Lantern Pharma Announces Pricing of $60 Million Public Offering

On January 14, 2021 Lantern Pharma (Nasdaq: LTRN), a clinical-stage biopharma company using its proprietary RADR artificial intelligence ("A.I.") platform to transform cancer drug development and identify patients who will benefit from its targeted oncology therapeutics, reported the pricing of a public offering of 4,285,715 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $14.00 per share, for gross proceeds of $60 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and offering expenses (Press release, Lantern Pharma, JAN 14, 2021, View Source [SID1234574056]). In addition, Lantern Pharma has granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 642,856 shares of common stock at the public offering price, less the underwriting discount, to cover over-allotments. All of the shares of common stock are being offered by Lantern Pharma.

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The offering is expected to close on January 20, 2021, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

ThinkEquity, a division of Fordham Financial Management, Inc., is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering. Colliers Securities LLC is acting as co-manager for the offering.

A registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-251992) relating to the shares was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and became effective on January 14, 2021. This offering is being made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the final prospectus, when available, may be obtained from ThinkEquity, a division of Fordham Financial Management, Inc., 17 State Street, 22nd Floor, New York, New York 10004, by telephone at (877) 436-3673, by email at [email protected]. The final prospectus will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website located at View Source

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

Orion Biotechnology Project Awarded Grant to Advance Drug Discovery

On January 14, 2021 Orion Biotechnology Holding SA., a biotechnology company focused on precision engineering small protein therapeutics, reported that its drug discovery project was awarded funding of CHF 0.9M from Innosuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency (Press release, Orion Biotechnology, JAN 14, 2021, View Source [SID1234574045]). The project will allow Orion, in collaboration with the University of Geneva, to further expand and optimize drug discovery capabilities using its novel platform. The proprietary platform driven by Dr. Oliver Hartley and his team at the University of Geneva delivers a novel approach to G Protein-Coupled Receptor (GPCR) targeting by precision-engineering natural peptide and protein analogs that bind to GPCR targets with both enhanced potency and tailored signaling activity. The Innosuisse grant funds 50 percent of the project costs, covering research to be carried out collaboratively by Orion Biotechnology and the University of Geneva.

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"We are very excited to receive this grant from Innosuisse, which will contribute to further innovative research & development under our drug discovery platform," stated Mark Groper, CEO of Orion Biotechnology Holding SA and President of Orion Biotechnology Canada. "This support will advance our new approach to GPCR-targeting and accelerate the development of next generation therapeutics. Orion’s platform technology has demonstrated its ability to generate first-in-class GPCR-targeted therapeutics with best-in-class potency. This Innosuisse-funded project will further enhance Orion’s ability to target valuable GPCRs that have proved challenging using established discovery approaches."

PDS Biotech Releases White Paper Detailing the Potential of the Versamune®
Platform in Overcoming a Major Limitation of Immuno-Oncology

On January 14, 2021 PDS Biotechnology Corporation (Nasdaq: PDSB), a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing novel cancer therapies and infectious disease vaccines based on the Company’s proprietary Versamune T-cell activating technology, reported a white paper detailing how the Versamune platform works to treat cancer, and the potential of Versamune in the treatment of a broad range of cancers (Press release, PDS Biotechnology, JAN 14, 2021, View Source [SID1234574044]).

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Cancer immunotherapy is a form of cancer treatment that utilizes the power of the body’s own immune system to recognize, attack and eliminate cancer. The goal of cancer immunotherapy is tumor eradication and regression or, at least, disease stabilization. Cancer immunotherapies have significant potential to treat a broad range of cancers, and multiple agents have been approved by the FDA to treat a wide range of cancers at various stages. Though progress has been made in developing new anti-cancer immunotherapeutic technologies and products, significant challenges limiting their clinical effectiveness and safety remain.

There are well recognized hurdles impeding the ability of immunotherapy to harness the body’s immune system most effectively. For example, approved checkpoint inhibitors have resulted in effective, durable responses. Unfortunately, the rates of response reported are only in the range of 15-20% and are most likely to occur in patients with evidence of a pre-existing immune response to their tumor. Furthermore, immune therapies, including checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-Ts and live-vector vaccines, may cause significant systemic toxicities limiting their use either in the early-stage cancer setting or in combination with other approved anti-cancer treatments.

A significant challenge in the development of an effective cancer immunotherapy is creating a simple and easy to administer therapy that can promote the induction of highly potent, targeted, tumor-specific CD8+ killer and CD4+ helper T-cells within patients, that will effectively treat their cancer with minimal side effects. There is scientific consensus that induction of an adequate number and potency of tumor-recognizing T-cells is necessary for effective immunotherapy. However, suboptimal T-cell activation remains a key limitation of many immunotherapies.

In two recent peer reviewed articles in the Journal of Immunology and the Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) (available on the company’s website), Versamune-based immunotherapies were shown to induce superior quantity and quality of tumor-recognizing killer T-cells in-vivo. This resulted in superior preclinical anti-tumor efficacy. Versamune’s ability to be combined with specific proteins found primarily on the tumor cells and its ability to induce an effective anti-tumor immune response specific to the protein and cancer, o-ffers opportunities to treat a variety of cancers. Further, its diverse mechanisms of action and favorable safety profile suggest therapeutic promise when used alone in the single-agent monotherapy setting or when used in combination with standard of care therapies such as checkpoint inhibitors as well as chemo and radiation therapy to enhance the efficacy of treatment.

The current PDS Biotech pipeline of Versamune-based therapies focuses on four key antigens associated with a broad variety of solid tumors that remain challenging to treat. According to PDS Biotech CEO, Dr. Frank Bedu-Addo, "We are currently pursuing an ambitious development strategy, working with leading oncology experts to assess the potential of Versamune to bring new and improved treatments to cancer patients."

Lantern Pharma Announces Pricing of $60 Million Public Offering

On January 14, 2021 Lantern Pharma (Nasdaq: LTRN), a clinical-stage biopharma company using its proprietary RADR artificial intelligence ("A.I.") platform to transform cancer drug development and identify patients who will benefit from its targeted oncology therapeutics, reported the pricing of a public offering of 4,285,715 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $14.00 per share, for gross proceeds of $60 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and offering expenses (Press release, Lantern Pharma, JAN 14, 2021, View Source;utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=announces-pricing-of-60-million-public-offering [SID1234574043]). In addition, Lantern Pharma has granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 642,856 shares of common stock at the public offering price, less the underwriting discount, to cover over-allotments. All of the shares of common stock are being offered by Lantern Pharma.

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Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

The offering is expected to close on January 20, 2021, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

ThinkEquity, a division of Fordham Financial Management, Inc., is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering. Colliers Securities LLC is acting as co-manager for the offering.

A registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-251992) relating to the shares was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and became effective on January 14, 2021. This offering is being made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the final prospectus, when available, may be obtained from ThinkEquity, a division of Fordham Financial Management, Inc., 17 State Street, 22nd Floor, New York, New York 10004, by telephone at (877) 436-3673, by email at [email protected]. The final prospectus will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website located at View Source

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

Reached an exclusive license agreement for TROP2 antibody in China, and Henlius will deploy new anti-tumor targets in advance

On January 14, 2021 Henlius Fuhong (2696.HK) reported that it has signed an exclusive license agreement with Chiome Bioscience, Inc. ("Chiome") for anti-TROP2 antibodies, and Henlius has obtained the project in China (Press release, Shanghai Henlius Biotech, JAN 14, 2021, View Source [SID1234574030]). (Including Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macau Special Administrative Region and Taiwan Region) Exclusive rights and project background intellectual property rights for research, development, production and commercialization. TROP2 (Trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2, trophoblast cell surface antigen 2) is overexpressed in triple-negative breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, urothelial carcinoma and various types of solid tumors. It is a therapeutic target for tumor, and has development potential in antibody-conjugated drugs (ADC), bispecific antibodies, combination therapy and other directions.

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TROP2 is a class of biomarkers first discovered on the surface of invasive trophoblast cells. Studies have shown that it can play a regulatory function in cell proliferation and migration, self-renewal, and maintenance of basement membrane integrity [1]. A large number of research results show that, relative to the expression level in normal cells, TROP2 is highly expressed in many different types of human tumors, and it plays an important role in tumorigenesis, development and invasion. Pre-clinical studies have shown that antibodies targeting TROP2 can effectively inhibit the growth of a variety of tumor cells in animal cancer models, and exhibit synergistic effects with a variety of anti-tumor therapies [2]. A number of recent clinical trials have also confirmed that antibody-conjugated drugs (ADCs) targeting TROP2 may have positive clinical effects on a variety of solid tumors including triple-negative breast cancer [3].

According to the agreement, Henlius will obtain the exclusive license for anti-TROP2 antibodies, which can conduct research, development, production and commercialization of human medicine and diagnostic applications (excluding radioimmunotherapy and photoimmunotherapy) in the project within the license area. And the right to transfer the project to a third party. At the same time, Chiome also granted Fuhong Henlius the first option to exclusively develop, produce and commercialize the project in other parts of the world.

It is believed that through the introduction of TROP2 target products, Henlius’ existing rich product pipeline will be further expanded. With rich experience in target development and a mature integrated R&D platform, the company will also conduct comprehensive research and development around the TROP2 target, give full play to its potential in the treatment of multiple solid tumors, and actively develop more treatments with better curative effects .