On November 2, 2021 Veracyte, Inc. (Nasdaq: VCYT) reported that three abstracts highlighting the company’s immuno-oncology offerings for biopharmaceutical researchers will be presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper)’s (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) 36th Annual Meeting, taking place in Washington, DC and virtually, November 10-14, 2021 (Press release, Veracyte, NOV 2, 2021, View Source [SID1234594200]).

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"It is exciting to have the opportunity to present new data on our Brightplex assays and be able to provide to clinical researchers innovative solutions designed to help them better understand the mechanism of action for therapeutics," said Corinne Danan, Veracyte’s general manager, Biopharma. "This is especially important in the immuno-oncology field where the micro-environment of the tumor plays a key role in cancer progression and response to therapy."

Veracyte acquired the novel Brightplex technology – which combines information from multiplex immunohistochemistry (IHC) and advanced digital pathology analysis to provide a comprehensive picture of the tumor micro-environment – through its acquisition of HalioDx in August 2021.

The following posters will be presented at the SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) meeting:

Poster Title: "Assessment of the spatial distribution of B cells subpopulations in the tumor microenvironment and tertiary lymphoid structures by Brightplex, a sequential chromogenic multiplex assay"
Abstract number: 57
Session Date/Time: Nov. 12, 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET (on-site) and Nov. 12, 7:00 a.m. ET (ePoster)

Poster Title: "Assessment of the spatial distribution of CD4+ T cells subpopulations in the tumor microenvironment by Brightplex, a sequential chromogenic multiplex assay"
Abstract number: 41
Session Date/Time: Nov. 12, 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET (on-site) and Nov. 12, 7:00 a.m. ET (ePoster)

Poster Title: "Spatial distribution of infiltrating T lymphocytes with Immunoscore CR T Cells Exhaustion test helps stratification of NSCLC patients treated with PD1/L1 inhibitors in the PIONeeR project"
Abstract number: 460
Session Date/Time: Nov. 13, 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET (on-site) and Nov. 12, 7:00 a.m. ET (ePoster)

On November 2, 2021 Lonza, a global manufacturing partner to the pharma, biotech and nutrition industries, reported the acquisition of an exosome manufacturing facility located in Lexington, Massachusetts (US) from Codiak BioSciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of exosome-based therapeutics (Press release, Codiak Biosciences, NOV 2, 2021, View Source [SID1234594199]).

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Codiak will retain its pipeline of therapeutic candidates as well as its exosome engineering and drug-loading technologies. Codiak will receive as part of the deal approximately $65 million of cGMP manufacturing services in kind. Lonza will gain worldwide access and sub-licensable rights to Codiak’s high-throughput perfusion-based cGMP process for exosome manufacturing.

The companies will establish a Center of Excellence for the development of exosome manufacturing technologies. The Center of Excellence will leverage the strengths of both companies to advance developments in exosome production, purification and analytics while providing Lonza customers with exosome assay and process development, analytics and manufacturing services.

Alberto Santagostino, SVP, Head of Cell and Gene Technologies at Lonza, commented: "We are excited about the collaboration we have established with Codiak BioSciences. Exosomes are emerging as a new modality for advanced therapies and could become the next frontier in biotherapeutics. Our collaboration with Codiak, one of the most advanced companies in this modality, is consistent with our strategy to advance this technology and will drive the advancement of the whole industry. We are committed to providing our capabilities to Codiak, alongside other customers in the exosome space."

Doug Williams, PhD, CEO, Codiak BioSciences, added: "Creating an exosome manufacturing Center of Excellence with Lonza, a leading global contract development manufacturing organization, accelerates productivity of our manufacturing platform and facilitates realization of its full potential by leveraging Lonza capabilities. Importantly for Codiak, this collaboration solidifies our capacity for expanded late-stage clinical and eventually commercial manufacturing as we advance our growing clinical pipeline. We are proud Lonza recognized Codiak’s pioneering work in the manufacture of engineered exosomes and look forward to our Center of Excellence helping to set new standards for the field."

Exosomes are nano-sized membrane vesicles secreted by many cell types, which play a role in cell-to-cell communication. They represent clinically valuable tools for various applications, ranging from early detection, diagnosis, prognosis and targeted treatments. Further development of the exosome platform also has the potential to make cell and gene therapies available and commercially viable for large patient populations.

While the development of exosomes is still at an early stage, exosome-related technologies have been progressing rapidly in the past years, with many developers working to demonstrate the efficacy and the potential of exosome-based therapies in pre-clinical or early clinical stages. Codiak has already advanced two engineered exosome therapeutic candidates into clinical studies in patients, with an IND filing planned for a third candidate in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The investment in this emerging area reflects Lonza’s strategy to differentiate through innovation. From the development of the exosome modality to the industrial production of mRNA vaccines and supporting the manufacture of live biotherapeutics, Lonza operates at the cutting edge of manufacturing technology to help customers deliver innovative new therapies to patients worldwide.

To learn more about Lonza’s exosome-related services, visit: View Source

On November 2, 2021 Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ: NAUT; or "Nautilus"), a company pioneering a single-molecule protein analysis platform for quantifying the proteome, and Abcam (AIM:ABC; NASDAQ:ABCM), a global innovator in life sciences research tools, reported a strategic development and supply partnership (Press release, Abcam, NOV 2, 2021, View Source [SID1234594198]).

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The relationship leverages Abcam’s industry-leading recombinant monoclonal antibody development technologies and expertise to enhance Nautilus’ reagent research and development, and establishes a long-term supply relationship between the companies. The partnership will initially focus on the collaborative development of affinity binding reagents for use on the Nautilus proteomic analysis system, and will expand in the near future to the large-scale manufacture and supply of reagents for commercialization.

We are excited to be working closely with Abcam to build reagents that we believe will further enhance our proteomic analysis methods. They, like us, envision a future in which proteomic data is expected to become an increasingly important resource that has the potential to support the creation of more effective drugs and diagnostics. Our ability to partner with a company as respected and successful as Abcam provides a strong vote of confidence in that future, and in the promise of the Nautilus protein analysis platform to help make it a reality."
Sujal Patel
Co-founder and CEO of Nautilus Biotechnology

Abcam’s scale and recombinant antibody manufacturing expertise is expected to support Nautilus in meeting its long-term reagent supply needs from research and development through to commercialization.

"The prospect of biomedical researchers being able to interrogate the proteome at a more comprehensive level offers exciting possibilities for discovery and innovation across multiple disease areas. By combining Nautilus’ protein analysis platform and Abcam’s antibody discovery, development and manufacturing expertise, we hope to better support scientists in the development of drugs and diagnostic tools that ultimately improve outcomes for patients."
Alan Hirzel
CEO of Abcam

Under the terms of the agreement, Abcam will provide Nautilus with antibodies that are expected to add to and enhance its own library of affinity binding reagents, highlighting the open and customizable nature of Nautilus’ technology. With simple labeling chemistry, the Nautilus platform is designed for use with virtually any biological reagent.

On November 2, 2021 Dunad Therapeutics ("Dunad"), a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of next-generation targeted protein degradation therapies, reported that it has entered a strategic collaboration and license agreement with Novartis to generate orally bioavailable covalent and protein degrading small molecule drugs (Press release, Novartis, NOV 2, 2021, View Source [SID1234594197]).

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Under the terms of the agreement, Dunad will apply its tunable and highly selective platform to generate novel covalent and targeted protein degrading small molecule drugs focusing on up to four drug targets agreed with Novartis. Dunad will also be responsible for program execution up to lead optimization. Novartis will contribute target and ligand knowledge as well as access to unique assays and models and will fully fund the research collaboration.

Novartis has an exclusive option to develop and commercialize products resulting from the research programs directed against up to four drug targets. Upon exercise of this option, Novartis will assume responsibility for future development, manufacturing and global commercialization of the small molecule therapeutic products generated against the agreed targets.

Dunad’s unique platform uses mono-valent small molecules to induce selective degradation of disease-causing and often undruggable proteins via direct modification of the target. The Company’s novel molecular approach is fully tunable to be selective and is underpinned by a target-class agnostic mechanism of action that is clearly differentiated from other targeted protein degradation technologies.

Dunad’s platform has the potential to generate orally bioavailable degrader therapeutics that significantly expand the frontiers of protein degradation targets.

Under the terms of the agreement, Dunad will receive $24 million in an upfront payment and equity investment, as well as significant research funding. Dunad will also be eligible for milestone payments that could aggregate to up to $1.3 billion and royalties.

Alongside the equity investment of Novartis, and the founding investor Epidarex Capital, BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) is joining Dunad as a new investor. Oskar Slotboom, General Partner at BGV, has joined Dunad’s Board of Directors.

Prof. Patrick Gunning, Dunad’s co-founder, acting Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer commented: "We are thrilled to have entered this collaboration with Novartis, which has already established a world leading position in the protein degradation space. This deal highlights the clear benefits our platform promises for the development of next-generation targeted protein degrader therapeutics. We are confident that with our approach of inducing degradation via direct modulation of target proteins with mono-valent small molecules, we can significantly expand the boundaries of targeted protein degraders as a therapeutic modality."

Dr. Diana Kraskouskaya, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Dunad, commented: "This collaboration is an important milestone for Dunad. It allows us to rapidly expand the impact of our platform technology to additional target classes and therapeutic areas, beyond Dunad’s own internal target pipeline. Our growing team is committed to advancing our internal pipeline and partnered programs directed against the most sought-after and previously intractable targets."

Dr. Elizabeth Roper, Partner at Epidarex Capital, Dunad’s founding investor, and board director of Dunad, commented: "We are delighted to see Dunad’s growth continue with such a significant deal with Novartis. This collaboration provides validation of Dunad’s differentiated protein degradation technology and explores the full potential of this new modality as a therapeutic approach. We are also excited to welcome BGV and Novartis as investors to the syndicate and look forward to our continued collaboration with the team."

On November 2, 2021 Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS), a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, reported that Curis management will participate in virtual fireside chats and panels at the following upcoming conferences in November and December (Press release, Curis, NOV 2, 2021, View Source [SID1234594194]):

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30th Annual Credit Suisse Healthcare Conference on Monday, November 8, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. ET
Jim Dentzer, President and CEO, will participate in the virtual fireside chat.
12th Annual Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference, starting on Thursday, November 18, 2021 at 3:00 a.m. ET (8:00 a.m. GMT).
Jim Dentzer, President and CEO, will participate in the virtual fireside chat that will be available for on-demand viewing during the conference.
B. Riley Fall Best Ideas in Oncology Panel Series on Wednesday, December 1, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. ET
Robert Martell, Head of Research and Development, will participate on the oncology panel series titled "Emerging Targeted Therapies in Acute Myeloid Leukemia"
Live webcasts of the Credit Suisse and B. Riley presentations will be available under "Events & Presentations" in the Investors section of the Company’s website at www.curis.com. Archived replays for all the events will be available on the Curis website for approximately 90 days following the event.