On November 1, 2021 Imugene Ltd ("Imugene") (ASX: IMU), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company, and Eureka Therapeutics, Inc. ("Eureka"), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel T-cell therapies to treat solid tumours, reported a strategic collaboration to evaluate Imugene’s CD19 oncolytic virus onCARlytics technology in combination with Eureka’s anti-CD19 ARTEMIS T-cell therapy for the treatment of solid tumours (Press release, Imugene, NOV 1, 2021, View Source [SID1234594043]).

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Oncolytic viruses in combination with T-cell therapies represent a novel and promising approach to treat solid tumours. In preclinical studies conducted by the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, scientists combined CAR-T therapy with an oncolytic virus to eliminate solid tumours in mice. The virus enters the tumour cells and forces them to express the CD19 protein on the cell surface, presenting a target for anti-CD19 T-cells to pursue and kill. Imugene licensed the patents covering City of Hope’s oncolytic virus technology in May 2021.

"By combining oncolytic virus and CAR T-cell therapies, we have developed a ‘mark and kill’ approach to treating solid tumours with T-cell therapies," said Saul Priceman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at City of Hope and co-inventor of the platform. "In our animal studies, we were able to express CD19 in triple-negative breast, pancreatic, prostate, ovarian, and head and neck cancer, as well as brain tumours."

"T-cell and CAR-T therapies have not achieved much success in solid tumours in part because of a lack of tumour-specific targets. By using our proprietary oncolytic technology to force the tumour to express the CD19 target, we now have the ability to address this shortcoming. We believe the synergy between our onCARlytics platform and Eureka’s anti-CD19 ARTEMIS T-cells has the potential to shift the cellular medicine paradigm in treating solid tumours," said Leslie Chong, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Imugene.

"We are delighted to be working with Imugene on tackling solid tumours using this innovative approach," said Dr. Cheng Liu, President and CEO of Eureka Therapeutics. "We believe our ARTEMIS T-cell platform to be the ideal one to evaluate this combination. In head-to-head pre-clinical studies against CAR-T cells, our ARTEMIS T-cells demonstrated superior efficacy, enhanced tumour infiltration, and less T-cell exhaustion. In the clinical context, our ARTEMIS T-cells have demonstrated reduced cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and other cytokine-related toxicities compared to CAR-T cells, potentially improving the efficacy and safety of a combination approach."

On November 1, 2021 Epizyme reported the launch of In My Blood, an online resource designed to empower people living with follicular lymphoma to partner with their healthcare providers and play a proactive role in treatment decision-making based on where they are in their follicular lymphoma journey (Press release, Epizyme, NOV 1, 2021, View Source [SID1234594042]).

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In My Blood offers follicular lymphoma patients, and their care partners, unique resources to aid them in taking a proactive role in their care as they navigate life with this typically incurable blood cancer. A central feature is My Follicular Lymphoma Coach, a first-of-its-kind quiz for follicular lymphoma patients. This brief questionnaire takes key information into consideration, including stage of disease, current symptoms, and lifestyle. Patients are then provided with a customized, downloadable guide to support them in having proactive, informed discussions with their healthcare providers. The personalized guide is designed for patients at any stage of their experience with follicular lymphoma and provides tools for them to engage proactively in their health, during both periods of treatment and remission.

"Over the years, through continued partnership with healthcare providers and patient advocates in the follicular lymphoma community, we’ve seen firsthand the importance of the healthcare provider-patient relationship when dealing with the complexities of navigating this typically incurable blood cancer over many years, sometimes even decades," said Cheya Pope, Vice President, Corporate Affairs at Epizyme. "Knowing this relationship is paramount, we created In My Blood and My Follicular Lymphoma Coach, with input from the follicular lymphoma advocacy community, to fulfill a need for patients. We hope the resources provided will enable meaningful conversations between patients and healthcare providers to ultimately improve care."

As clear and proactive communication with healthcare providers is essential in order to detect signs of a potential relapse in follicular lymphoma, In My Blood also offers downloadable daily and weekly symptom trackers to support patients and care partners with disease monitoring. It also features stories and insights from individuals living with follicular lymphoma, which highlight how they have been able to proactively manage their disease and celebrates how they continue living life to the fullest. Additional resources, background information and links to related advocacy organization resources are also available.

"Upon learning you have follicular lymphoma the sheer volume of information, choices, and decisions you have to make can feel overwhelming. When I was newly diagnosed, I knew that I would need to advocate for myself to ensure that I received the best care and treatment based on my diagnosis and individual needs," said Kendra Munger, In My Blood patient ambassador. "Now with In My Blood and My Follicular Lymphoma Coach, patients like me who are navigating life with follicular lymphoma can create a personalized guide with relevant information for where they are in their follicular lymphoma journey, along with important questions to ask their doctors as they work together to determine the best path forward."

For more information on In My Blood and to access My Follicular Lymphoma Coach, visit FollicularLymphoma.com.

About Follicular Lymphoma

Follicular lymphoma is a type of cancer that starts in the lymphatic system, a system of lymph nodes found throughout the body.i Of the estimated 74,000 individuals diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the United States each year, follicular lymphoma accounts for approximately 20% of all cases, or about 14,800 individuals.ii People with follicular lymphoma often experience periods of remission before the disease returns (relapse), and they typically undergo treatment with numerous therapies during their disease journey. In addition, many patients find their cancer has become resistant to treatments they’ve received before, leaving them with fewer options when their cancer returns. To learn more about follicular lymphoma and In My Blood, visit FollicularLymphoma.com.

On November 1, 2021 Tarveda Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of potent and selective precision oncology medicines, which it refers to as Pentarin miniature drug conjugates, reported that data from the Phase 2 clinical trial of PEN-221 will be presented at the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (NANETS) 2021 Multidisciplinary NET Medical Virtual Symposium occurring November 3-6, 2021 (Press release, Tarveda Therapeutics, NOV 1, 2021, View Source [SID1234594041]).

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The presentation details are as follows:

Date: Saturday, November 6, 2021
Time: 1:25pm Eastern Time
Title: The safety and efficacy of PEN-221 somatostatin analog (SSA)-DM1 conjugate in patients (PTS) with advanced GI mid-gut neuroendocrine tumor (NET): Phase 2 Results
Location: Virtual – Register to attend

On November 1, 2021 Synthekine Inc., an engineered cytokine therapeutics company, reported it has entered into a worldwide research collaboration and license agreement with Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada (Press release, Synthekine, NOV 1, 2021, View Source [SID1234594040]). The collaboration will leverage Synthekine’s proprietary surrogate cytokine agonist platform to discover, develop, and commercialize novel cytokine therapeutics.

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"At Synthekine, we are focused on advancing cytokine science through three protein engineering platforms to create optimized therapeutics in this important space. Our surrogate cytokine agonist platform produces a new class of cytokine therapeutics that are designed to deliver selective immunotherapies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer," said Debanjan Ray, chief executive officer of Synthekine. "We are thrilled to announce our first collaboration using this platform with an unequivocal leader in the field."

Under the terms of the agreement, Synthekine is responsible for initial research efforts in collaboration with Merck, and Merck will have exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize surrogate cytokine agonists for up to two cytokine targets. Initially, the collaboration will focus on a target that has the potential to treat autoimmune diseases. Merck will make an upfront payment and will make an additional one-time payment if it designates a second target. Synthekine will be eligible for up to $525 million in development, regulatory and commercialization milestones, as well as tiered royalties on net sales, for each target. Merck will provide research funding to Synthekine for programs under the collaboration.

"Emerging insights from immunology and oncology are providing new and different ways to think about treating diseases," said Dr. Dean Y. Li, president, Merck Research Laboratories. "We look forward to collaborating with Synthekine to evaluate new approaches to harness the therapeutic potential of cytokines."

Cytokines are small proteins that allow immune cells to communicate and are central to the body’s response to diseases and to the maintenance of immune homeostasis. Developing cytokines as therapeutics, however, is made challenging by the fact that cytokines are pleiotropic, meaning they can induce a range of responses across different cell types. Cytokine pleiotropy has historically led to the development of wild-type cytokines or mutein based therapies with narrow therapeutic windows, resulting in modest efficacy or dose limiting toxicities. Designed using a combinatorial engineering platform, Synthekine’s surrogate cytokine agonists dimerize or multimerize cytokine receptors in ways wild-type cytokines or mutein based approaches cannot, resulting in a wide range of selective and biased signaling possibilities.

On November 1, 2021 Cyteir Therapeutics, Inc. ("Cyteir") (Nasdaq: CYT), a company focused on the discovery and development of next-generation synthetically lethal therapies for cancer, reported that its President and Chief Executive Officer Markus Renschler, MD will participate in a presentation at the Credit Suisse 30th Annual Healthcare Conference, being held virtually on November 8, 2021, at 4:20pm ET (Press release, Cyteir Therapeutics, NOV 1, 2021, View Source [SID1234594039]).

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A live webcast of the presentation will be available in the Investors & Media section of the Cyteir website at www.cyteir.com. A webcast replay will also be available on the website shortly after conclusion of the event for 30 days.