On April 27, 2022 Catamaran Bio, Inc., a biotechnology company developing off-the-shelf chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-NK cell therapies to treat cancer, reported the appointment of Cherry Thomas, MD, as Chief Medical Officer (Press release, Catamaran Bio, APR 27, 2022, View Source [SID1234613064]). Dr. Thomas has broad experience in the clinical development of cell therapies. She initiated a first-in-human clinical trial of an allogeneic cell therapy during her previous role as senior vice president of clinical development at Caribou Biosciences. Dr. Thomas’ experience in oncology clinical development also includes leadership roles at Array BioPharma/Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, and Amgen.

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"Cherry’s extensive experience in oncology and cell therapy drug development, clinical expertise, and impressive track record make her an ideal fit as we advance our innovative CAR-NK programs," said Alvin Shih, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Catamaran Bio. "We welcome Cherry at a pivotal time in our evolution, as we build the capabilities to become a clinical-stage company."

"I am excited to bring my clinical development experience with allogeneic cell therapies to a talented Catamaran team that has built a leading-edge platform for CAR-NK cell therapies," said Dr. Thomas. "I look forward to the opportunity to guide the clinical advancement of the Catamaran’s promising pipeline of allogeneic CAR-NK cell therapies, potentially becoming off-the-shelf treatments for patients with solid tumors."

Dr. Thomas has extensive pharmaceutical and biotech industry experience and expertise in the clinical development of oncology therapeutics including allogeneic cell therapies. Dr. Thomas joins Catamaran from Caribou Biosciences where she served as senior vice president of clinical development. In this role, she initiated and built Caribou’s clinical development program and advanced the company’s first allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy into the clinic. Prior to Caribou, she held positions of increasing responsibility and leadership in U.S. and global clinical development and medical affairs at Array BioPharma/Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, and Amgen. Dr. Thomas received her MD from the University of California, Irvine, and completed her residency at the University of Michigan in radiation oncology and is a licensed physician and surgeon. She received her BA from the University of California, Los Angeles.

On April 27, 2022 ZAP Surgical Systems, Inc. reported that Baptist Health South Florida, will acquire the ZAP-X Gyroscopic Radiosurgery platform for cranial stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) (Press release, ZAP Surgical Systems, APR 27, 2022, View Source [SID1234613063]). The ZAP-X will be used by Miami Neuroscience Institute, in collaboration with Miami Cancer Institute, both part of Baptist Health South Florida, dedicated to offering the most innovative and advanced techniques to diagnose and treat brain disorders and tumors. Installation of the ZAP-X platform is expected to commence in late 2022.

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As a non-invasive treatment for many primary and metastatic brain tumors, SRS is a well-established procedure that often provides equivalent to superior outcomes compared to surgery, yet requires no incision and is painless. SRS is typically delivered in one to five brief outpatient visits and patients often return to normal activity the same day as the procedure.

ZAP-X was designed to transform modern radiosurgery with a ground-breaking gyroscopic design which delivers hundreds of uniquely angled radiation beams precisely sculpted to the unique contours of targeted lesions. This novel capability aims to enhance patient outcomes by potentially improving the ability to avoid critical structures such as the brain stem, eyes, and optic nerves, while also lowering healthy brain tissue exposure to preserve patient cognitive function.

"When treating the brain, particularly with a procedure as complex as radiosurgery, the technology and precision must be exquisite," states Michael McDermott, M.D., neurosurgeon and chief medical executive of Miami Neuroscience Institute. "ZAP-X is the latest advance in SRS, and the first new dedicated radiosurgery technology platform in over 30 years. This innovation enables our center to offer patients the highest level of care."

ZAP-X is recognized for being the first and only vault-free SRS delivery system, thereby eliminating the need for providers to build costly shielded radiation treatment rooms. This unique feature also allows clinicians to remain immediately adjacent to the patient during treatment, in contrast to the long-standing practice of patients being sequestered in a shielded delivery suite during therapy.

Utilizing a modern linear accelerator to produce radiation, ZAP-X is also the first and only dedicated radiosurgery system to no longer require Cobalt-60 radioactive sources, consequently eliminating the significant efforts and costs to host, secure and regularly replace radioactive isotopes.

"Miami Cancer Institute is in the unique position of having access to virtually every radiation delivery technology available," added Dr. Minesh Mehta, M.D., deputy director and chief of radiation oncology at Miami Cancer Institute. "This allows our team to align each patient with a tailored therapy and technology for highly individualized indications and needs. We look forward to ZAP-X further complementing our portfolio of therapeutic solutions."

To facilitate rapid installation, ZAP-X will initially be located within a temporary facility and will soon migrate to the new Miami Neuroscience Institute building at Baptist Health South Florida’s Dadeland campus.

On April 27, 2022 Aldeyra Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALDX) (Aldeyra) reported that it will host a conference call at 8:00 a.m. ET Thursday, May 5, 2022 to report financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 and discuss recent corporate highlights (Press release, Aldeyra Therapeutics, APR 27, 2022, View Source [SID1234613062]).

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The dial-in numbers are (844) 200-6205 for domestic callers and (929) 526-1599 for international callers. The access code is 742862. A live audio webcast of the conference call also will be accessible from the "Investors & Media" section of Aldeyra’s website at View Source

After the live webcast, the event will remain archived on Aldeyra’s website for 90 days.

On April 27, 2022 Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE: CRL) and Valo Health, Inc ("Valo") have launched LogicaTM, an artificial intelligence (AI) powered drug solution that directly translates clients’ biological insights into optimized preclinical assets (Press release, Charles River Laboratories, APR 27, 2022, View Source [SID1234613061]). Logica leverages Valo’s AI-powered Opal Computational Platform and Charles River’s leading preclinical expertise, providing clients with transformed drug discovery with a single integrated offering seamlessly translating targets to candidate nomination.

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"Through our partnership with Valo, we’re integrating Charles River’s laboratory capabilities with industry-altering AI-driven molecular design to provide our clients with highly advanceable leads and candidates, while tying client costs to value generation," said Birgit Girshick, Corporate Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Charles River. "AI-powered solutions are driving drug discovery forward and this is the kind of innovation our industry needs to ultimately bring effective treatments to patients faster."

"Valo is thrilled to partner with Charles River on this first of its kind offering," added David Berry, MD, Ph.D., founder, and CEO of Valo. "We are creating an opportunity to fully outsource small molecule discovery while providing a true risk-sharing model with advanceable leads and candidates with the goal of helping companies scale faster, translating more biological insight into candidates to make better drugs for patients, faster."

Logica’s Advanceable Lead (Logica-AL) and Candidate (Logica-C) programs, which are available exclusively from Charles River, are part of a multi-year strategic partnership that Charles River and Valo announced earlier this year. Logica-AL aims to provide customers with highly advanceable, potent series with desired characteristics, such as in vitro absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) and selectivity profiles understood. In addition, the Logica-C offering will use the advanceable leads and trained predictive models to rapidly progress the program, ultimately aiming to deliver a development candidate that has undergone necessary safety and efficacy tests and is ready for IND-enabling studies.

Logica utilizes industry-leading predictive models, chemical design and synthesis capabilities, DNA-encoded libraries, in silico high throughput screening from Valo’s Opal Computational Platform as well as Charles River’s leading capabilities in all aspects of discovery optimization including high throughput screening, medicinal chemistry, ADME, biology, pharmacology, and ultimately safety testing and IND submission, joining together for the first time to create a computation-powered, unified target-to-candidate offering. Logica combines approaches that have a demonstrated ability to produce an advanceable lead series 90 percent of the time and deliver development candidates 58 percent of the time. The products will be offered with most of the client cost tied to success.

On April 27, 2022 Biodesix, Inc. (Nasdaq: BDSX), a leading data-driven diagnostic solutions company with a focus in lung disease, reported that it will release financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022 before the open of trading on Wednesday, May 11 (Press release, Biodesix, APR 27, 2022, View Source [SID1234613060]). Biodesix’s management will host a conference call and webcast to discuss its financial results and provide a general business update at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the same day. Dial-in and call details are as follows:

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