a cost saving in most countries and a negligible cost increase in remaining countries."

Authors attributed the cost-effectiveness of this alternative strategy to Bladder EpiCheck’s high specificity of 86%. This is because lower specificity often results in patients receiving additional cystoscopies, ultimately leading to higher overall costs to the healthcare system. Importantly, for such an alternating schedule to be clinically acceptable, high sensitivity for high-grade disease is key to ensure patients with a high-grade recurrence, who are at risk of disease progression, are detected promptly and treated.

"We are currently over-monitoring low-grade NMIBC patients, which creates an enormous burden on the patients and the system, however, eliminating surveillance of these patients altogether is not an option, due to the small but significant risk of progression to high-grade disease," said Yair Lotan, M.D., Professor of Urology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. "This analysis demonstrates that a robust urine marker, such as Bladder EpiCheck, can be used to reduce the frequency and burden of cystoscopies without additional costs to the healthcare system and patients."

About Bladder EpiCheck

Bladder EpiCheck provides patients and clinicians with a simple, objective urine test to detect recurrence of bladder tumors. The test analyzes subtle disease-specific changes in DNA methylation markers, allowing for the detection of 92% of the high-risk (non Ta-LG) cancers. Bladder EpiCheck demonstrated negative predictive value (NPV) of 99% for high-risk cancer, meaning that when receiving a negative Bladder EpiCheck result, there is 99% chance that no high-risk cancer is present1. Bladder EpiCheck is intended for use as a noninvasive method for monitoring of tumor recurrence in conjunction with cystoscopy in patients previously diagnosed with bladder cancer. Bladder EpiCheck is CE-marked and available in Europe. The test is not available for sale in the United States.

Inceptor Bio Launches FastBack Bio, Its First Portfolio Company Developing A Novel CAR-T Platform That Targets Difficult-To-Treat Cancers

On July 7, 2021 Inceptor Bio, a Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based cell and gene therapy biotechnology company, reported that it has launched FastBack Bio, the first of multiple next-generation cell and gene therapy platform companies that Inceptor Bio is building (Press release, Inceptor Bio, JUL 7, 2021, View Source [SID1234584677]).

FastBack Bio’s core technology is the M-STIM platform, from which multiple co-stimulatory domains may be derived. M-STIM co-stimulatory domains are powerful modulators of T cell responses and endow CAR-T cells with a number of beneficial characteristics. In vitro data show that the first M-STIM co-stimulatory domain, M83, provides CAR-T cells with differentiated expansion kinetics and a balanced mix of effector memory and central memory phenotypes compared to CAR-T cells made with commonly used co-stimulatory domains including CD28 and 4-1BB. Additionally, M83-based CAR-T cells are resistant to exhaustion in vitro and exhibit an enhanced metabolism that may be beneficial in the tumor microenvironment (TME).

Dr. Mike Nicholson, Chief Science Officer at Inceptor Bio, said, "CAR-T therapy has demonstrated impressive results fighting liquid tumors, but the field hasn’t been as successful treating solid tumors. In murine models of renal cell carcinoma, M83-based CAR-T cells are far superior to CD28 or 4-1BB-based CAR-T cells. Those data, coupled with in vitro characterization, lead us to believe that M83-based CAR-T cells will be more efficacious against solid tumors."

FastBack Bio launches with technology licensed from Dr. Lishan Su’s laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Su earned his Ph.D. in virology from Harvard and held a post-doctoral position in immunology and stem cell biology at Stanford. Dr. Su spent 24 years at UNC Chapel Hill, with appointments in the UNC Lineberger Cancer Center and the Department of Microbiology & Immunology. In October 2020, he was appointed Head of the Maryland Institute of Human Virology.

Dr. Su, who will continue to support development of the M83 platform through sponsored research and as an advisor to FastBack Bio, said, "I am excited to support FastBack Bio as an Inceptor Bio portfolio company. FastBack Bio will have access to world-class facilities and a team with an exceptional track record that will allow us to accelerate the development of T cell-based therapeutics with our novel co-stimulatory domain."

Abe Maingi, Co-Founder, Board Member, and VP of Business Operations at Inceptor Bio, noted, "At Inceptor Bio, we are committed to building therapeutic companies with the leading innovators in cell and gene therapy to progress treatments that have potential to cure difficult-to-treat cancers. We are thrilled to announce that the University of North Carolina and Dr. Su are the first partners in our mission to advance cell and gene therapies to cure cancer."

Inceptor Bio was established to pursue a diversified portfolio of cell therapy platforms across multiple cell types, including CAR-T, CAR-M, and NK/NKT, with novel mechanisms that enhance immune cell performance within the tumor microenvironment. Inceptor Bio has a new website at www.inceptor.bio to provide information on the company’s vision and activities.