On January 3, 2019 GeneCentric Therapeutics, Inc. reported the appointment of Michael V. Milburn, PhD, as Chief Executive Officer and President, and he will join GeneCentric’s Board of Directors (Press release, GeneCentric Therapeutics, JAN 3, 2019, View Source [SID1234532422]). Dr. Myla Lai-Goldman, founder, current CEO and President, will assume the newly-created role of Executive Chairperson of the Board of Directors, succeeding Clay Thorp, Founder and General Partner at Hatteras Venture Partners, as Board Chair.

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"We founded GeneCentric, with UNC researchers Chuck Perou and Neil Hayes, with a vision to develop cancer tests to match a drug to an individual patient in order to maximize the efficacy of cancer treatments and reduce adverse events," said Dr. Lai-Goldman. "We have made great progress in establishing a subtyping platform built around an expanding array of pan-cancer tests, applying the platform to lung, head and neck, bladder, and pancreatic cancer, and entering initial partnerships with pharmaceutical companies to enable precision drug development in oncology. Michael is well positioned to build on the scientific base we have established and drive our commercial efforts with pharmaceutical companies."

In addition to GeneCentric, Dr. Lai Goldman serves on the Board of Directors at West Pharmaceutical Services and Qvella Corporation as well as a Venture Partner with Hatteras Venture Partners.

"GeneCentric is at the forefront of developing RNA-based informatics and data science which will be key to developing the next generation cancer immunotherapies and chemotherapies," said Milburn. "Myla and the scientific founders and team have been instrumental in building a technology that is highly valued by our pharmaceutical partners to get the right cancer treatment to the right patient. This is a very exciting time for GeneCentric as we begin to deploy our cancer tests alongside cancer drugs."

Dr. Milburn joined GeneCentric in September of 2018 as Chief Scientific Officer and leads the development of its RNA-based technology platform for developing new cancer tests focused on pharmaceutical drug development. Previously, Dr. Milburn was CSO at Metabolon and led the R&D efforts that established the company as a premier metabolomics technology. Prior to Metabolon, he served as Senior Vice President of Research and Corporate Development at Sirtris Pharmaceuticals and Senior Vice President of Research at Plexxikon. He also held senior research positions at Structural Genomix and GlaxoWellcome.

Dr. Milburn received his PhD in Biophysical Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and was a post-doctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Milburn has published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles and is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Molecular and Structural Biochemistry at NCSU.

"Michael brings a broad range of expertise that spans drug development, biomarker discovery and diagnostic development and commercialization, along with a strong track record commercial execution that built significant value," said Clay Thorp, Founder and General Partner at Hatteras Venture Partners. "We look forward to his new leadership role at GeneCentric as they expand their cancer technology and expertise with pharmaceutical partners."

On January 3, 2019 Genprex, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNPX), a clinical-stage gene therapy company developing a new approach to treating cancer based upon a novel proprietary technology platform, reported that it will present at Biotech Showcase 2019, to be held January 7–9, during the most important week in healthcare finance at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square (Press release, Genprex, JAN 3, 2019, View Source [SID1234532421]).

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Genprex will present at Biotech Showcase as follows:

Date: Monday, January 7, 2019

Time: 3:30pm (PST)

Room: Franciscan A (Ballroom Level)

Venue: Hilton San Francisco Union Square Hotel, 333 O’Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA

Genprex is pioneering a new approach to treating cancer–based upon a novel proprietary technology platform–that includes the company’s initial product candidate, Oncoprex immunogene therapy. The company holds a portfolio of 30 issued patents, and two pending patents covering its proprietary platform technologies–and it has seen tremendous promise from pre-clinical research and clinical trials of those technologies at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The Clinical and pre-clinical research conducted to date indicates that Genprex’s lead candidate, Oncoprex, is synergistic with and may enhance the efficacy of commercially approved and highly successful epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors. To date, multiple clinical trials have demonstrated potential for the intravenous, systemic delivery of Oncoprex, which is comprised of the tumor suppressor gene TUSC2 (also known as FUS1) encapsulated in a lipid nanovesicle.

"Genprex stands at the forefront of the new age in the fight against cancer, and I am immensely proud to be with a company operating in that position," said Rodney Varner, CEO of Genprex. "In my three decades of professional experience, I’ve never worked with another company that has the innovative, dedicated, and multi-faceted talent we have at Genprex. It is inspiring to work with such a tireless group in such a revolutionary sector of the biomedical field."

Biotech Showcase, produced by Demy-Colton and EBD Group, is an investor and networking conference devoted to providing private and public biotechnology and life sciences companies with an opportunity to present to, and meet with, investors and executives in one place during the course of one of the industry’s largest annual healthcare investor conferences, J.P. Morgan Annual Healthcare Conference.

"We are delighted that Genprex will be presenting at Biotech Showcase this year," said Sara Demy, CEO of Demy-Colton. "Biotech Showcase is the perfect platform for life science companies to showcase their innovation and seek out their next deal. We are thrilled to, once again, be hosting what we believe will be the great strategic networking opportunity of 2019."

On January 3, 2019 Syros Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SYRS), a leader in the development of medicines that control the expression of genes, reported that its Chief Executive Officer, Nancy Simonian, M.D., will present a corporate overview, including 2019 objectives, at the 37th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. Details are as follows (Press release, Syros Pharmaceuticals, JAN 3, 2019, View Source [SID1234532420]):

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37th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference
Date: Thursday, January 10
Time: 9:00 a.m. PST (12:00 p.m. EST)
Location: Westin St. Francis Hotel, 335 Powell St., San Francisco, CA

The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session.

Live webcasts of the presentation and question and answer session will be available on the Investors & Media section of the Syros website at www.syros.com. An archived replay of both webcasts will be available for approximately 30 days.

On January 3, 2019 Personal Genome Diagnostics Inc. (PGDx), a leader in cancer genomics, reported that its 500+ gene pan-cancer tumor profiling tissue assay is being used in Merck’s Phase 2 precision oncology KeyImPaCT study of biomarker-directed, pembrolizumab-based combination therapy for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (KEYNOTE-495) (Press release, Personal Genome Diagnostics, JAN 3, 2019, View Source [SID1234532419]). This study will investigate the utility of biomarker-based triage for study participants with previously untreated advanced NSCLC. The PGDx elioTM tissue complete assay is being used during the enrollment process for the analysis of tumor mutational burden (TMB) status.

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Study participants within groups defined by a biomarker-based classifier (gene expression profile [GEP] and TMB) will be randomized to receive pembrolizumab in combination with MK-4280 or lenvatinib. The study will involve more than 70 clinical sites worldwide.

"We are proud to collaborate with Merck on this trial. Merck is a leader in immune oncology and we view their selection of PGDx as a testament to our capabilities around TMB," said Doug Ward, Chief Executive Officer at PGDx. "With the kitted approach for the PGDx elio portfolio, we aim to expand patient access to comprehensive, local genomic testing and reduce turn-around time for results that inform critical treatment decisions for patients worldwide."

PGDx provides genomic solutions from biomarker discovery to companion diagnostic development through its CAP/CLIA certified laboratory and is developing a portfolio of regulated tissue-based and liquid biopsy genomic products to enable local next-generation sequencing (NGS) testing in laboratories worldwide.

On January 3, 2019 Compass Therapeutics, a biotechnology company committed to the ambitious goal of comprehensively drugging the human immune system, reported that it will discuss its novel approach to antibody discovery and development and present data on its leading programs in a presentation at the 37th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco next week (Press release, Compass Therapeutics, JAN 3, 2019, View Source [SID1234532418]).

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Thomas Schuetz, MD, PhD, co-founder and chief executive officer of Compass, will describe the company’s focus on drugging the broadest possible array of epitopes for each candidate target; its StitchMabs technology that identifies novel combination biology and enables the discovery of next-generation bispecific antibody drug candidates; and the company’s unbiased approach to drug discovery which empowers the identification of the most promising therapeutic for each tumor type and application.

CTX-471, a fully human monoclonal antibody which targets a unique epitope on the costimulatory receptor CD137, is Compass’ lead candidate, and it has the potential to become a best-in-class CD137 agonist. It is expected to enter the clinic in the first quarter of 2019 where it will be tested in patients with various solid tumors. In preclinical models, CTX-471 induces remodeling of the tumor microenvironment and can completely eradicate extremely large tumors in animals. In IND-enabling monkey toxicology studies, CTX-471 has an excellent safety profile.

The proprietary StitchMabs platform was used to discover Compass’ second clinical candidate which is a first-in-class bispecific NK cell engager that lowers the activation threshold of NK cells and directs NK cells to kill selected cells, including tumor cells with low target antigen expression.

The presentation details are:

Date: Tuesday, January 8
Time: 3 PM Pacific Time
Location: Westin St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco, Elizabethan C Room