On September 29, 2020 ImmuPharma PLC (LSE:IMM), (Euronext Growth Brussels: ALIMM), the specialist drug discovery and development company, reported that further to a subscription agreement entered into at the time of Incanthera’s IPO onto AQSE Growth Market* in February 2020, ImmuPharma has now executed its subscription agreement to subscribe £250,000 for 2,631,579 ordinary shares of 2p each at a subscription price equal to Incanthera’s IPO price of 9.5p each (Press release, ImmuPharma, SEP 29, 2020, View Source [SID1234567719]).

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Following this subscription, ImmuPharma will hold 9,904,319 shares in Incanthera, representing a 15.35% position in the enlarged share capital of Incanthera.

ImmuPharma notes two recent positive announcements from Incanthera regarding studies of its lead product Sol, a potentially innovative topical product for the treatment of solar keratosis and the prevention of skin cancers. These announcements can be viewed on Incanthera’s website:

On September 29, 2020 Centus Biotherapeutics Ltd., a joint venture between Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics Co., Ltd. and AstraZeneca, reported that the European Commission (EC) has granted the marketing authorization for Equidacent (Product Code: FKB238), the company’s biosimilar to Avastin (bevacizumab) (Press release, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, SEP 29, 2020, View Source [SID1234567718]).

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The authorization follows the adoption of a positive opinion by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), which concluded that the development program including analytical, functional, clinical, and immunogenicity data demonstrated biosimilarity with the reference product, Avastin.

The EC approval of Equidacent applies to 27 European Union (EU) member states, the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Economic Area (EEA) member states of Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.

Equidacent is indicated for the following indications:
 Metastatic carcinoma of the colon or rectum
 metastatic breast cancer
 unresectable advanced, metastatic, or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer
 advanced and/or metastatic renal cell cancer
 epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer
 persistent, recurrent, or metastatic carcinoma of the cervix

Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics President and CEO Atsushi Matsumoto, Ph.D. commented, "We are proud that Centus received the approval of Equidacent from the European Commission. This demonstrates that Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics successfully utilized its deep scientific expertise needed to develop biosimilars in collaboration with AstraZeneca."

Centus was established in 2015 as a joint venture between Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics and AstraZeneca. Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics has granted an exclusive license to Centus for the development, manufacture, and commercialization of Equidacent on a worldwide basis. Centus has been proceeding with clinical development of Equidacent.

Data submitted to obtain the marketing authorization for Equidacent included similarity assessment in analytical testing, preclinical and clinical studies that demonstrated biosimilarity to the bevacizumab reference product, Avastin. The phase 3 clinical study, AVANA, conducted by Centus, demonstrated no clinically meaningful differences in terms of safety, efficacy, and immunogenicity compared with the reference product, Avastin, in non-small cell lung cancer patients. About Bevacizumab Bevacizumab is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody that blocks angiogenesis by inhibiting vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A). It reduces growth and metastasis of several solid tumors.

On September 28, 2020, Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (the "Company") and Fortis Advisors LLC, in its capacity as representative of the former holders of equity (the "Equityholders’ Representative") of Semnur Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Semnur"), reported that it entered into an amendment (the "Amendment") to that certain Exchange and Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of March 18, 2019, by and among the Company and the stockholders and stock option holders of Semnur, as set forth on Schedule A thereto (the "Original Exchange Agreement") (Filing, 8-K, Sorrento Therapeutics, SEP 28, 2020, View Source [SID1234567978]). The Original Exchange Agreement was entered into in connection with the Agreement and Plan of Merger entered into among the Company, Scilex Holding Company ("Scilex Holding"), Sigma Merger Sub, Inc. and the Equityholders’ Representative, as amended by that certain Amendment No. 1 to Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated August 7, 2019 (as amended, the "Merger Agreement"), pursuant to which Merger Sub merged with and into Semnur and Semnur became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (the "Merger").

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Pursuant to the Original Exchange Agreement, if by September 18, 2020, 100% of the outstanding equity of Scilex Holding had not been acquired by a third party and Scilex Holding had not entered into a definitive agreement with respect to, or otherwise consummated a firmly underwritten offering of Scilex Holding capital stock on a major stock exchange that met certain requirements, then the former holders of Semnur capital stock and holders of options to purchase Semnur’s common stock (collectively, the "Semnur Equityholders") could elect to exchange, during the 60-day period commencing on September 18, 2020 (the "Share Exchange"), the shares of Scilex Holding issued to the Semnur Equityholders in the Merger (the "Stock Consideration") for shares of the Company’s common stock with a value of $55.0 million, based on a price per share of its common stock equal to the greater of (a) the 30-day trailing volume weighted average price of one share of its common stock as reported on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC as of the consummation of the Share Exchange and (b) $5.55 (such greater price, the "Exchange Price").

The Amendment amends the Original Exchange Agreement to, among other things, provide that if the Company receives notice from the Semnur Equityholders that the Semnur Equityholders will proceed with the Share Exchange (an "Exchange Notice"), the Company may, in its sole discretion, elect, within seven days of receipt of an Exchange Notice, to exchange all the Stock Consideration and the rights to receive cash from Scilex Holding held by certain of the Semnur Equityholders under the Merger Agreement for an amount in cash equal to $55.0 million, in lieu of issuing $55.0 million of shares of the Company’s common stock at the Exchange Price.

The foregoing summary of the Amendment does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Amendment filed herewith as Exhibit 10.1 and the full text of the Original Exchange Agreement that was filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 22, 2019, each of which are incorporated by reference herein.

On September 28, 2020 Virogin Biotech reported the completion of its Series C round of financing for a total of $62 million USD on September 20, 2020 (Press release, Virogen, SEP 28, 2020, View Source [SID1234567955]).

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Virogin Biotech is an oncolytic virus company developing next-generation oncolytic virotherapies to enhance the systemic antitumor immunity in patients. The financing round was co-led by CMG-SDIC Capital and CDH Investments, with participation from Lingdao Capital, Panlin Capital, Korea Investment Partners, Guanghua Alumni Capital of Canada and Stream Holdings. The endorsement of new investors reflects continued and growing confidence in Virogins’ ongoing clinical development as well as discovery projects.

The proceeds from this round of financing will be used to continue the clinical development of Virogins’ lead asset – VG161 through to Phase II studies; completion of pre-clinical research and IND-enabling studies for Virogins’ next-generation oHSVs; continued expansion and optimization of research and further development and expansion of the company product pipeline.

"Despite all the challenges in 2020, we are extremely grateful for the strong level of support and dedication from our investors", said Mr. Chris Huang, CEO and co-founder of Virogin. "With these funds, Virogin will continue to be a leader in the oncolytic virotherapy field, while continuing to expand and develop effective drugs for patients. The continued support and belief from our investors allows us to carry forward our lead asset through to Phase II studies, and continue the research work required to take our next-generation virotherapies to the clinic, one step closer to helping cancer patients."

"Oncolytic virotherapy is a valuable investment opportunity in the emerging biotech space", said Hua Yi, Executive Director of CMG-SDIC Capital. "We are confident on its demand in immunotherapy, and, through the continued support of current and future investors, aim to grow the company into a world leader in oncolytic virotherapy."

Dan Liu, the Healthcare Executive Director at CDH Investments Venture and Growth Capital, added: "We have been following immuno-oncology therapeutics, especially innovative approaches that change the tumor microenvironment. Believing in the potential and the importance of oncolytic virotherapy in treating cold tumors, we conducted a global search for OV companies and have identified Virogin as the frontrunner for the competitiveness of its proprietary TTDR viral backbone and Synerlytic platform. We are very excited to work with existing shareholders to help Virogin become a global leader in the field of oncolytic virotherapy."

On September 28, 2020, Ziopharm Oncology, Inc., or the Company, reported that it entered into an amendment to the patent license agreement, or the Amendment, with the National Cancer Institute, or the NCI (Filing, 8-K, Ziopharm, SEP 28, 2020, View Source [SID1234567871]). The Amendment amended the patent license agreement, or the License, between the Company and the NCI, dated May 28, 2019 and amended on January 8, 2020, pursuant to which the Company holds an exclusive, worldwide license to certain intellectual property to develop and commercialize patient-derived (autologous), peripheral blood T-cell therapy products engineered by transposon-mediated gene transfer to express T-cell receptors, or TCRs, reactive to mutated KRAS, TP53 and EGFR.

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Pursuant to the Amendment, the Company expanded the TCR library licensed from the NCI to include additional TCRs reactive to mutated KRAS. The Company’s license to develop and commercialize products based on the additional TCRs are subject to the same limitations and obligations set out in the original License. The Company is required to pay the NCI a cash payment of $411,000 within sixty days of the execution date of the Amendment and is required to make the performance-based payments and benchmark payments in the License for products that include the additional TCRs.

The foregoing description of the material terms of the Amendment does not purport to be complete and is subject to, and is qualified in its entirety by, reference to the Amendment, which will be filed as an exhibit to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ending September 30, 2020 and is incorporated by reference herein. Portions of the Amendment may be subject to a confidential treatment request to the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Rule 24b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.