On July 22, 2020 Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSX:AUP) ("Aurinia" or the "Company"), a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on advancing voclosporin in multiple indications, reported the pricing of its underwritten public offering of 13,333,334 common shares (the "Offering") (Press release, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, JUL 22, 2020, View Source [SID1234562264]). The shares are being sold at a public offering price of US$15.00 per share. The gross offering proceeds to the Company from this Offering are expected to be approximately US$200 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses. All of the shares are being offered by the Company. The Offering is expected to close on or about July 27, 2020, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

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Jefferies and SVB Leerink are acting as joint book-running managers for the Offering. Cantor is acting as lead manager for the Offering. Oppenheimer & Co. and H.C. Wainwright & Co. are acting as co-managers for the Offering. The Company has granted the underwriters an option exercisable, in whole or in part, in the sole discretion of the underwriters, to purchase 2,000,000 additional common shares, for a period of up to 30 days.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering for pre-commercialization and launch activities, research and development, as well as working capital and general corporate purposes.

The Offering is subject to customary closing conditions, including NASDAQ and TSX approvals. For the purposes of the TSX approval, the Company intends to rely on the exemption set forth in Section 602.1 of the TSX Company Manual, which provides that the TSX will not apply its standards to certain transactions involving eligible interlisted issuers on a recognized exchange, such as NASDAQ.

The Offering is being made pursuant to a U.S. registration statement on Form F-10, declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on June 19, 2020 (the "Registration Statement"), and the Company’s existing Canadian short form base shelf prospectus (the "Base Shelf Prospectus") dated June 17, 2020. A preliminary prospectus supplement relating to the Offering has been filed with the securities commissions in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario in Canada, and with the SEC in the United States (the "Preliminary Prospectus"), and a final prospectus supplement relating to the Offering (together with the Preliminary Prospectus, Base Shelf Prospectus and the Registration Statement, the "Offering Documents") will be filed with the securities commissions in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario in Canada, and with the SEC in the United States. The Offering Documents will contain important detailed information about the securities being offered. Before you invest, you should read the Offering Documents and the other documents the Company has filed for more complete information about the Company and the Offering. Copies of the Offering Documents will be available for free by visiting the Company’s profiles on the SEDAR website maintained by the Canadian Securities Administrators at www.sedar.com or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, as applicable. Alternatively, copies of the prospectus supplement will be available upon request in the United States by contacting Jefferies LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department, 520 Madison Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10022; by phone at (877) 821-7388; or by e-mail at [email protected]; or SVB Leerink LLC, Attention: Syndicate Department, One Federal Street, 37th Floor, Boston, MA 02110, by telephone at 1-800-808-7525, ext. 6218, or by email at [email protected]; and in Canada by contacting Jefferies Securities, Inc., attention: Steven Latimer, 161 Bay Street, Suite 2700 Toronto, Ontario M5J 2S1, by telephone at 416-572-2215.

On June 22, 2020 BioInvent reported that Alexander Eggermont, MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at the Princess Máxima Center and renowned expert in immunotherapy showcased the broad potential of BI-1206 in enhancing checkpoint inhibitors in solid cancers in a KOL event hosted by BioInvent on July 21 (Press release, BioInvent, JUL 22, 2020, View Source [SID1234562260]).

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Professor Eggermont discussed the clinical challenges associated with the use of checkpoint inhibitors in solid tumors and the potential for an enhanced response with immune-modulatory antibodies, specifically those targeting FcγRIIB, such as BI-1206.

"The most important message to take away from this presentation – BI-1206 has the potential to go across multiple tumor types, much like pembrolizumab which is approved in over 20 different cancer types," said professor Eggermont.

BioInvent’s lead pipeline candidate BI-1206 is a first-in-class monoclonal antibody that targets FcγRIIB – the only inhibitory Fcγ receptor that acts as a "brake" on the innate immune system – to unleash antibody-mediated reactivation of the immune response against cancer.

"We are thrilled with the strong support for the potential broad use of BI-1206 in many different cancers from such a renowned expert as professor Eggermont," said Martin Welschof, CEO of BioInvent.

Professor Eggermont highlighted three main advantages of BI-1206.

To begin with, BI-1206 can give better and prolonged anti-PD1 blocking and thus, it has the potential to be used in many first line indications across multiple tumor types.

Furthermore, BI-1206 can overcome resistance to anti-PD1. It enhances the activity of, for example rituximab and overcomes resistance to those agents. It is an enhancer that has potential to go across multiple tumor types in refractory settings by blocking FcγRIIB interaction.

Last but not least. Dosing of BI-1206 may be different in 1st and 2nd line and be different in different tumor types. BI-1206 can be optimized and dosed as needed which gives a big potential for a wide development pathway.

"The simplicity of the BI-1206 model is very attractive. BI-1206 has an additive or synergistic, further enhancement of anti-PD-1 function. It has tremendous potential as it can be used in multiple indications," concluded professor Eggermont.

For further detail please listen to the call: link

Prof. Alexander M.M. Eggermont, MD, PhD is an internationally recognized expert in surgical oncology, immunotherapy, melanoma, sarcoma and cancer drug development. He currently holds roles as Chief Scientific Officer at the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, the Netherlands; Professor of Oncology (Classe Exceptionelle) at Paris-Saclay University, France; Coordinator, Comprehensive Cancer Center Program for Deutsche KrebsHilfe; and Strategic Advisor at the German Cancer Consortium (DKFZ).

Prof. Eggermont was previously Director General of Gustave Roussy Comprehensive Cancer Center, Villejuif, France (2010-2019); and Professor of Surgical Oncology (2003-2016) and Endowed Professor of International Networking in Cancer Research (2011-2018) at Erasmus University MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He holds a PhD in tumor immunology from Erasmus University and is Fellow of the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute (NIH-NCI). Prof. Eggermont has served as President of ECCO, President of the EORTC, was a member of the Board of Directors of ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper), served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, and is currently Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Cancer. Prof. Eggermont has published more than 900 peer-reviewed papers and his expertise has been acknowledged by many professional awards throughout his career.

On July 22, 2020 Ultivue, Inc. reported a collaborative partnership with OracleBio to help further insights and advance personalized tumor characterization in translational and clinical oncology research and drug development using multiplex immunofluorescence staining and imaging (Press release, Ultivue, JUL 22, 2020, View Source [SID1234562259]).

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The deal connects the histopathology image analysis expertise of OracleBio and the tissue staining capabilities of Ultivue, with the goal of providing pharmaceutical companies with an end-to-end workflow for gaining valuable insights from biomarkers in situ.

OracleBio, a contract research organization based in Scotland, is known for its quantitative digital pathology services, delivering high-quality image analysis while leveraging multiple software platforms in supporting clinical and pre-clinical research.

"OracleBio aim to deliver robust quantitative histopathology data deployed within a quality framework, and that analysis can be heavily dependent on the quality of sample preparation and staining," says Lorcan Sherry, CSO of OracleBio. "Being able to partner with Ultivue means we can be confident in the staining of the tissue we’re quantifying, which ultimately means more precise data."

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Ultivue develops reagents for staining tissues used for multiplex immunofluorescence imaging and analysis. Its proprietary InSituPlex technology is designed for fast and comprehensive exploration of biologically-relevant markers in tissue samples.

"We’ve developed reagents that are workflow-agnostic and can plug-and-play in most customers’ existing laboratory infrastructure, so it makes sense to partner with a like-minded imaging and analysis CRO like you have in OracleBio. At the end of the day, our goal is always to offer our customers relevant and meaningful biological insights from their samples, regardless of their preferred hardware or software," says Jacques Corriveau, President and CEO of Ultivue.

On July 22, 2020 CURE Media Group, which reaches over 1 million patients, survivors and caregivers across an industry-leading multimedia platform devoted solely to cancer updates and research, reported the addition of the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer to its Strategic Alliance Partnership (SAP) program (Press release, GO2 Foundation, JUL 22, 2020, View Source [SID1234562258]).

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"We are excited and proud to partner with the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer," said Mike Hennessy Jr., president and CEO of MJH Life Sciences, the parent company of CURE Media Group. "They work to empower the lung cancer community to help improve care, increase survivorship and drive advocacy for awareness of the disease."

The GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer was founded by lung cancer patients and survivors and is the world’s leading organization dedicated to saving, extending and improving the lives of those vulnerable, at risk and diagnosed with lung cancer. The foundation strives to change the reality of living with lung cancer by ending stigma about the disease, increasing public and private research funding, and ensuring access to care.

"We are proud to continue to work alongside CURE Media Group to educate, inform, support, and bring hope to the lung cancer community," said Laurie Fenton Ambrose, co-founder, president and CEO of GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer. "Every patient and caregiver matters, and this partnership allows us to extend our life-saving efforts to a broader community. We live up to our mantra of Whatever it takes. Whatever the need. We get it done together."

The SAP program builds a community of advocacy groups, medical associations and medical institutions to foster collaboration and an open exchange of information among trusted peers for the ultimate benefit of patients and their families. As part of this joint effort, CURE Media Group will work with the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer to share exclusive content and support the lung cancer community.

On June 22, 2020 Eikonoklastes Therapeutics, a preclinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation tissue factor (TF) immunotherapies for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and several other diseases with unmet clinical need, reported closing of an oversubscribed seed financing (Press release, Eikonoklastes Therapeutics, JUL 22, 2020, View Source [SID1234562257]). Working with The Ohio State University Corporate Engagement Office and seed investor CincyTech, the company was formed to advance technology discovered and engineered in the lab of Dr. Zhiwei Hu, MD, PhD, and licensed from the Ohio State Innovation Foundation. CincyTech led the financing.

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Eikonoklastes is developing novel immunotherapies that target tissue factor, a cell surface receptor that is prevalent in certain pathological cells– but not healthy cells– including a broad range of cancers with high unmet clinical need and high morbidity. The lead indication is triple- negative breast cancer, an aggressive cancer which accounts for 15% of all breast cancers, with an average mortality of ~18 months post diagnosis.

"There is an urgent and critical need for a novel approach," said Bruce Halpryn, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Eikonoklastes. "Eikonoklastes’ platform technology is designed for maximum efficacy and a superior safety profile, using targeted killing without the need for a toxic payload. This is a tremendous opportunity to treat numerous diseases."

Eikonoklastes’ L-ICON3 immune conjugate platform was discovered and engineered by scientific founder, Zhiwei Hu, MD, PhD, an early pioneer of tissue factor physiology, who has worked to leverage tissue factor as a highly specific and highly selective target for therapy. In his lab at Ohio State, Dr Hu has engineered molecules which attack three key components of the tumor microenvironment: the tumor cells, the disease neovasculature and tumor stem cells; activating the body’s natural immune reaction. These novel and proprietary molecules are the third generation of technology that Dr. Hu initially designed while at Yale University.

"Dr. Hu has worked on several iterations of the technology that Eikonoklastes has licensed. We are grateful for his partnership and his dedication to discovery and innovation," said Scott Osborne, vice president of economic and corporate engagement at Ohio State.

The seed round will enable the company to complete a confirmatory in vivo I.V. efficacy study, to study I.V. pharmacokinetics, and to initiate manufacturing scaleup. The company will be headquartered in Cincinnati, OH.

"We are impressed with the breadth of the opportunity, which has the potential to address critical needs for patient populations across a broad range of cancers and other diseases," said John Rice, PhD, Managing Director at CincyTech. "We are also pleased to invest in the Eikonoklastes team, led by a seasoned and successful entrepreneur in Bruce Halpryn, with whom we had worked previously on Myonexus Therapeutics."

Halpryn and Chief Scientific/Medical Officer Mark Dato, MD, PhD, are both drug development industry veterans who worked together at P&G Pharmaceuticals. More recently Halpryn was COO of Myonexus Therapeutics, a gene therapy company also backed by CincyTech that was acquired by Sarepta Therapeutics in 2019. Halpryn then approached CincyTech about his next venture, co-founding Eikonoklastes with Sam Lee, MD, MBA, MPH, who will serve as Chief Business Officer. Details of the financing are undisclosed.