On February 22, 2021 Alpine Immune Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALPN), a leading clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on developing innovative treatments for cancer and autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, reported the company will participate at the Cowen 41st Annual Virtual Health Care Conference, H.C. Wainwright Global Life Sciences Conference, and Oppenheimer 31st Annual Virtual Healthcare Conference (Press release, Alpine Immune Sciences, FEB 22, 2021, View Source [SID1234575396]).

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Cowen 41st Annual Virtual Health Care Conference
Date: Monday, March 1, 2021
Time: 10:20 a.m. ET/7:20 a.m. PT
Event: Novel IO Panel

H.C. Wainwright Global Life Sciences Conference
Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Time: Available on demand beginning 7:00 a.m. ET/4:00 a.m. PT
Event: Company Presentation

Oppenheimer 31st Annual Virtual Healthcare Conference
Date: Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Time: 1:50 p.m. ET/10:50 a.m. PT
Event: Company Presentation

A webcast of the H.C. Wainwright and Oppenheimer presentations will be available online in the investor relations section of the company’s website at View Source A replay of the presentations will be available on the company website for 90 days following the webcast.

On February 22, 2021 Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the company’s PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx assay for expanded use in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (Press release, Agilent, FEB 22, 2021, View Source [SID1234575395]). PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx can now be used as an aid in identifying NSCLC patients with tumor PD-L1 expression of Tumor Proportion Score (TPS) ≥ 50% for treatment with Libtayo (cemiplimab-rwlc). This announcement underscores Agilent’s continuing commitment to the development of IHC-based diagnostics for cancer therapy.

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"With the FDA approval of PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx as a companion diagnostic for treatment with Libtayo monotherapy in advanced NSCLC, Agilent further strengthens its ability to elevate pathologist confidence in reporting results to oncologists and bolsters our role as a global pioneer in developing companion diagnostics for targeted treatments."

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women in the United States, with NSCLC making up 85% of all lung cancer cases.1,2 PD-L1 expression is a biomarker for response to anti-PD-1 therapy in NSCLC; this expanded indication enables pathologists to identify patients with advanced NSCLC who may be eligible for treatment with Libtayo. Currently, PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx is the only companion diagnostic with FDA approval for this use.

"Anti-PD-1 therapies, including Libtayo, continue to broaden the potential for the treatment of patients across different cancer types," said Sam Raha, president of Agilent’s Diagnostics and Genomics Group. "With the FDA approval of PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx as a companion diagnostic for treatment with Libtayo monotherapy in advanced NSCLC, Agilent further strengthens its ability to elevate pathologist confidence in reporting results to oncologists and bolsters our role as a global pioneer in developing companion diagnostics for targeted treatments."

Regeneron and Sanofi developed Libtayo and partnered with Agilent for the use of PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx to evaluate PD-L1 expression in patients in the pivotal EMPOWER-Lung 1 clinical trial.3

PD-1 immunotherapies such as Libtayo offer new treatment options for patients with advanced NSCLC, for whom the 60-month overall survival rate is 0–10% in patients with stage IVA–IVB disease.2

Libtayo is a fully-human monoclonal antibody targeting the immune checkpoint receptor PD-1 on T-cells. By binding to PD-1, Libtayo has been shown to block cancer cells from using the PD-1 pathway to suppress T-cell activation.3

On February 22, 2021 Ashvattha Therapeutics, a biotech company reported on targeting diseased tissues to minimize off target toxicity and expand the therapeutic index for a wide range of drugs using novel hydroxyl dendrimer therapeutics (HDT) (Press release, Ashvattha Therapeutics, FEB 22, 2021, View Source [SID1234575394]). Preclinical results on an HDT designed to target and image brain tumors and brain metastases after systemic administration will be presented at the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Virtual Special Conference on Radiation Science and Medicine, held March 2-3, 2021.

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The first AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Virtual Special Conference on Radiation Science and Medicine, in association with the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Radiation Science and Medicine Working Group, will be an interdisciplinary review of the current and future use of radiation in cancer care. The conference research topics span basic, translational, and clinical radiation advances to foster discussions among radiation scientists at all career stages.

Full details of the virtual presentation are as follows:

Abstract Title: Selective Targeting and Imaging of Orthotopic Glioblastoma after a Single Systemic Dose of a Novel Hydroxyl Dendrimer Radionuclide
Date: March 2, 2021 on-demand
Location: AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Virtual Special Conference on Radiation Science and Medicine: View Source

"We’re excited to present this data at the first AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Special Conference on Radiation Science and Medicine, which shows that our novel HD imaging agent D-B483 (HD6-DOTA-111In) selectively targets brain tumors and metastases after a bolus IV injection. Noninvasive imaging techniques are important in diagnosing and treating brain cancer. We have demonstrated that D-B483 persists in the tumor for more than seven days, yielding a high signal (>8 fold) relative to normal brain tissue. We look forward to submitting an IND later this year, to evaluate D-B483 in patients with brain tumors and metastases," said Jeffrey Cleland, Ph.D., Chairman, Chairman, CEO & President at Ashvattha Therapeutics, "We will then be able to treat these patients with HDTs designed to treat the brain cancer."

On February 22, 2021 Castle Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSTL), a skin cancer diagnostics company providing personalized genomic information to improve cancer treatment decisions, reported that it will release its financial results for the fourth quarter and year-ended December 31, 2020, after the close of market on Monday, March 8, 2021 (Press release, Castle Biosciences, FEB 22, 2021, View Source [SID1234575393]).

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Company management will host a conference call and webcast to discuss its financial results and provide a corporate update at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time on the same day.

Conference Call and Webcast Details

A live webcast of the conference call can be accessed here: View Source or via the webcast link on the Investor Relations page of the Company’s website (View Source). Please access the webcast at least 10 minutes before the conference call start time. An archive of the webcast will be available on the Company’s website until March 29, 2021.

To access the live conference call via phone, please dial 877-282-2581 from the United States and Canada, or +1 470-495-9479 internationally, at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the call, using the conference ID 3834669.

There will be a brief Question & Answer session following management commentary.

On February 22, 2021 NanoString Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:NSTG), a leading provider of life science tools for discovery and translational research, reported the commercial availability of the Whole Transcriptome Atlas (WTA) for research using human tissue and the GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler (DSP) (Press release, NanoString Technologies, FEB 22, 2021, View Source [SID1234575391]). In addition, NanoString is introducing the WTA for research using mouse tissue through its GeoMx Technology Access Program (TAP). These launches extend the GeoMx Atlas portfolio, which combine the power of spatial biology and Next Generation Sequencing, to enable full transcriptome spatial RNA and high-plex protein analysis on the GeoMx DSP.

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The WTA provides an unbiased, spatial view of all protein-coding genes and is designed for NGS readout on Illumina sequencers. The WTA extends the GeoMx RNA Assay portfolio from a focus on oncology and immunology to new applications in neuroscience, developmental biology, and additional diverse fields. The WTA utilizes the same workflow and chemistry as other GeoMx Atlas products to enable robust and sensitive performance in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) or Fresh Frozen samples. Complementary protein assays allow for a multi-omic view of spatial biology using GeoMx DSP.

"We applied the WTA to map the spatial context of gene expression in developing brains to better understand how substructures change over time. The high sensitivity of the WTA enabled us to not only map cells that we had identified in our single cell RNA-seq experiments, but also localize the cellular interactions that lead to substructure formation," said Omer Bayraktar, Ph.D., Cellular Genetics Group Leader at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.

"The launch of WTA is a key milestone for NanoString, bringing unbiased RNA profiling to the GeoMx DSP portfolio," said Brad Gray, president and chief executive officer of NanoString. "The strong enthusiasm for the products in our Technology Access Program highlights the appetite for whole transcriptome spatial analysis on GeoMx DSP."

The commercial launch of the Whole Transcriptome Atlas will be highlighted at NanoString’s 3rd Annual Spatial Genomics Summit, to be held virtually on February 23. Data demonstrating the high sensitivity and robust performance of the WTA for human and mouse will be highlighted in several presentations from leading research institutions. The Spatial Genomics Summit has been held each February beginning in 2019 to showcase the rapidly evolving field of Spatial Genomics. This year’s event will include a panel of experts for the plenary roundtable discussion of "Research in the Spatial Genomics Era." Panelists include Drs. Esperanza Anguiano from Bristol Myers Squibb, Omer Bayraktar of the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Evan Newell from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Peter Sorger of Harvard Medical School. The moderator of the panel is Stephane Budel, Ph.D., from DeciBio Consulting.