On April 26, 2021 Oncopeptides AB (publ) (Nasdaq Stockholm: ONCO), a global biotech company focused on the development of therapies for difficult-to-treat hematological diseases, reported the 2020 Annual Report (Press release, Oncopeptides, APR 26, 2021, View Source [SID1234578509]).

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The report summarizes an extraordinary year in the Company´s proud history, with significant advancements in the Research and Development programs, organizational capabilities, strategic direction, company culture and sustainability. Oncopeptides delivered on all major milestones, despite the challenging conditions caused by the ongoing global pandemic.

"The past year has been a transformational year for Oncopeptides highlighted by the FDA decision to grant our NDA submission of melflufen in triple class refractory multiple myeloma a priority review, leading to the accelerated approval and commercial launch of PEPAXTO in the U.S. early 2021", says Marty J Duvall, Chief Executive Officer at Oncopeptides AB. Not many emerging biotech companies cross the finish line in terms of launching a product that can make a significant difference for patients".

On April 26, 2021 Therapeutic Solutions International, Inc., (OTC Markets: TSOI), reported that new data demonstrating an unexpected synergy between its inducible pluripotent stem cell (StemVacs-V iPSC) derived immunotherapy product with low dose cyclophosphamide in evoking potent immune mediated cancer regression (Press release, Therapeutics Solutions International, APR 26, 2021, View Source [SID1234578507]).

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In a series of experiments, the Company demonstrated that its previously announced stem cell derived tumor endothelial-like cell vaccine1 enabled non-toxic doses of cyclophosphamide, an established chemotherapeutic agent, to induce significant reduction of established lung cancers, brain cancers, and skin cancers in animal models. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that reduction of tumors was associated with increased infiltration of immune cells.

"Previous companies, such as Batu Biologics, have demonstrated the clinical safety of using the immune system to selectively kill the blood vessels that feed cancer2, which was validated by FDA clearance3 to initiate clinical trials," said Dr. James Veltmeyer, Chief Medical Officer of the Company. "As a physician who sees firsthand the suffering of cancer patients caused by current chemotherapy protocols, the thought of leveraging the patient’s own immune system to allow for increased efficacy with reduced toxicity is extremely exciting."

"From a business perspective, one of the significant hurdles preventing advancement in cancer therapeutics is lack of interdisciplinary collaboration," said Famela Ramos, Vice President of Business Development. "The demonstration that our immunotherapy possesses ability to potentiate anticancer activities of existing therapeutics, thus allowing for utilization of lower doses while retaining efficacy, is a game changer in my opinion."

"The idea that killing tumor blood vessels weakens cancer, and thus allows for lower doses of chemotherapy to be effective is very attractive. This concept has been validated in clinical trials which involved combinations of chemotherapy with the antiangiogenic activities of the monoclonal antibody drug Avastin," said Timothy Dixon, President and CEO of the Company. "Based on side-to-side comparisons, our stem cell based immunotherapy appears substantially more efficacious in inducing immune mediated "choking" of the tumor blood supply and demands deeper investigation."

On April 26, 2021 Cannabics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OTCQB: CNBX), a global leader in the development of cancer related cannabinoid-based medicine, reported the launching of a new research program for the development of a Melanoma antitumor targeting medicine (Press release, Cannabics Pharmaceuticals, APR 26, 2021, View Source [SID1234578506]). The announcement comes amidst the recent completion of a series of preclinical experiments within the company’s in-house research facilities demonstrating promising antitumor results on Melanoma cell lines.

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The launching of the new research program for the development of Melanoma treatment follows a previous development by the company of Cannabics RCC-33, a proprietary formula for the treatment of Colorectal Cancer, who demonstrated a 33% reduction in tumor volume and a 35% increase in survival rate in recent in-vivo experiments in mice.

Gabriel Yariv, Cannabics Pharmaceuticals President & COO said: "The company has unique expertise and experience allowing it to develop new antitumor formulas from our built-to-spec in-house drug discovery platform. Accordingly, following our decision to develop an additional antitumor drug candidate to target Melanoma, we were able to produce high quality preclinical data, as well as identify several promising findings that we now plan to further investigate. This method of evaluation organically points towards the path of developing a new drug candidate for the treatment of Melanoma."

Eyal Barad Cannabics Pharmaceuticals’ Co-founder and CEO commented: "The company plans to use this new data to initiate in-vivo animal model studies to be included in a future product package that we intend to submit to the US Food and Drug Administration along with a Pre-IND Meeting request."

Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer, particularly given its characteristic of spreading deeper into the skin and into other organs. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation the estimated five-year survival rate for U.S. patients whose melanoma is detected early is about 99%, and it is estimated that some 200,000 new cases of Melanoma will be diagnosed in the US in 2021 alone.

On April 26, 2021 Scopus BioPharma Inc. (Nasdaq: "SCPS") reported the submission of an investigational new drug application ("IND") to the United States Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") for its immuno-oncology RNA therapy for the treatment of multiple cancers (Press release, Scopus BioPharma, APR 26, 2021, View Source [SID1234578505]). The IND filing is a key milestone for the planned Phase 1 clinical trial for B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma to be initiated at City of Hope.

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Scopus is a biopharmaceutical company developing transformational therapeutics based on groundbreaking scientific and medical discoveries. City of Hope is a world-renowned independent research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases near Los Angeles, California.

Joshua R. Lamstein, Chairman of Scopus BioPharma, stated, "The IND submission to the FDA for a Phase 1 clinical trial for our lead drug candidate is a key milestone for Scopus. We are excited about the prospects of entering the clinic. We believe this, and other imminent developments, will be significant drivers of shareholder value."

Scopus’ lead drug candidate encompasses both RNA therapy and immunotherapy by synthetically linking siRNA to an oligonucleotide TLR9 agonist, creating the potential for targeted gene silencing with simultaneous TLR stimulation and immune activation in the tumor microenvironment. This highly-distinctive drug candidate was developed in the City of Hope laboratories of Hua Yu, Ph.D. and Marcin Kortylewski, Ph.D. Yu is co-leader of the Cancer Immunotherapeutics Program and Billy and Audrey L. Wilder Professor in Tumor Immunotherapy. Kortylewski is an associate professor in the Department of Immuno-Oncology.

Mr. Lamstein added, "We are privileged to be working with City of Hope. The IND submission is testament to the respective efforts and close cooperation of the Scopus and City of Hope teams. We have developed strong working relationships with Dr. Yu and Dr. Kortylewski, both preeminent researchers in immuno-oncology, and other outstanding City of Hope professionals. City of Hope’s collective scientific, manufacturing, clinical, regulatory and operational capabilities are being coordinated by City of Hope’s Translational Development Center (TDC). The IND submission to the FDA was accomplished on time and on budget. This was made possible by the commitment and efforts of the exceptional TDC team brought together by Ashley Baker Lee, Senior Vice President, Research Operations. We are extremely grateful to Ashley and the entire superb research operations team."

On April 26, 2021 Himalaya Therapeutics ("Himalaya"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on development and commercialization in Greater China of a novel class of investigational antibody therapeutics for the treatment of solid tumor cancer, which are based on the Conditionally Active Biologics ("CAB") technology platform, reported the appointment of Brian Zhang, Ph.D., as chief executive officer (Press release, Himalaya Therapeutics, APR 26, 2021, View Source [SID1234578504]).

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"We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Zhang to our growing team. His extensive experience will help drive Himalaya towards its ambitious goals," said Carolyn Short, co-founder and president of Himalaya Therapeutics since its founding in 2014. "Dr. Zhang is our second executive hire this quarter as we ramp up, and will provide great leadership as we continue to build this world-class team."

Dr. Zhang is a global pharmaceutical veteran, with decades of experience on the R&D side, overseeing products from discovery to commercialization, on the corporate side, leading and founding healthcare companies, and on the investing side, as a venture partner and an angel investor. While at Hoffmann-La Roche, he helped lead the development of Xenical and the discovery of Dorzagliatin, among others, and helped establish its bioinformatics group. More recently, he cofounded several biotechnology startups and invested in biopharmaceuticals. He received his Ph.D. from the UCLA School of Medicine and his B.S. from Nanjing University. He also conducted brain research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, earning a grant for further study abroad.

"I am excited to join the Himalaya team and look forward to taking the impressive pipeline of a dozen drug candidates to move into the Chinese market as well as globally. The CAB platform has the potential to be truly groundbreaking and applicable to some of the most challenging problems we have faced in our battle against cancer."