Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

On September 11, 2019 The Board of Directors of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) reported a quarterly dividend of forty one cents ($0.41) per share on the $.10 par value Common Stock of the corporation (Press release, Bristol-Myers Squibb, SEP 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234539430]). The next quarterly dividend will be payable on November 1, 2019, to stockholders of record at the close of business on October 4, 2019.

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The directors also declared a quarterly dividend of fifty cents ($0.50) per share on the $2.00 Convertible Preferred Stock of the corporation, payable December 2, 2019 to stockholders of record at the close of business on November 5, 2019.

Atomwise and Atropos Launch Joint Venture to Discover Senescence Modulating Small Molecules for Cancer Patients

On September 11, 2019 Atomwise Inc., a leader in artificial intelligence (AI) for drug discovery, and Atropos Therapeutics, Inc., a senescence platform discovery company, reported that they will launch a joint venture company to discover and advance a pipeline of compounds for promising discovery targets for the treatment of cancer (Press release, Atomwise, SEP 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234539429]).

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Cellular senescence is a regulated biological process by which cells stop dividing irreversibly and is a normal part of aging. However, the failure and induction of senescence also have an important role in the development and treatment of cancers, respectively. Compounds that modulate senescence have enormous potential as novel anticancer agents. Atropos and Atomwise will use their platform technologies and complementary capabilities to perform screens to identify and develop novel compounds for undisclosed targets that modulate cellular senescence and evaluate their potential for development as safe and effective drugs for the treatment of cancer.

"We are excited to be embarking on this joint enterprise with Atomwise. We value the innovation that the two respective teams bring and look forward to working together toward new and better therapies for cancer patients," said Tommy Nguyen, M.D., Ph.D. CEO and Co-Founder of Atropos.

"This partnership with Atropos is an opportunity to ultimately provide patients with a fundamentally different class of drugs," said Abraham Heifets, Ph.D. CEO and Co-Founder of Atomwise. "We are excited to apply our technology to targets that are considered to be intractable and advance the discovery and development of drugs that modulate cellular senescence to treat cancer."

Under the terms of the agreement, the joint venture company will have access to Atropos’ and Atomwise’s cutting-edge technology and expertise in aging, cancer biology, computational and medicinal chemistry, and artificial intelligence for drug discovery.

Publication Reports Clinical Efficacy of ONC201 in Expanded Access H3 K27M-mutant Glioma Patients

On September 10, 2019 Oncoceutics, Inc. reported a scientific publication in the Journal of Neuro-Oncology describing a complete response and other forms of clinical benefit in pediatric and adult H3 K27M-mutant glioma patients treated with ONC201 on expanded access protocols (Press release, Oncoceutics, SEP 10, 2019, View Source [SID1234558332]).

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This manuscript details radiographic findings and other clinical outcomes in eighteen H3 K27M-mutant glioma patients who were enrolled on expanded access protocols. These patients initiated ONC201 after prior radiation, and in many cases after also failing additional chemotherapy, a disease setting in neuro-oncology where no available therapies have been proven effective.

Overall findings include disease stabilization and radiographic regressions after initiation of ONC201 that are atypical for the disease course. Two adult and two pediatric cases are highlighted due to improvements in radiographic imaging of their disease, as well as disease-associated neurological symptoms. The most dramatic response was observed in an adult who initiated ONC201 at second recurrence following prior radiation and chemotherapy. After initiating ONC201, the patient’s tumor located in the thalamus and other sites in the brain completely regressed. These imaging findings were accompanied by improvements in headaches, nausea, and right-sided numbness caused by the disease.

Among the 14 patients with recurrent disease prior to initiation of ONC201, median progression-free survival was 14 weeks and median overall survival was 17 weeks. Three adults among the 14 recurrent patients remain on treatment progression-free with a median follow up of 41, 49.6, and 76.1 weeks. Among the 4 pediatric patients who initiated adjuvant ONC201 following radiation, two DIPG patients remain progression-free for at least 53 and 81 weeks and the other two progressed at 28.4 and 41.9 weeks.

"Expanded access to ONC201 was critical in allowing our H3 K27M-mutant patients to access the therapy while clinical trials were being initiated for this form of glioma that previously had no effective therapy," said Nicole Shonka, MD, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at Nebraska Medical Center. "The complete response in the patient I treated is very striking, given the dismal prognosis of this type of grade IV glioma that is typically unresponsive to anything after initial radiation. We are eager to continue the evaluation of ONC201 in clinical trials to further establish the exciting results we saw in expanded access."

I-Mab Biopharma and Junshi Biosciences Announce Collaboration to Evaluate TJD5 in Combination with Toripalimab for the Treatment of Patients with Cancers in China

On September 10, 2019 I-Mab Biopharma (I-Mab), a China and U.S.-based clinical stage biopharmaceutical company exclusively focused on the discovery and development of potential first-in-class and best-in-class biologics in immuno-oncology and autoimmune diseases reported the signing of a collaboration agreement with Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co., Ltd (Junshi Biosciences), an innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company to evaluate the combination therapy of I-Mab’s TJD5, a proprietary innovative CD73 antibody with Junshi Biosciences’ Toripalimab (Trade name: Tuoyi), a recombinant humanized anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody in patients with cancers in China (Press release, I-Mab Biopharma, SEP 10, 2019, View Source [SID1234539422]).

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Dr. Jingwu Zang, Founder and Chairman of I-Mab, commented, "TJD5 is an innovative CD73 antibody with best-in-class potential that has entered into Phase I trial in the US. We are very pleased to collaborate with Junshi to explore the clinical synergies with Toripalimab which is an innovative drug with distinctive treatment advantages. We are looking forward to bringing more clinical benefits to patients across various cancer types."

Dr. Ning Li, CEO of Junshi Biosciences, commented, "As an anti multi-tumor drug, toripalimab has shown good safety and efficacy in clinical trials with mono and combination therapy. We believe, through the cooperation with I-Mab, we could continue to explore the combination potential of toripalimab and innovative drugs to improve the outcomes of immune-oncology therapy, lightening hope for more patients.

About TJD5:

TJD5 is a novel and differentiated blocking antibody against CD73, a surface enzyme on stromal cells and cancer cells responsible for the production of adenosine, which is highly immunosuppressive. It is expected to stimulate the immunosuppressive tumor micro-environment and to work in concert with other cancer therapies such as PD-1 and PD-L1 antibodies. TJD5 is in a Phase 1 clinical trial in the US, it is a proprietary innovative CD73 monoclonal antibody from I-Mab’s discovery pipeline with best-in-class potential.

About Toripalimab (JS001, Trade name: Tuoyi)

Toripalimab. a recombinant humanized anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody for injection is the first domestic-developed anti-PD-1 mAb granted marketing approval in China, supported by National Science and Technology Major Project. In March 2018, its New Drug Application ("NDA") was accepted by the NMPA and put into prioritized evaluation and approval process. On Dec 2018, Toripalimab was conditionally granted marketing approval for use in the treatment of unresectable or metastatic melanoma that has failed previous systemic therapy by the NMPA, which is the first commercialized product of Junshi Biosciences. In the pivotal clinical trial, patients were observed with the ORR of 17.3% and the DCR of 57.5%, and the one-year overall survival rate is 69.3%. The NDA approval of toripalimab witnessed the pivotal step from pre-revenue biotech start-up to a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company.

Since Toripalimab started its clinical trials at the beginning of 2016, over 30 trials have been conducted in China, the US and other countries, covering 14 kinds of tumors, i.e. NPC, UC, lung cancer, EC, HCC, TNBC, etc. Cooperations with domestic and overseas innovation pharma companies on combination therapy are also under exploration.

Pfenex to Participate in the Oppenheimer Fall Summit

On September 10, 2019 Pfenex Inc. (NYSE American: PFNX), a clinical-stage development and licensing biotechnology company focused on leveraging its Pfēnex Expression Technology to improve protein therapies for unmet patient needs, reported that Eef Schimmelpennink, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Susan Knudson, Chief Financial Officer, will be participating in one-on-one investor meetings at the Oppenheimer Fall Summit focused on specialty pharma and rare disease companies, taking place at the Parker Hotel in New York City on September 23rd – 24th (Press release, Pfenex, SEP 10, 2019, View Source [SID1234539434]).

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Oppenheimer & Co. Fall Summit

Date: September 24th

Format: One-on-One Meetings