On May 26, 2021 Luye Pharma Group announced that its holding subsidiary, Boan Biotech, reported that it has signed an agreement with AstraZeneca China regarding the promotion rights to the anticancer drug Boyounuo (Bevacizumab Injection), under which the former will grant to the latter exclusive promotion rights in the county markets across 21 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions of China (Press release, Boan Biotech, MAY 26, 2021, View Source [SID1234595076]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
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 partnership is based on integrating the strengths and resources of both companies at various levels of markets in China. Boan Biotech will coordinate its own business team, commercial networks and resources in the field of oncology to ensure better access to Boyounuo for patients in key markets. In addition, Boan Biotech will join hands with AstraZeneca to leverage their many years of broad market coverage and channel development in China, especially at the county level, enabling more patients to benefit from the drug.

Boyounuo, a bio-antibody drug developed by Boan Biotech was recently approved for marketing by China’s National Medical Products Administration, for treating advanced, metastatic or recurrent non-small-cell lung cancer and metastatic colorectal cancer. To make it available to patients as quickly as possible, the company arranged the delivery of the first batch of product within ten days of announcing the official approval. Prescriptions have been issued in many cities across the country.

Ms. Hua Jiang, Chief Executive Officer of Boan Biotech said: "AstraZeneca has a broad range of innovative resources and a global network with years of development experience in the oncology therapeutic field and county markets. Our strategic collaboration with AstraZeneca provides an important supplement and extension to the commercial network for Boyounuo. We will leverage our respective strengths in channels and patient coverage at multiple market levels, as well as explore active collaboration opportunities in overseas markets, to provide high-quality and affordable drugs for more patients."

Mr. Leon Wang, Executive Vice President, International and China President at AstraZeneca said: "At AstraZeneca, patients are at the centre of everything we do. Deeply rooted in China county areas for many years, we work with various parties to ensure more patients benefit from innovative holistic disease management solutions. Boan Biotech is a comprehensive biopharmaceutical company with capabilities across the industry value chain, as well as excellent R&D and manufacturing teams. With their position as a leading local company, we are delighted to be working together and looking forward to our close collaboration in the future, bringing more innovative solutions to patients at the county level and expanding on continued efforts to meet the growing health needs in China."

On May 26, 2021 AXIM Biotechnologies, Inc. (OTCQB: AXIM) ("AXIM Biotech," "AXIM" or "the Company"), an international healthcare solutions company targeting oncological and COVID-19 research, reported that it has completed pre-clinical drug studies on its patent pending compound SPX-1009, demonstrating the suppression of malignant metastatic melanoma cells (Press release, AXIM Biotechnologies, MAY 26, 2021, View Source;utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=axim-biotechnologies-completes-pre-clinical-drug-studies-on-spx-1009-compound-proving-suppression-of-melanoma-cells [SID1234585596]). The independent research was completed by Dr. Douglas Lake’s laboratory at Arizona State University.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
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!

"We are extremely excited with the results of the in vitro testing," said John W. Huemoeller II, Chief Executive Officer of AXIM Biotechnologies, Inc. "This potential therapeutic treatment could someday help control melanoma growth and metastasis with our compound SPX-1009 in a topical treatment."

Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer because of its ability to spread to other organs rapidly if it is not treated at an early stage. According to SkinCancer.org, an estimated 207,390 cases of melanoma will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2021 and an estimated 7,180 people will die of melanoma in the U.S. in 2021.

SPX-1009 was first screened in a cell-free enzymatic assay for its ability to inhibit Quiescin Sulfhydryl Oxidase I ("QSOX1"), a tumor-derived enzyme that is important for cancer growth, invasion and metastasis, and was then tested for its ability to inhibit growth and invasion of a well-established A375 melanoma cell line and a low-passage patient-derived melanoma. 2D invasion assays and 3D tumor spheroid assays were employed to measure the effect of the compounds on tumor invasion.

As a next step, AXIM intends to initiate animal studies to demonstrate the ability of SPX-1009 to suppress tumor growth and metastasis in a murine model of melanoma. AXIM’s intellectual property related to the SPX-1009 technology is the subject of numerous patent-pending applications.

For more information about AXIM, please visit www.aximbiotech.com.

On May 26, 2021 Oncorus, Inc. (Nasdaq: ONCR), a viral immunotherapies company focused on driving innovation to transform outcomes for cancer patients, reported that its President and Chief Executive Officer, Theodore (Ted) Ashburn, M.D., Ph.D., will present at the upcoming Jefferies Virtual Healthcare Conference on Wednesday, June 2, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. ET (Press release, Oncorus, MAY 26, 2021, View Source [SID1234584765]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
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!

A live webcast of the presentation will be available under the Investors & Media section of Oncorus’ website at View Source A replay of the presentation will be archived on Oncorus’ site for 30 days following the event.

On May 26, 2021 Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNCE) reported that it will participate at the following upcoming virtual investor conferences (Press release, Concert Pharmaceuticals, MAY 26, 2021, View Source [SID1234584686]):

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
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 Jefferies Virtual Healthcare Conference
Fireside Chat Presentation on June 2, 2021 at 3:30 p.m. ET
The JMP Securities Life Sciences Conference
Fireside Chat Presentation on June 16, 2021 at 11:30 a.m. ET
A live webcast of the presentations may be accessed in the Investors section of the Company’s website at www.concertpharma.com. Please log on to the Concert website approximately 15 minutes prior to the scheduled webcast to ensure adequate time for any software downloads that may be required. A replay of the webcasts will be available on Concert’s website for two weeks following the presentations.

On May 26, 2021 Cleveland Clinic researchers reported that they have identified a promising drug target for treating and preventing aggressive, drug-resistant prostate cancer (Press release, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, MAY 26, 2021, View Source [SID1234583288]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
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!

Nima Sharifi, M.D.

The team, led by Nima Sharifi, M.D., of Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute, demonstrated that inhibiting the protein H6PD led to significantly reduced tumor sizes and improved survival among mouse models with drug-resistant prostate cancer. The H6PD levels also were elevated in biopsied patient tumors, suggesting the protein might be targeted in patients for treatment.

"New treatment approaches for drug-resistant prostate cancer are desperately needed," said Dr. Sharifi, director of Cleveland Clinic’s Genitourinary Malignancies Research Center. "These findings suggest an entirely new strategy for treatment of men with this aggressive form of prostate cancer."

Enzalutamide, a current standard-of-care hormone therapy for metastatic prostate cancer, works by blocking androgen receptors, which are proteins that help drive cancer cells. While initially effective, most patients eventually develop resistance to the treatment. This resistance occurs when androgen receptors are blocked and cancer cells adapt to get their "fuel" from a similar receptor, called the glucocorticoid receptor.

These glucocorticoid receptors bind to and interact with the stress hormone cortisol. In an earlier study published in eLife, Dr. Sharifi and his team linked enzalutamide resistance to increased tumor cortisol levels. They found that tumors typically express a protein called 11β-HSD2, which inactivates cortisol. However, when this protein expression is inhibited in some tumors, cortisol and the glucocorticoid receptor are stimulated and become available for use by cancer cells.

"Taken together, our study findings suggest that pharmacologically inhibiting the H6PD protein can reverse drug resistance in prostate cancer cells," said Dr. Sharifi. "By blocking this protein, we are able to prevent cancer cells from utilizing their backup fuel supply – cortisol and its receptor. When we block this pathway, tumors begin to become responsive to standard treatments again."

In this new study, the researchers demonstrated that, in addition to decreased expression of 11β-HSD2, resistant tumors also have increased H6PD levels.

"With lower levels of 11β-HSD2, which normally functions to cut off the fuel supply to drug-resistant cancer cells, the cells are free to continue to grow and spread unchecked," said Dr. Sharifi. "By inhibiting the H6PD protein, however, we were able to reinstate anti-cortisol effects. This finding is key to better understanding how disruptions in cortisol metabolism contribute to cancer cells’ growth and spread."

Dr. Sharifi’s clinical collaborator Eric Klein, M.D., chair of Cleveland Clinic’s Urology & Kidney Institute and a co-author on the study, said, "We found elevated levels of H6PD in both animal models and patient tissues, particularly after treating tumors with enzalutamide. These findings hold promise for novel precision medicine approaches in the management of men with aggressive prostate cancer."

The researchers targeted H6PD with rucaparib, a drug already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Sharifi collaborated with scientists from Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Therapeutics Discovery to identify what parts of rucaparib are chemically necessary to inhibit the protein.

Researchers administered enzalutamide to mouse models of aggressive prostate cancer that expressed H6PD and those where the protein was blocked with rucaparib. The models where H6PD was blocked had significantly smaller tumors and longer progression-free survival following enzalutamide treatment.

Jianneng Li, PhD, a post-doctoral fellow in Dr. Sharifi’s lab, is first author on the study, which was supported by the National Cancer Institute and the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

"These findings represent an exciting new opportunity to potentially reverse drug resistance in advanced prostate cancer," said Howard R. Soule, PhD, Executive Vice President and Chief Science Officer of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. "PCF commends Dr. Sharifi and the team on their achievement and proudly supports their work to bring us closer to our mission to eliminate death and suffering from prostate cancer."